Rose Tint My World

August 11, 2014 8:42 PM

Looking for 'advanced level' sunglasses that really make things look different.

A year ago, my wife bought me a great pair of Persol sunglasses. They are my first pair of designer sunglasses and I adore them. I'm looking to go one step farther, and buy a pair of expensive sunglasses that really make things look different and better. I don't mind if everything is a bit distorted and weird looking. I want to be taken to another world. Any recommendations?

posted by Hennimore to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

Get them smoked so they are very, very dark. I had a pair like that and they were magic. Made the clouds pop in the sky. A red car blazed in neon fluorescence. A dark purple iris was bright magenta. A cherry tree covered in pink blossoms, also bright magenta. And everyone seemed to have a deep mahogany tan. I miss those glasses so much.
posted by bink at 9:35 PM on August 11, 2014

Ideally, sunglasses should have a brown/amber tint (to correct for the blueness of sunlight) and a good anti-reflective coating and uv protection. I tried a bunch of pairs at the Porsche design store and they are all very lustworthy...and priced to match.

I also once picked up identical pairs of clear and red (sun)glasses and swapped the lenses so there was one red and one clear. It was the oddest visual experience. ..everything red would vibrate as if it were a wholly new color that I named 'murder'
posted by sexyrobot at 10:15 PM on August 11, 2014 [3 favorites]

Apparently these are pretty cool even if you have standard color vision.
posted by you're a kitty! at 10:39 PM on August 11, 2014

(As an aside, the material that is added to glass in order to make it rose colored (as in rose-colored glasses) is gold. I've always wanted a real pair...with gold rims of course)
posted by sexyrobot at 11:22 PM on August 11, 2014

My prescription glasses from Sneaking Duck (a mail-order site in Australia) are tinted blue and it makes the sky look amazing. If you wear prescription glasses but never bothered with prescription sunnies, you're in for a treat.
posted by third word on a random page at 2:06 AM on August 12, 2014

This is a softball answer, but have you ever worn polarized lenses with an anti-reflective coating? Eliminating glare from your vision really makes a difference.
posted by a halcyon day at 6:50 AM on August 12, 2014

Here's a list of various safety glass tints. Get Cobalt blue for hanging out near furnaces or Orange if you're going to be doing sealants in the dentists office.
posted by vespabelle at 8:28 PM on August 12, 2014

I once bought a pair of red-lensed sunglasses that not only made the world look pink, alien, and cool as shit, but also completely canceled out the green LEDs in newer traffic lights. It was very disconcerting. I would be sitting at a red light, and then the traffic light would just go blank, which meant it was green.
posted by brookedel at 4:26 AM on August 13, 2014

I once had a pair of bright blue sunglasses (like these Raybans, except that mine were cheap knockoffs) that made the world an amazing place to walk through. Everything was brighter and more interesting - clouds, trees, cars, buildings, signs, mountains... It felt like every little detail was highlighted just for me, and it was amazing.

In fact, it was so amazing that I gave them away after a couple of months. Taking them off was such a letdown...
posted by The Blue Olly at 7:49 AM on August 13, 2014