Sunglasses are incredibly common here in the United States, with more than ninety five and a half million units of plano sunglasses alone sold back in the year of 2012. In the yeas that have transpired since, this number has only grown. If you’re curious as to exactly what plano sunglasses are, they are simply non prescription sunglasses, meaning that the lenses do not correct vision in any way. Plano glasses, by these standards, would simply be glasses worn for the sake of fashion, and not for any potential vision needs.
However, you can certainly buy sunglasses that have a prescription in the lenses. In fact, prescription sunglasses for men as well as prescription sunglasses for women are hugely important, as they allow people with vision problems (who do not wear contacts, at least not on a regular basis) to protect their eyes with sunglasses. And as a huge percentage of the population here in the United States alone (as well as, of course, throughout much of the rest of the world) needs some time of vision correction in order to safely and effectively go about their day to day lives, the prevalence of prescription sunglasses is a hugely important thing – and certainly not something to be overlooked.
But even plano sunglasses fill and incredibly important role for people not just here in the United States but truly all throughout the world as well. After all, we all know that the sun’s rays can be hugely damaging to skin. What many people don’t realize, however, is that these rays, UVA and UVB alike, can be just as damaging to your eyes – and subsequently to your vision – as well. Finding sunglasses that protect your vision is absolutely essential, as is wearing them during all periods of sun exposure (or at least as frequently as you can reasonably manage).
Fortunately, polarized lenses for sunglasses have been around for quite some time, since the year of 1936, when they were first invented. These polarized sunglasses were first ever brought into being by a man named Edwin H. Land, who patented the polaroid filter before ever making polarized lenses. It was this polaroid filter, in fact, that led him to the creation of polarized lenses in the first place. In the nearly one hundred years that have transpired since this creation, polarized safety sunglasses have only continued to grow and grow in popularity.
In fact, even sunglasses designed purely for the purposes of fashion must block at least seventy percent of the sun’s harmful UVB rays. However, they are not required to block UVA rays at all, so it’s likely a better idea to buy some general purpose sunglasses, which are required by law to be created to block as much as ninety five percent of UVB alone as well as a good portion of UVA light as well. If you’re looking for the optimal protection for your eyes, special purpose sunglasses are likely ideal, as they will block almost all of UVB rays – up to ninety nine percent of them – and the vast majority of UVA rays as well.
But sunglasses, though they protect your eyes and are most important for this purpose, are not just for eye protection and eye protection alone. In fact, many people wear them simply for the fashion statement that they create – or at least wear them because of this in part. And this has long been the case, with LIFE magazine finding, many years ago, that only around thirty percent of people actually purchased them solely for the purposes of protecting their eyes.
This has held true today, of course, as sunglasses, like any other type of glasses, come in many different styles and shapes. They even come in many different sizes as well, meaning that just about everyone who is in need of a pair will be able to find the ones that are right for them and for their face. As not every style is going to look flattering on every face out there, this wide array of variety is a hugely positive thing and one that can certainly help to increase the overall self confidence of the people buy them.