It’s that time of year again when you start thinking about your sunglasses for the summer. If you’re booking a luxury hotel, you need to look the part by the pool. I had already booked my trips away for the year, including lots of stays at Hotel Hermitage in Monaco and Four Seasons Cap Ferrat, which is one of the best Four Seasons hotels in Europe.
So what to choose? Aviators or Wayfarers? Ultra-small or ultra-large lenses? Futuristic wrap-around styles or old-fashioned movie star sunglasses with big black frames? Whatever style you choose it’s hard to pick the right pair of sunglasses because there is so much choice.
Here’s our guide to help you pick the absolute top 10 best designer sunglasses for the summer (even if you just use them to Instagram yourself in your garden or balcony!
1. Vuliwear® Sunglasses
Vuliwear® is a unique brand of designer fashion accessories and clothing with an exclusive line of designer sunglasses that is constantly evolving. All of their plano (non-prescription) sunglasses are unisex and made with high-quality polarized lenses that reduce glare for better color, clarity, and detail and provide UVA/UVB protection from the sun. They are brilliant!
The Vuliwear® mission is to build a collection of distinctive clothing and fashion accessories that are quality, innovative, and creative. They call it “functional fashion” and want to be a part of your own personal style statement.
Vuliwear sunglasses expose the hidden beauty and uniqueness that surround us every day by cleverly incorporating nature into fashion – what’s more fabulous than discovering something cool that’s been right in front of your eyes the entire time? What we love is that the lenses of these sunglasses have designs on them. This makes them unique and makes them look ultra classy.
Yes, Vuliwear sunglasses challenge the norm by focusing on the lenses instead of the frame like most eyewear designers. While the frame is certainly important, what sets Vuliwear apart is their distinctive lenses and a twist on the classic aviator frame both made in Italy. That’s why so many people choose Vuliwear.
Their exclusive lenses are inspired by the awesome colors and patterns of the eyes of insects. Their muse was not found in people but instead in the creepy-crawly world. Fashion and nature at its best!
We particularly love the Zag Vuliwear Sunglasses with stylish squiggles that remind me of an African Savanna. Another favorite of mine is their Deuces Vuliwear Sunglasses with parallel turquoise lines on a purple-hued lense. Just a stunning combination of colors and so very stylish.
2. Gucci
Gucci have it all, discover their vast collection of eyewear at GUCCI UK. Shop aviator glasses, cat-eye sunglasses, and more. My favorites are these stand-out Cat-eye acetate sunglasses. They look like they’re made of wood and are undoubtedly standout sunglasses although they may make you look a little crazy. Are they the best sunglasses for the summer? Only you can decide! They cost £370 GBP.
3. Prada
I am such a fan of Prada ever since my husband came back from a business trip in LA with a gorgeous Prada handbag for me. I treasure it 10 years later and have loved this brand ever since.
My pick of this season’s Prada sunglasses is topped by these oversized sunglasses which are described as having a glamorous contemporary allure. The round frame front is accented with exclusive enamel trim on the metal rims and of Prada lettering logo. They cost around £300 GBP.
4. Ray-Ban
Ray-Ban has made iconic sunglasses since 1937, and it is perhaps best known for its Wayfarer and Aviator lines. Although they are perhaps a more mainstream and slightly obvious choice for your summer sunglasses, they are still excellent at producing stylish, funky shades that are worn by everyone from cultural icons to celebs. As well as their current collections you can also customize your own Ray-Bans on their website and create one-of-a-kind sunglasses just for you, not quite so mainstream after all.
I actually have 3 pairs of Ray-Bans. One pair are metallic aviators, one pair are pink-hued pair of aviators. I have gone for something different for the third pair and ordered them with prescription lenses. I love my pair of Jackie Ohh sunglasses. They start at around £200 GBP.
They say: Set yourself apart with the distinct and flattering Jackie Ohh sunglasses. These sunglasses modernize the iconic Cats frame shape with soft, upswept lines that flatter face shapes. Ray-Ban Jackie Ohh sunglasses are for women who want to turn heads and add a bold look to their style.
