The future is so bright
May 23, 2016 2:17 PM Subscribe
Aleut eyewear was worn by those in the frozen north for hundreds of years before the concept was re-introduced as fashion in the 1930’s, the 1950’s, the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s and into the 2000’s.
Previously on AskMefi
Previously on AskMefi
Some of these are very cool, but, I mean, does anybody outside of the runway actually wear something like this?
posted by KGMoney at 2:42 PM on May 23, 2016
posted by KGMoney at 2:42 PM on May 23, 2016
This confirms my observation that people will put anything on their heads.
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:49 PM on May 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:49 PM on May 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Sun Ra wore these on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1969
posted by stinkfoot at 2:54 PM on May 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by stinkfoot at 2:54 PM on May 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
does anybody outside of the runway actually wear something like this?
Nah - they make it too hard to text while walking.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:19 PM on May 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Nah - they make it too hard to text while walking.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:19 PM on May 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Neat post!
I've always liked the poster for the movie Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) because it features this type of eyewear. (It's a great movie, too.)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:25 PM on May 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
I've always liked the poster for the movie Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) because it features this type of eyewear. (It's a great movie, too.)
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:25 PM on May 23, 2016 [5 favorites]
Ragging on fashion designers is low-hanging fruit to be sure, but I'm continually impressed that people make a comfortable living by coming up with outlandish, impractical fashion designs that other people later adapt into functional clothing.
Seems to be in the same category as architects that design buildings that are intentionally hostile toward its inhabitants. Except people are actually required to function in those buildings
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:30 PM on May 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
Seems to be in the same category as architects that design buildings that are intentionally hostile toward its inhabitants. Except people are actually required to function in those buildings
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:30 PM on May 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
Oh my, I had a pair of the Sea & Ski sunglasses (the orange ones with the one long slit) when I was a kid.
posted by Archer25 at 3:32 PM on May 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Archer25 at 3:32 PM on May 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
We made something similar out of birch bark on a boy scouts canoe trip way back in the day.
posted by peeedro at 4:10 PM on May 23, 2016
posted by peeedro at 4:10 PM on May 23, 2016
TFA keeps using the term "Eskimo." Am I off base, or is that kinda uncool? I wasn't aware that Eskimo was considered an acceptable demonym for anyone anymore. Not trying to threadshit, it's just that I literally couldn't read the article because I kept tripping over that word—it really rubbed me the wrong way. Is there some context I'm unaware of in which it's OK to refer to people as "Eskimos?"
That said, there sure are some wacky sunglasses in there. I've always thought that the slits were a really clever design if you're working without access to tinted glass, but seeing them appropriated by Western fashion always strikes me as a bit odd. I mean, OK, there's a novelty factor there, but mostly what you're doing by wearing these (in the presence of easily-available, better-performing options) is condemning yourself to a life of banging your shins on low tables and tripping on uneven pavement. So it's strange to me that people persist in making new versions of this style. Does anybody who isn't an actual First Nations person wear these for more than a few minutes at a time? It's like going around everywhere with a full-face Halloween mask on, the kind with only tiny bits of black mesh for eyeholes.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:41 PM on May 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
That said, there sure are some wacky sunglasses in there. I've always thought that the slits were a really clever design if you're working without access to tinted glass, but seeing them appropriated by Western fashion always strikes me as a bit odd. I mean, OK, there's a novelty factor there, but mostly what you're doing by wearing these (in the presence of easily-available, better-performing options) is condemning yourself to a life of banging your shins on low tables and tripping on uneven pavement. So it's strange to me that people persist in making new versions of this style. Does anybody who isn't an actual First Nations person wear these for more than a few minutes at a time? It's like going around everywhere with a full-face Halloween mask on, the kind with only tiny bits of black mesh for eyeholes.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:41 PM on May 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
I've got to get a pair of these, not for the fashion, but for the original purpose. More than once I've had to wear sunglasses while walking through a blizzard at night because without eye protection I'm blinded by the snow and ice being whipped into my eyes. Also might come in handy during pie fights.
posted by ejs at 5:00 PM on May 23, 2016
posted by ejs at 5:00 PM on May 23, 2016
Is Eskimo cool anywhere? According to some sources, yes for Alaskan natives, but no for elsewhere.
1. They don't all want to be lumped together.
2. Eskimo is most likely derived from raw meat eater.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:19 PM on May 23, 2016
1. They don't all want to be lumped together.
2. Eskimo is most likely derived from raw meat eater.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:19 PM on May 23, 2016
I guess you could call these goggles the original... optical aleutians.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 5:22 PM on May 23, 2016 [21 favorites]
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 5:22 PM on May 23, 2016 [21 favorites]
Archer25, I didn't own a pair of those orange glasses myself but someone in my life must have because I remember them very clearly!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:27 PM on May 23, 2016
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:27 PM on May 23, 2016
ejs: "I'm blinded by the snow and ice being whipped into my eyes."
Common misconception but "snow blindness" is not about getting snow physically in your eyes, but about snow reflecting sunlight into your eyes.
When the ground isn't covered in white stuff, you might get away with a brim on your hat to keep the sun out of your eyes. But that would do nothing about the reflected light. I've never thought of this analogy before, but you could imagine this like two hat brims, pushed very close together.
posted by RobotHero at 7:24 PM on May 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
Common misconception but "snow blindness" is not about getting snow physically in your eyes, but about snow reflecting sunlight into your eyes.
When the ground isn't covered in white stuff, you might get away with a brim on your hat to keep the sun out of your eyes. But that would do nothing about the reflected light. I've never thought of this analogy before, but you could imagine this like two hat brims, pushed very close together.
posted by RobotHero at 7:24 PM on May 23, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is also one of the reasons you have to really be aware of sun exposure off of snow on bare skin in the spring. One is all pasty from lack of sun all winter and one is getting a double dose (direct and reflected) of UV. And to top it off bottoms of body parts are getting a dose. It can make for really uncomfortable burns.
posted by Mitheral at 9:13 PM on May 23, 2016
posted by Mitheral at 9:13 PM on May 23, 2016
I need prescription lenses or I would be all about wearing these while biking on low-traffic roads with few intersections. Inexpensive sun/wind protection!
posted by aniola at 9:19 PM on May 23, 2016
posted by aniola at 9:19 PM on May 23, 2016
One of the robbers in the delightful tv series "Sanzoku no Musume Rōnya" wears these glasses.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:49 AM on May 24, 2016
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:49 AM on May 24, 2016
I need prescription lenses, but sometimes I think: Couldn't something like this function like a pinhole camera, to focus the light for me instead of glass/plastic lenses?
At the eye doctor, they have a test where they have me hold a thing over my eye that has a bunch of small holes punched in it. I can read the letters better! So the data indicates that this might work. I don't know if it would work with slits, though.
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 12:05 PM on May 25, 2016
At the eye doctor, they have a test where they have me hold a thing over my eye that has a bunch of small holes punched in it. I can read the letters better! So the data indicates that this might work. I don't know if it would work with slits, though.
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 12:05 PM on May 25, 2016
Squint. Do you see better? Then it'll work. How well it will work, I don't know.
posted by I-baLL at 5:47 AM on May 26, 2016
posted by I-baLL at 5:47 AM on May 26, 2016
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posted by MonkeyToes at 2:26 PM on May 23, 2016