I recently came across a Reddit forum where someone asked why some famous people had developed the habit of wearing sunglasses all the time, even at night and indoors.

Answers were mere thumb-sucks at best, one suggesting it’s to hide the fact that they are stoned all the time, with another blaming it on constant paparazzi snaps.

Feeling awfully unfulfilled, I went on my own investigation.

First, this from BBC:

…at one stage the practice was seen as the apex of sophistication.

The photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe did much to popularise sunglasses as a fashion accessory in Harper’s Bazaar from 1938 onwards, says Vanessa Brown, author of the forthcoming Cool Shades: The History and Meaning of Sunglasses. Dahl-Wolfe’s models kept theirs on both indoors and out. The accessory suggested travel, glamour, Hollywood starlets avoiding the gaze of their admirers or the flash and pop of paparazzi cameras.

Around the same era, jazz musicians like Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk sometimes used their shades during club performances to signal their refusal to engage with the racism around them and the “square” values of their audiences, Brown says.

White musicians like Lou Reed and Debbie Harry subsequently co-opted this look in dimly-lit basement gigs.

There was little dissent when Dylan wore aviators to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom inside the White House in 2012.

There was even a suggestion that it’s because people want to look like a young Jack Nicholson – but no one walks into Sunglass Hut, picking out a pair of Ray-Bans thinking, “Yes, my Jack Nicholson transformation is so close!” except, maybe, Jack Nicholson himself dreaming of those younger years.

So what are those celeb reasons for donning shades? Here are a few:

DJ Snake:

The world renowned DJ and self-proclaimed “low-key guy” said, “It was because when I became big I suddenly I found myself playing on stage with 200,000 people and that is scary.”

“I remember my manager told me just put on a pair of sun glasses and that should mitigate the panic. So I tried it and it worked. Now people recognize me with my glasses and it helps me feel better.”

Victoria Beckham:

“I think sunglasses are the final touch to a woman’s outfit. I wear sunglasses because like most mums, I am up all night with my children. They hide a multitude of sins.’

Anna Wintour:

Wintour described her [sunglasses] as “armour” which come in extremely useful sitting alongside the catwalk – “if I am bored out of my mind, nobody will notice”.

Bono:

Bono once summed up his appearance thus: “Rock star with them on, ordinary bloke without them” (in a 2005 interview, he a also said his eyes were adversely affected by flashes and bright light).

And then there are the celebs whose signature look has no reported reason behind it:

Kanye West:

Bob Dylan:

And then, then there’s Corey Hart:

And now you know.

So perhaps next time you walk into a Sunglass Hut (because they have everything you need) you will think back to this post, and perhaps Dylan or Wintour will be your style inspiration (although Nicholson isn’t all too bad).

Who knows, maybe that evening you will feel as if you are cool enough to wear your sunglasses at night.

[source:youredm&mirror&bbc]