The Best Sunglasses, According to Some of the Most Tasteful People I Know
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Likeeyeglasses, sunglasses make the face. Think Madonna inDesperately Seeking Susanversus Madonna inEvita, or Julia Roberts inNotting Hillversus Julia Roberts inErin Brockovich. The right pair of sunglasses not only draws attention to the features you want to emphasize — say, a cat-eye pair for high cheekbones — they’re a necessaryaccessoryfor showing personality. (TheSelima Optiquesthat Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy wore say as much about her as Joan Didion’sCelines.) If you’re in search of new sunglasses that do just that, you’ve come to the right place. I asked some of the most tasteful bespectacled people I know for their recommendations. The list that follows includes one pair bought after a hard breakup for “sobbing on the subway” and another that even prompted a compliment from Grace Coddington. And for more summer-related programming, check out our guides onsandalsandswimsuits.
Under$100
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The most reliable pair of sunglasses Strategist senior editorHilary Reidhas are Madewell’s Russells. Unlike many narrower frames, she says thesedon’tlook “disproportionately horizontal” on her longer, oval-shaped face.
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Our contributorKatie Stone’s hunt forgood-looking, under-$50 sunglassesturned upQuince’s“Ibiza” style. They offer UV400 protection and CR-39 (or scratch-resistant) lenses. Stone was impressed. “I have to give it to them — the quality does feel on par with a luxury brand,” she says.
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And another Stone find was this I-SEA pair — among the cheapest ofAnthropologie’s sunglasses offerings. “They’re sun-protecting and — not to sound like a grandmother — hip,” Stone says.
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Ruby Buddemeyer, the director of copy atStarface, picked these up a few weeks back. They’re what she wears instead of her Prada shades if she’s going to the beach or hiking because she doesn’t have to betoocareful with them. “I’ve dropped them like ten times already and haven’t seen any scratches,” she says.
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Le Specs Outta Love
Wall Street Journalart editorAlexandra Citrin-Safadipurchased her first pair of these Le Specs on the RealReal, lost them, and then replaced them with the same pair, bought new, that she still wears. “I completely abuse sunglasses and cannot be bothered to use a case, so mine need to be able to withstand the weight of a laptop and multiple sketchbooks at the bottom of my bag,” she says. “Fortunately, the Le Specs are tougher than they look.” She suggests getting them with black (officially “smoke”) lenses, which are “necessary for people-watching” comfortably.
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Warby Parker Kadri
IllustratorLaura Supnikmight’ve only had these Warby Parkers for less than a year, but there’s not really a time she doesn’t have them on her. “They’re a very chic size,” she says. “They’re not too big or too small.”
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Warby Parker Patty Sunglasses
The Weird Real’sAlisha Bansaldidn’t really knowwhyEmma Chamberlainwas famous, but she still ordered theseWarby Parker x Emma Chamberlainsunglasses all the same. It helped that they’re trendy but nottootrendy thanks to the squared-off shape andnot-too-brown browncolor. “I think they’re a great value, where they aren’t falling apart like the ones you get on the street, but they aren’t Oliver Peoples, where you need to actually take care of them,” she says. They recently survived a lake swim and stayed on even after a tumble off a tube: “I thought I lost them in the water then realized they were still on my face.”
[Editor’s note: Warby Parker’s Patty is currently sold out, but similar styles include theElio,Fletcher, andGriffin.]
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Because of her fear of commitment, writerSarah Wood Gonzáleztold me she has delayed investing in sunglasses, instead depending on “hand-me-downs from friends after one ill-fated purchase of Prada sunglasses post-breakup.” But moving back to New York last month from “oft-gray Scotland,” her eyes have suffered, and a new pair of sunglasses was necessary. These shades, the most inexpensive on the list, are the low-commitment ones she chose to “protect my eyes for now until I reach eyewear enlightenment,” she says. “I’m surprised to say that I really like them.”
Under$250
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Noihsaf Bazaar’s Kate Lindello received a pair of Karen Walker’s Number One as a birthday present in 2013 only to have them stolen from a bathroom stall five years later. Lindello didn’t realize how much she missed them until she replaced them in 2023. “They look as fresh now as they did back in 2013,” she says. Her No. 1 and No. 2 Number Ones have seen a lot, including a “mountain-biking trip in Arkansas, many summers on the shores of Lake Superior sunbathing, walks along the shoreline of Devil Track Lake,” and even the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. They stayed put through it all.
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“I was lucky if I’d get a pair of Ray-Bans for a high-school birthday and had to hope to God they’d see me through to my first adult paycheck. They wouldn’t, obviously,” saysKate Snyder, the brand-marketing manager atLoeffler Randall. Crap Eyewear’s styles evoked the look of a dad’s Wayfarers or the Tom Cruise aviators she wanted — at a price point she could stomach working a retail job while in college. Somehow the “knockaround acetate” has held on for almost a decade now. They haven’t gone out of style. “I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty sure the geometry of the square frame and my round face exists in perfect balance,” she says. Several people have asked where they’re from and “it’s always a bonus when I get to say, ‘They’re Crap.’” Snyder says. “Crap, a criminally underused word in my vocabulary ever since I turned about 14.”
