Sunglasses PNG

Sunglasses are one of the world’s most ubiquitous fashion accessories, but they also play an important role in protecting our eyes from harmful UV rays. We take a look at how they came into existence…

From the 13th century until the modern invention of UV-protective eyeglasses that combat winter blindness, the Inuit made and wore winter goggles made from flattened walrus or caribou ivory, with sharp scales to block out any presumed dangerous sunlight. In many awkward offices, and with a great deal of extravagance, the natives of North America and northern Asia have constructed deep green furniture to protect their eyes against the harmful effects of the strong sunlight in the cold weather.

By the 18th century, modern eyeglasses had been developed with lenses held together by wire and stretched across the ear to hold them. A man named James Ayscough believed that changing the color of the actual lenses could help tremendously with specific cataracts. He experimented with blue-and-green glasses to improve poor eyesight—little did he know that his idea would become one of today’s fashion must-haves.