Made out of nylon material, Jackie Ohh RB4101 is durable and comfortable to wear. Offered in traditional frame colors, such as black and tortoise, you can easily match these sunglasses to your wardrobe. This unique sunglass style comes in a variety of lens color options that are prescription-friendly and have a polarized option that makes crisp vision and total UV protection a fashion statement.
5. Oakley
Now I don’t claim to be an adrenaline sports enthusiast that truly puts the strength and design of my sunglasses to the test, however, I am renowned for sitting and standing on my sunglasses at least once a season, so I know if my sunglasses can withstand extreme sports.
This is just what Oakley sunglasses are designed for. Extreme sports. And their style should make you look stylish too. If you want to stand out, try their Custom Holbrook™ sunglasses. The third drop in the collaboration with Sam Ross, the man behind A-COLD-WALL, these will take your street credibility up a notch. The cost? Around £156 GBP.
6. Paul Smith
Produced in Italy, the Paul Smith eyewear collection includes a range of specially created sunglasses and glasses in a variety of modern frame shapes.
The Brompton sunglasses epitomize Paul Smith’s love of color. The Brompton is an angular metal style with vintage inspiration, designed to accompany the Arnold. This style features colored supra cords, which capture the lenses from below while adding a subtle hint of color. This style is available as both an optical and sun frame and costs around £265 GBP.
7. Bvlgari
Bvlgari toiletries are my absolute favorite. Their Bvlgari sunglasses aren’t bad, either. They’re lovely. So girly and they look like butterflies. Incredibly delicate with sparkly metallic frames and whimsical colors. At around £270 GBP, they aren’t bad value compared to some of the options above.
8. Gloryfy
Gloryfy sunglasses are some of the best for the summer. As well as being super stylish, they add a fabulous touch of high-tech performance. Every year I seem to lose at least one pair of sunnies when they get stuck down the sun lounger and there goes an arm or when I scratch them in the bottom of my bag!
Problem solved with eyewear from Gloryfy. All their glasses feature unbreakable arms, frames, and lenses so whatever life throws at them, they can take it. The key technology is NBFX™, which means that even under extreme deformation, the glasses pop back to their original shape. Another great advantage of the material is that it is extremely lightweight. There’s a huge range of funky colors, chic styles, sizes, and finishes in their collection, and a separate sports range too.
9. Oliver Goldsmith
The history of this eyewear brand is as impressive as its range of sunglasses. Oliver Goldsmith has one of the most influential design heritages of any eyewear company still in production. Established in 1926, this iconic, family-run, British eyewear brand has been instrumental in opening people’s minds to the idea that sunglasses are a key accessory to any outfit. The V&A Museum kindly describes Oliver Goldsmith as the “originator of fashion eyewear”, and “to eyewear design what Vidal Sassoon is to hair and Mary Quant to clothes”. Top style points then, as well as an appealing range of colors and styles perfect for the summer, just with that added bit of history.
10. Sili Sunglasses
So, who is Sili I hear you ask, well they are a company dreamed up by necessity rather than desire; a bunch of individuals who love extreme sports and were quite frankly tired of constantly breaking their frames doing the things they love. To solve this problem, they simply created a pair of great-looking, durable sunglasses that come apart on impact with the slopes, sand, or anything else for that matter. Made from an extremely flexible, shatter-resistant, and light polymer, Sili Sunglasses bend but bounce right back to their original shape, and their polarised lenses have UV400 protection ensuring excellent levels of vision clarity. The material is also lighter than your usual sunglasses plastic making them seriously comfortable to wear all day long.
Part of the fun with Sili Sunglasses is that you can create a pair to truly reflect your personality (or simply just to go with a specific outfit – more my style!) using their interactive builder tool. Choose the frame, choose the arms, and choose the lenses – et voila, one pair of custom-made Sili Sunglasses designed by you. Perhaps they offer the best-individualized sunglasses for the summer?
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