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No sunglasses-related list would be complete withoutRay-Ban, founded by Bausch & Lomb in 1936. It sells hundreds of sunglasses underLuxotticanow (the same manufacturer that makes sunglasses for Prada, Persol, and Oliver Peoples). It was a publicist at Sunglass Hut’s invitation to try styles from the store that led writerBella Druckmanto these, new to the Oval Family. A glasses-wearer since the age of 3, Druckman didn’t know how to feel about them at first. “I’m really picky about how the glasses make my nose look,” she says. It turns out that the nose bridge, which sits slightly higher, is the right fit for her. As the most expensive pair of sunglasses she’s ever had, she’s careful about keeping them in their case, and so far there’s nary a scratch. “I wear them all the time on the train to avoid making eye contact with people,” she tells me.
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Once loyal to round Ray-Bans, branded-content strategistMaria Del Russoswitched to these subtly hexagonal Ray-Bans after her others broke. (“I like that they’re slightly different,” she says.) They’re now the ones she reaches for more often than not. “These are like thewhite T-shirtof sunglasses in that they go with literally everything,” she says.
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Personal shopperMeredith Fergusondoesn’t leave these Ray-Bans in her sunglasses drawer — they stay right by the front door. Whether she’s going on a weekend trip to Newport or Austin or has a boat day in store, they’re what she wears. It’s hard to sayexactlyhow many pairs she’s had. “Not because they break, but because I’ve lost them and when they aren’t readily available, I get annoyed, ha,” she says.
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“You can either be suddenly aura-maxing or be giving Coachella douchebag” in a pair of tinted sunglasses, notes costume designerMichelle Li. Tens’ Lane shades are on the “aura-maxing” side. They’re “the amber-tinted lenses to end all amber-tinted lenses,” featuringSpectachrome(inspired by the color palettes of Wes Anderson films likeMoonrise Kingdom). “I can tell that the color of the filter was developed by someone who really understands grading,” she says. (Indeed, Tens was founded by photographers.) “I’m obsessed with the hue of these because they bring out the complements of oranges and teals in just about everything.” They also meet Li’s fit criteria: They have a comfortable width and nose bridge and don’t rest on her cheeks, “which is often a problem with sunglasses on Asian faces,” she says. She’s worn them everywhere from the Caribbean, London, Cannes, and Iceland to Newfoundland, Bali, and Singapore. They’ve also made appearances all over the city, “whether it’s dancing with Public Service at Herbert Von King Park or laying out in McCarren Park.”
Under$500
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Selima Optique is behind theAldo, famously worn byCarolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The Carolyn came after, at the “requests of many Aldo fans asking for a slightly larger frame,” according to the company. It’s the pair stylistDoria Santloferhas been wearing for almost a decade. By far, the best compliment she’s gotten on them was from Grace Coddington, who told Santlofer she liked them while they were in line buying cookies at a bakery. Santlofers appreciates that they aren’t too wide on her narrow face, “but they aren’t so small that you have to worry about not getting enough eye protection.”
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Persol PO3286S
Fanny Singer, founder ofPermanent Collectionand co-author ofThe Green Spoon, is a traditionalist when it comes to sunglasses. Her father had Persols, which left a big impression on her as a kid. So when Singer covered the opening of the Venice Biennale forWSJ.and mistakenly left a pair off her packing list (“after one night of little sleep and too many spritzes I was reminded of the necessity of having shades you can wear all day”), she got Persols. They’re a happy medium in size. They’ve become her most abuse-resistant pair. That’s thanks to the “brilliant engineering at the earpiece connector” that makes them especially flexible. Important, as they “take a fair amount of manhandling by inquisitive toddlers.” These check off all the boxes for her. “Good sunglasses are for me sunglasses that are not broken or scratched — low bar — bonus points for being chic.”
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After turning 30, design consultantMerie Subryan’s “eyesight quietly decided it was done,” and she needed sunglasses that would help hersee. Moscot’s are offered in non-prescription, progressive, and single-vision prescriptions. “If you ever need adjustments or repairs, you can bring them back,” Subryan says. (You can evenschedule an eye exam.) She’s had the Lemtosh (also available asglasses). They come inruby,blush, andsage, but inemerald, they “somehow read like a neutral.” They’ve held up well for over three years, and have seen everything from beach days and park adventures to ice-cream runs.
