Cool shades : the history and meaning of sunglasses / Vanessa Brown

Object Details

Author

Gill-Brown, Vanessa 1970-

NMAH copy Purchased from the NMAH Library Endowment.

Contents

Introduction : Why write a book about sunglasses? -- Modernity: an onslaught on the eyes -- Seeing the blur: perception, cool and mechanized speed (1910-present) -- Seeing the cyborg: eye-shading, cool, and the hi-tech body (1910-present) -- Seeing in the light: "sun"glasses, modern glamor, cool, and celebrity (1920s-present) -- Seeing in the dark: sunglasses and "outsider" cool (1940s-present) -- Heading for the shade: the spread of outsider cool (1950s-present) -- Seeing in the "eclipse": sunglasses, cool and the absence of meaning (late 1950s-present) -- Sunglasses and cool: conclusions

Summary

"Cool Shades provides the first in-depth exploration of the enduring appeal of sunglasses in visual culture, both historically and today. Ubiquitous in fashion, advertising, film and graphic design, sunglasses are the ultimate signifier of 'cool' in mass culture; a powerful attribute pervading much fashion and pop cultural imagery which has received little scholarly attention until now. Accessible and highly engaging, this book offers an original history of how sunglasses became a fashion accessory in the early twentieth century, and addresses the complex variety of meanings they have the power to articulate, through associations with vision, light, glamour, darkness, fashion, speed and technology in the context of modernity. Cool Shades will be of great interest to students of fashion, design, visual and material culture, cultural studies and sociology, as well as general readers fascinated by this iconic fashion staple"-- Provided by publisher.

2015

20th century

Type

Books

History

Physical description

viii, 177 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Smithsonian Libraries

Topic

Sunglasses

Fashion

Popular culture--History

Record ID

siris_sil_1093180

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0