Jennifer Lopez’s mirrored aviators
The whole outfit was gym clothes. The sunglasses are the only reason it did not read as gym clothes.
Wearing: Out in workout clothes, late August — Ray-Ban mirrored aviators, with a black onesie and Nike Air Prestos
Jennifer Lopez went out in a sleek black onesie and Nike Air Prestos with a pair of mirrored Ray-Ban aviators, and the sunglasses are carrying the entire thing. Take them off and it is activewear. Put them back on and it is an outfit — which is a trick worth understanding, because it costs one item.
The aviator does this better than most frames for a reason that goes back to what it was built for. It is a large teardrop lens on a thin metal frame, designed to cover the whole eye socket, and that combination of substantial lens with almost no visible frame is unusual: it gives you scale without weight. Against something soft and matte like jersey, that hard little bit of metal and glass is the only crisp edge in the outfit.
The mirror coating is doing something separate and worth being deliberate about. A mirrored lens hides your eyes completely — nobody can tell where you are looking or whether you have noticed them. That reads as composure, which is exactly why it suits leaving the gym and exactly why it is the wrong choice for anywhere you want to seem approachable. It is a slightly closed-off accessory and it is worth knowing that before you buy.
One genuinely useful thing about aviators specifically: they sit on adjustable nose pads, which almost no plastic frame has. If a pair sits too low on your face or slides down, the pads can be pinched gently inwards and the whole fit changes. It is the one style of sunglasses you can actually alter to suit you.
What transfers
One hard, crisp accessory rescues an outfit made entirely of soft matte things — and sunglasses are the cheapest way to do it. If you buy metal frames, buy the ones with adjustable nose pads: they are the only sunglasses you can genuinely fit to your own face. And be aware a mirrored lens hides your eyes, which reads as cool in the street and as unfriendly across a table.
