Why do sunglasses look cool

Log in or link your magazine subscription. Account Profile. Sign Out. Tags: sunglasses attractiveness the science of attraction science of us. Most Viewed Stories. The pilots needed glare reduction that was powerful enough for the bright sunlight of high altitudes, but would still leave their vision precise.

Edwin Land — who one year later would found the Polaroid company — developed the lens polarization process that protected pilots' eyes from dangerous UV rays. The iconic full-coverage shape was then developed and the shades were distributed throughout the Air Force. After the war, the association with fighter pilots made the aviator style instantly cool. They've been a men's style mainstay ever since. Vanessa Brown, a cultural researcher at Nottingham Trent University who wrote the book Cool Shades: The History and Meaning of Sunglasses , theorizes that the accessory's cachet comes from a sense of mystery.

By partially hiding the face, they invite curiosity. That's the hypothesis of psychology researchers at the University of Nevada. In other words, what women find sexy may have a lot more to do with what's hidden than what's on display. Even in a platonic context, a sense of intrigue combined with great personal style is bound to draw people in. If they sense there's something you're not giving away, they want to find out more.

The researchers hypothesize that wearing shades contributes to a feeling of anonymity that makes people less accountable. Sunglasses hide important social cues — creating that sense of mystery mentioned above, but also throwing a very slight wrench in the usual give and take of human interaction.

You've probably heard that handsomeness is more or less a function of facial symmetry. Humans find order aesthetically pleasing, and a face whose two sides are very uniform has a natural appeal. Of course, no human being's face is perfectly symmetrical.

But most of the asymmetry is actually concentrated close to the eyes. So covering this area — say with a pair of sunglasses — can give you an edge in the looks department, at least at first glance. Sunlight contains ultraviolet UV radiation — a leading factor in skin cancers and diseases of the eye and eyelid. These are among the most common cancers and a major cause of death in American men. Don't let this sobering news scare you out of the sun — sunlight is also essential for processing certain nutrients and regulating brain chemistry.

A significant part of our judgement about others comes from eye contact. With a simple look, we can gauge an idea of the potential intelligence, the confidence and the sincerity of the person in front of us.

Wearing sunglasses removes any possibility of this first impression and the judgement that we can make when meeting someone for the first time. Brown points to Hollywood stars as the ones who have made the accessory an essential part of a glamorous wardrobe.

In the s and s, stars who wanted to avoid being recognised in public or harassed by the paparazzi would hide behind dark glasses. She adds that at that time, the camera flashes would even explode in the faces of the celebrities. It was therefore a means of protection in more way than one.