There was a reddit thread a few years ago where insiders from industries were asked what was true about their industry that the moneymakers wouldn’t want the public to know. A sunglasses guy said that the build quality of all sunglasses above something like $10 was identical. Above that price you’re literally just paying for the logo

Make sure they’re UV safe, make sure the lenses don’t distort your vision, and buy something cheap

Don't spend a ton of money on the sunglasses unless you need Rx sunglasses. Fancy name brand sunglasses are a scam - they're all owned by the same company that creates a false sense of competition between their brands. This allows them to keep prices up on Ray-Ban and other expensive brands. Look up Luxxotica.

If you're purchasing sunglasses for daily wearing and you know you'll be wearing or carrying them into situations, just get a comfortable pair of cheapo polarized sunglasses from Walmart. Expensive sunglasses lose value as soon as they're purchased and if you scratch them, they'll be functionally and financially worthless from that point forward. Comfort is the most important thing, followed closely by style.

The only raybans ive ever owned were found in a bar and lost in a different bar some years later.

Go to the mall, find a sunglasses stand. Try on polarized sunglasses until you find something you like under $12 or so.

You'll find the brand/model number written somewhere on the frame. Google it, and find someplace to buy them by the case.

By a case of 10, put it in your drawer. Bonus points for getting it in another color (I have a set of white frame chunky glasses, but also the exact same model in black for fancy occasions).

Now you have sunglasses you can afford to lose constantly, a backup supply, and a signature look.

This is a bit outside the box, but you might want to go to the hardware store and look at safety glasses. There are a variety of tints and they are wrap around, making them superior for actual eye protection. Glasses that are open on the side are harder on your eyes.

Granted, you might not care for the look.

Goodr has been making some pretty cheap and relatively durable stuff. Can survive a dog nibble but not a crunch

Expensive sunglasses are a waste of money.

goodr

At one of my previous jobs there was a guy with really expensive looking glasses. Something like gold plated aviator type but really fancy looking. Job was 1000% not as well paid to buy anything like this. I have asked him about his glasses and he gave a nice pro tip: Just buy used frame and put lenses inside yourself.

Makes sense. Used frames are dirt cheap. Senses are not so expensive for a simple sunglasses with no dyoptres. Can go fancy and get some scratchproof polarized lenses and not overpay for a $500 raybans.

Also, afaik, rayban owns pretty much any other glass brand. So, pointless to get rayban for so expensive.

Polarized and UV, past that you are just paying for marketing

A friend has a pair of Raybans she bought 25 years ago. One day last year she dropped them and they were run over by a trailer with a boat on it. She was pretty upset until she realised they weren't damaged, not even scuffed. I witnessed this, it was incredible. Worth the expense, I would say.

I go through a lot of these, as I tend to forget them all over, but the gist of my strategy is this:

• As dark as possible
• I prefer non-polarized, as polarized sunglasses tend to interfere with plane cockpits and car HUDs
• Big enough to cover most of my sight angles
• I never liked those thick nose bridges, as I find them too hipster-y
• Other than the above, IDGAF about how they look. I wear them for me, not for others.

Brand sunglasses (raybans, Oakley, etc) are OK, but I generally find that they're not very durable. The glasses resist scratching very well, but the frames could be a lot stronger.

RE: Raybans - my friend gave me shit for purchasing the cheaper “plastic” lens option compared to theirs with real glass.

A number of years later he switched to the plastic lenses also. He complained about the weight of the glass ones being a issue.

/ end shitty story time

That shape on your post or aviator style shades seem to work for most face shapes IMO. Don’t worry about brand or price. Just make sure it has UV protection and polarized lenses, and of course try it out and make sure your vision isn’t distorted. Other stuff like plastic or metal material depends on personal preference.

So I have myopia and use transitions and that tech has come a long way. I won't even realize how bright its gotten because they just activate and until I take them off and realize how bright it actually got I just sorta see the same level of brightness all the time. Usually I only noticed the effect when I come back in from outside. Then if you ok looking stupid there is this full face monocal sunglass mask type of thing sold online. Looks incredibly stupid but when something does something useful I don't care. Whats great about it is in the winter it blocks wind from your face and in the summer it prevents sunburn on your face. Which is really huge for me on both counts.

online glasses shops will sometimes have a "shop by face shape" section. I've used zenni's and it was fine.

https://www.zennioptical.com/b/glasses-for-oval-face I'm not the best for recs here since I've only used this site ever and got my frames from the eye doctor and lenscrafters before that.

https://www.wikihow.com/Determine-Your-Face-Shape If you genuinely aren't sure of your face shape, and you care if you guess wrong, get out the measuring tape.

If you have an oval face:

https://www.eyebuydirect.com/guides/sunglasses-for-oval-faces

I've been rocking $10 Chinese sunglasses from Amazon for years. I keep and extra pair on backup, an extra pair in the car in case I forget them. If I lose them or break them no big deal.

I've bought three pairs of Ray Bans totaling for less than 100€. I don't know what second hand websites/apps you have but I have a 30€ limit on search term "Ray Bans" and I get multiple hits every week.

And if I don't end up liking or using them as much as I thought, I can just sell them for the same price or give them as a pretty higly valued present to a friend.

My best pair of sunglasses are a pair of dark lenses with a snake motif that I got at a thrift shop for like $15. Keep them in a glasses case and they won't get scratched.

Fwiw, if I see someone wearing fancy looking thick black rectangular lenses nowadays I assume they're a predator thanks to Meta

Go to a festival with corporate kiosks and grab a free pair.

Get lenses with UV-protection. Just because they are tinted doesn't mean they will protect you

I've been looking at Neven, but have no idea if they're as big as they seem or if they're any more durable than Knockaround.

I like Knockaround's styles, specifically the Fast Lanes for being somewhere between a classic Rayban and a square aviator, but I keep ending up with scratched lenses. They do have a one-time warranty, but I'm not sure the extent of replacement due to wording. Only tried it once directly through customer service before I realized there's an actual policy. I took much better care and even ordered more (different colors), but they still wear out. Daily wear, rotate through ~6 pairs. Get about 2 years out of them. I guess that's fine, but my old sunglasses weren't so consumable. Maybe I just not familiar with the longevity of mirrored coatings. They're ~$35usd each and sales are frequent. The custom shop is neat.

I got very expensive prescription Bolle sunglasses, they were stolen from my car. That was back in 2004 and weren't worth the money for something I wore about 4 times before they were stolen.

I have Maui Jim sunglasses that are great, the polarization is excellent for seeing wildlife in the water. I only wear them occasionally as I'd rather wear 10 dollar glasses I don't care about wrecking. So I have 4 or 5 pairs of different styles of cheap ones. Most important is to get polarized lenses, other than that if you go cheap you can try every style until you find the right ones for you.

I've only ever bought cheap $2 sunglasses and they work fine. They're cheap, so they break easy, but they're only $2.

I look for optical clarity. I had a pair if Maui Jims with glass lenses for 7 or 8 years and loved them. They were tough as nails and remained scratch free. I even forgot them on top of my car once and they flew off at speed. Little ding in the frame but lasted for quite a while after that. Only recently did I open my backpack to find one of the lenses cracked. It was a sad day.

My producer, Sendo, likes his custom Oakley pair, of which was around $223 USD at the time he bought it. It's all back with some white accents if you look at them. Yes, they're polarized too.