Lilo Papikian starts off her day by choosing whether to wear her red-rimmed, cat-eye or black-framed, heart-shaped sunglasses while riding her scooter to campus in the summertime sun.
Although classic looks such as rectangular frames and aviators remain popular, more distinctive styles like cat-eye rims and colorful lenses have begun to permeate mainstream fashion, said Lexie Yamada, a first-year psychobiology student.
Yamada, who works at Heavenly Couture, said customers often opt for statement sunglasses that have large, round frames or gold, double-bar bridges. Although customers shop at Heavenly Couture for clothes more often than for sunglasses, Yamada said customers who do buy sunglasses tend to pick out bigger, more retro styles that have been in style as of late.
Although statement glasses started coming into high fashion around a year ago, Yamada said they have really hit the mainstream this year.
“People always wear a variety of sunglasses because it is always sunny here and it is a way for people to express their style,” Yamada said.
Popular media was the major driving force behind Papikian’s purchase of black-rimmed, heart-shaped shades from the UCLA Store in Ackerman Union in the beginning of the year. The first-year psychology student bought her sunglasses because a character from one of her favorite television shows, “Mr. Robot,” wears similarly shaped shades.
Papikian is no novice to quirky sunglasses. She also bought a pair of red, square-rimmed glasses with cat-eye tips two years ago while shopping at a mall in her hometown, she said.
“I saw the glasses at Nordstrom and just thought, ‘wow those are really cool’ and just bought them on impulse,” Papikian said.
In addition to being a quirky way of expressing one’s style, Papikian said statement glasses are a simple way of completing a look. Trendy sunglasses can accentuate a plain outfit very quickly, Papikian said.
“Sunglasses help cover my face on days when I do not have time for makeup,” Papikian said. “They cover up a lot of my face and still look cool.”
Noelani del Rosario-Sabet, a first-year international development studies student, also owns two pairs of statement sunglasses. Her collection includes a pink-and-blue, round-framed pair from Betsey Johnson and brown, leopard-print, cat-eye glasses from Steve Madden.
She said she has been wearing the leopard-print pair frequently since her mother gifted them to her last month. Although del Rosario-Sabet does not have a definitive style under which all her daily ensembles fall, the sunglasses often complement her outfits, she said.
“I think the glasses are kind of fun and my friends seem to like them,” del Rosario-Sabet said. “I guess they are not your average pair of glasses, which makes them stand out.”
Statement sunglasses also feature a spectrum of brightly colored lenses. Regitze Zdravkovic, a first-year human biology and society student, owns a pair of green-blue, reflective Ray-Bans to add an extra pop of color to her look of the day, she said.
“I wear a lot of different things and a lot of different colors so I do not have a regular style,” Zdravkovic said. “Although I wear my other brown sunglasses more often, I pull out these glasses when it is really sunny and when I am feeling wild.”
Since sunglasses are a large part of the Los Angeles beach culture, Yamada said they are viewed more as a necessity than an accessory. But as statement frames and bold colors grow more popular, sunglasses are becoming a more mainstream way of expressing one’s style while staying protected from the sun, she said.
“Statement sunglasses are making sunglasses a bigger part of a person’s style,” Yamada said.