Vanessa Brown is Senior Lecturer in Design and Visual Culture at Nottingham Trent University, UK, and has led modules in commerce, culture and design, postmodernism in art and design, as well as final year research projects.

Brown delivers a fascinating explication of an iconic fashion accoutrement: sunglasses. She discusses how they have served as a popular cultural signifier, particularly since the 1920s, and explains their purportedly ‘cool’ quality … This short but insightful volume explores the influence of urban developments, the early turn to goggles and then eventually to Ray-Ban aviators, and the ultimate evolution of ‘modern cool.’ … According to Brown, sunglasses also were linked with African Americans, the femme fatale, white hipsters, the Beats, and late modernity … Likening shades to Breton’s top hat and Robinson’s bowler, Brown offers that they stand as ‘the ultimate symbol of the age.’ A thoroughly intriguing account. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

• 1. Introduction 2. Sunglasses and Modernity: Why do Modern Eyes Need Shading? 3. Sunglasses and Speed 4. Sunglasses and the Hi-tech Body5. From Sunlight to Fashbulbs: Sunglasses, Success, Celebrity and Glamour 6. Sunglasses and the Other – Race, Gender, the Blind and the Outlaw 7. The Spread of Outsider Cool: 1950s – Present8. Sunglasses and the Absence of Meaning 9. Conclusion10. Timeline (1750 to 1960s)BibliographyIndex

Vanessa Brown is Senior Lecturer in Design and Visual Culture at Nottingham Trent University, UK, and has led modules in commerce, culture and design, postmodernism in art and design, as well as final year research projects.

Brown delivers a fascinating explication of an iconic fashion accoutrement: sunglasses. She discusses how they have served as a popular cultural signifier, particularly since the 1920s, and explains their purportedly ‘cool’ quality … This short but insightful volume explores the influence of urban developments, the early turn to goggles and then eventually to Ray-Ban aviators, and the ultimate evolution of ‘modern cool.’ … According to Brown, sunglasses also were linked with African Americans, the femme fatale, white hipsters, the Beats, and late modernity … Likening shades to Breton’s top hat and Robinson’s bowler, Brown offers that they stand as ‘the ultimate symbol of the age.’ A thoroughly intriguing account. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

• 1. Introduction 2. Sunglasses and Modernity: Why do Modern Eyes Need Shading? 3. Sunglasses and Speed 4. Sunglasses and the Hi-tech Body5. From Sunlight to Fashbulbs: Sunglasses, Success, Celebrity and Glamour 6. Sunglasses and the Other – Race, Gender, the Blind and the Outlaw 7. The Spread of Outsider Cool: 1950s – Present8. Sunglasses and the Absence of Meaning 9. Conclusion10. Timeline (1750 to 1960s)BibliographyIndex

Vanessa Brown is Senior Lecturer in Design and Visual Culture at Nottingham Trent University, UK, and has led modules in commerce, culture and design, postmodernism in art and design, as well as final year research projects.

Brown delivers a fascinating explication of an iconic fashion accoutrement: sunglasses. She discusses how they have served as a popular cultural signifier, particularly since the 1920s, and explains their purportedly ‘cool’ quality … This short but insightful volume explores the influence of urban developments, the early turn to goggles and then eventually to Ray-Ban aviators, and the ultimate evolution of ‘modern cool.’ … According to Brown, sunglasses also were linked with African Americans, the femme fatale, white hipsters, the Beats, and late modernity … Likening shades to Breton’s top hat and Robinson’s bowler, Brown offers that they stand as ‘the ultimate symbol of the age.’ A thoroughly intriguing account. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.

• 1. Introduction 2. Sunglasses and Modernity: Why do Modern Eyes Need Shading? 3. Sunglasses and Speed 4. Sunglasses and the Hi-tech Body5. From Sunlight to Fashbulbs: Sunglasses, Success, Celebrity and Glamour 6. Sunglasses and the Other – Race, Gender, the Blind and the Outlaw 7. The Spread of Outsider Cool: 1950s – Present8. Sunglasses and the Absence of Meaning 9. Conclusion10. Timeline (1750 to 1960s)BibliographyIndex