What Makes a Sunglass Design Special? An Interview with the Founder of SunglassMonster.com.
You say each sunglass style on SunglassMonster.com is hand selected. What do you mean by that?
Sunglasses are special. They are worn not only to protect your eyes from the harmful long term effects of UV rays, but also as fashion statement. Sunglasses helps to define your personality. In other words, they can complement your personality, or they can really provide a distinctive first impression. So, when our designers help create sunglass designs with our factories, every curve, every color and every unique accent is carefully considered. Every sunglass design is tweaked hundreds, if not thousands of times until the design grabs us and defines a personality.
So, what do you look for in a sunglass design?
A sunglass design has to have personality. Some designs have a a more dominant personality, while some are complimentary. Most of our customers prefer a complimentary style, and some prefer a style that really pops and grabs attention. Its up to the customer to determine how much attention they really want. We design unique styles that are bit different from the styles you find everywhere else. Afterall, we all want to be a little bit different from everyone else.
What about comfort?
Yes, comfort is very important. Comfortable sunglass frames is usually associated with light weight frames. If the frames are light weight, they will weigh less on your nose and not cause too much friction behind your ears. We use a very light weight Zylonite which is a form of cellulose acetate material with all of our sunglass frames. The result is a flexible, durable and light weight material which allows our customers to wear their SGM sunglasses for hours and not even notice they are on. For our sports glasses, we integrate rubber nose pieces on 90% of our styles to prevent slippage if you start to sweat. For many of our casual styles, we use floating silicone nose pieces which self adjust to different nose bridge sizes.
What is your favorite style of Sunglasses?
As a child, I thought Wayfarer sunglasses were the coolest design on the planet. And since I had a low nose bridge, the Wayfarer actually fit my face. The reason is because Wayfarers are fairly flat (have a low base curve) and don’t curve into my eyelashes. Buy wayfarers have been around for decades and almost everyone has a pair. Lately, I have been wearing Aviator inspired sunglasses. Not necessarily the tear dropped aviators, but the square shaped aviators with rounded corners. They fit my face and the floating nose pieces are great for my low nose bridge. They also have a distinctive tough, yet mature style. They are just cool and fit my personality.
What’s your final word of advice on sunglasses?
I would have to say select sunglasses that are YOU. Embrace your taste and your personality and choose sunglasses that complement or enhance your style. Sunglasses are fun. This may sound cheesy, but sunglasses really determine how you see the world. Everything you see can be changed by your sunglasses. Add some variety to your life – purchase 2 or 3 different pairs to reflect the different moods you may be in, or the outfit you are wearing that day. You should be excited to wear a different style tomorrow or the next day. Experiment with different lens colors, mirrored lenses, and don’t forget to try polarized lenses.