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Krewe Galvan
Up until this year, art historianSarah Isenbergdidn’t own sunglasses that either cost over $20 or come from a man off the street (or sometimes both). That all changed with Krewe’s Galvan. “I’ve never seen anything like them,” she says. “They’re givingTron. They’re giving2001: A Space Odyssey, and they arenotgivingWhite Lotus.” (Her boyfriend even borrows them.) Plus “the lenses are tinted enough to keep the sun out of your eye, but not so tinted that you get whiplash from taking them on and off.” Isenberg makes sure not to throw them anywhere unprotected, as she’s done with previous sub-$20 pairs, and “save for the inevitable smudges,” they’ve remained in pristine condition over a few months now. (But per thewarranty: “If I accidentally sit on these — which, with the way I treat my things, will happen at some point — they’ll replace them at no cost.” At least for the first pair.)
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Krewe Margaret
Everything seems better through Krewe’s Margaret frames to content creatorClaudia Williams. They were the only sunglasses she took with her on a two-week trip to Cap Ferret, a little beach town off the French coast, where she even wore them while swimming: “The water was ice cold, and I was just floating there while looking up at the sky through them. The perfect moment.” She says they sit perfectly on her head and get the hair out of her face, too. “They really are a pair of sunglasses I intend to own for a lifetime, God willing,” she says.
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Li impulse-purchased these Alexander McQueens after a hard breakup. “They’re amazing for sobbing on an airplane, sobbing at the park, and sobbing on the subway,” she says. “Not only are the blackout lenses large enough to completely cover your puffy eyes, they’re so chic that no one would ever know you’re actually going through some insane heartbreak.” But there are better memories associated with them, too. They’ve seen international trips and 24-hour bodegas, been front and center at New York Fashion Week shows, and “basically anywhere where I want to feel a little aloof or there’s some fluorescent lighting going on.” These are also the perfect width-to-lens-size ratio for her face. “I find that the reflective detail gives a flattering edge to the cut of one’s face,” she adds.
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“I can never figure out what face shape I have. Round? Heart? Just … face-shaped?” saysCatbirdfounderRony Vardi. But these frames from theGarrett Light and Clare V. collaborationaren’t too big or too small. “It’s really the perfect cat eye,” she says. Reid also has a pair she bought on the RealReal several years ago and confirms that they are indeed a cat eye that flatters an oval face.
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It was on the way from Zurich to Venice that Catbird’s chief creative officer,Leigh Plessner, landed on these Miu Miu cat-eye shades. They “felt like the exact right bit of specificity” with their tilted shape and slender arms suiting what she calls a long face. “I lovingly call myself a fading flower (I’m 46) and I feel like they give me a little lift.” Now whenever Plessner wears them, she thinks of tucking into the Peggy Guggenheim Collection to see the Cocteau exhibit and her daughter holding her hand across a lagoon.
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Joan Didion’s Celine (née Céline) adwas formative for writerUma Bates. She remembers a friend’s stepmother — who had a convertible — driving around with the oversize pair one summer, too. So Bates got a pair of her own, which she’s now had for at least a decade (we’ve linked to the currently sold model). “They’ve held up through my 20s almost as well as I have,” she says. They’re well-traveled. She’s taken them to Paris, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. “I’m grateful to have them whenever I need to hide my face around New York.”
Over$500
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An older model of Celines are the sunglasses thatAisha Joshi, editor atProduce Partiesand writer ofClose Friends, puts on the most. It took a solo trip to Ischia to realize how much use she could get out of them. “These are perfect ‘everywhere’ sunglasses, instead of, say, a pair you wear to lay out at the beach,” she says.
[Editor’s note: Since Joshi’s Celines are no longer sold online, we linked to the similar Triomphe 15s.]
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Oliver Peoples x Khaite’s eyewear is inspired by the hardware of Khaite’s handbags, and their respective logos are at the end of each leg. The 1969Cs were gifted to freelance fashion editorChristina Holevas. “I probably would have bought them anyway. I had my eye on them because they were similar to a pair of cat-eye Ray-Bans that I lost,” she says. “I feel a bit more glamorous and mysterious when I wear them.” And she’s worn them nearly every day for two years. They’ve survived trips to Milos, Greece, Winnifred Beach in Jamaica, and the Jersey Shore.
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“I’m always looking for a pair of sunglasses that frames my eyebrows correctly. I want to see them, not have them completely covered,” Buddemeyer says. All the Prada frames she’s tried on over the years did — except the Symbole. Her partner surprised her with them for a birthday. “I had never seen this pair until I opened them up,” she says. “They’re truly the most ‘me’ sunglasses.” Fair warning: Because of the way the arms are (like a headband, as a sales associate at Prada described them to her), they can feel tight at first. Buddemeyer ended up taking them to an optometrist to have them stretched out a little. It’s less a problem, and more a preference kind of thing, she tells me.
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These Bottega Venetas are what Ferguson takes to every summer wedding she goes to, including internationally to Tuscany, Lake Como, Saint-Tropez, Positano, and Sydney, and domestically to Cape May, Big Sur, and St. Petersberg. She had them on during her own rehearsal dinner in Ojai. “They are the kind of sunglasses you can wear with an evening gown or with white jeans and a button-down,” she says.
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