Police sunglasses are decidedly a men’s fashion statement. With huge names in their male advertising scheme like Antonio Bandaras, George Clooney and Justin Timberlake, it’s no wonder men are flocking to these attractive, sleek and modern designs. But what about women? Can and should women wear men’s eyewear designs?

Many men choose Police sunglasses not for their massively sucesfull and alluring ad campaigns, but because Police sunglasses are designer style without being cheeky or covered in bright colors or oversized logos. For the most part, men’s fashion excels at understating the obvious and playing up simplicity to the point of perfection. Police sunglasses have mastered the art of casual seduction with their latest men’s line, but should women attempt to make the look work for them?

There are two primary concerns regarding women wearing men’s designs. First, the frames are slightly bigger allowing for larger male heads (most women reading this are, naturally, thinking of a male they know with a big ego after that last statement). Because women have thinner and smaller heads, the men’s sunglasses might not fit comfortably or stably. Additionally, men’s eyes will be ever so slightly further apart so the gap between the lenses will be slightly bigger. For smaller women, this may make them unwearble. So, before you buy your men’s sunglasses for yourself, ladies, try on a few pairs to make sure they fit comfortably and that sunlight does not stream in around the lenses (defeating the point of having sunglasses in the first place).

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Green eyes are the rarest eye color on the planet, and yet one of the most desirable and attractive colors. More and more people are getting green eyes via tinted contact lenses, like those by Bausch & Lomb, but for natural green eyes, you can expect lighter skin with red or blonde hair. Finding sunglasses that look good on a red head is not an easy feat. Here are a few tips to help the green-eyed beauties out there.

For red hair, you’ll want to do one of two things with your designer sunglasses options. For the eccentric and creative red heads, perhaps a nice pair of Alexander McQueen or Ed Hardy sunglasses would draw attention to your eyes so that when you do lower your shades the green emerald eyes beneath will stand out like a single tree on a prairie hill. This method is bold and creative, and for folks with red hair that is out of control wild perhaps it might draw too much attention to your head. For soft, gentle red heads this method, however, is perfect.

On the inverse, nothing can be more alluring than simplicity. A traditional pair of brown or copper-tinted sunglasses like those by Police (for men) or Bolle (for women) offer a slight bit of contract and really accent the green eyes beneath the sunnies. The simple approach is far more high brow, but can be played down with bright colored clothing or a fun hat.

Finally, to keep your green eyes looking bold, outline them in copper or brown shades of shadow and liner to make them really pop. If you wear contact lenses, a slight green enhancer in your lenses could really boost your color and give your whole look added pizzazz.

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Carrera. These are, of course, always in style. But more recently Carrera shades have made it off the beaches and into cinema. You can see these shades, and similar ones, in such films as Iron Man, they have adapted from purely surfer’s wear to a chic urban option as well. (Paris Hilton seen in Carrera in image).

Emporio Armani. Always hot, Armani has made a splash this summer with their 2010 line. Not always the classy black shades you imagine, Armani has something for every style fanatic, and the diversity of the new line is a firm step in the right direction for Armani.

Versace. For women, there are very few designers more aware of the female form, or more focused on enhancing natural beauty with fashion. For the true diva, Versace has always been a top choice, this summer is no different.

Jimmy Choo. For the urban elite, Jimmy Choo has managed to steal some of the limelight only Prada used to enjoy. His shoe, purse and eyewear designs are legendary, bold and in high demand. Expect to see a lot of Jimmy Choo in the coming months.

Chloe. Always feminine, always cute. These summer shades are ideal for beach time, casual relaxing with friends or a first date. The designs are adorable, and because they are designed for women, they don’t overly crowd the face.

Bvlgari. For elegance, charm and simplicity, there is nothing more stable than Bvlgari for a nice yacht ride, a long summer drive, or even an elegant trip to the race track. The women’s line is simple and yet elegant while the men’s line infuses masculinity and rustic grace into a final product that is definitely lust worthy.

MiuMiu. Only an offshoot of Prada could have earned such fame and renown in such a short amount of time. MiuMiu is incredibly popular with a younger, more vibrant crowd of urban and rural dwellers. The simple designs of Prada have been infused with color and spunk.

Rudy Project. For men, especially serious athletes, military fanatics or sports fans, there is nothing on the market better than Rudy Project. The Israeli military even uses them in their sniper division! Pro athletes from around the globe adore them, and they are sure to be around for quite a while.

Marc Jacobs. The simple and yet memorable designs of Marc Jacobs have always been popular. This summer we expect to see more men then women following the Jacobs trend. The simple sophistication they offer is perfect for the workplace or business as well as casual sport.

Spy. A classical newbie to the summer hot list, these sunnies are a charming new favorite and we’re excited to see what new designs they produce this fall.

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For summer, there are few designs more perfectly suited for both the city and the outback than Serengeti. These sunnies are perfect for any warm climate and offer great protection with casual style at an affordable price. Need more reasons to love Serengeti?—Here are just a few to get you started.

1. Serengeti sunnies have perfectly tinted lenses in a soft brown/orange hue that actually works to increase visual contrast and cut down on peripheral glare. The hue is also visually attractive on almost every skin color as a casual and yet coordinated color that has an overall adventurous and calculated look that can match any outfit.

2. Serengeti frames are made from sturdy, high-quality materials that make them suitable for the great outdoors as well as the cement jungle of city life. With a dynamic lens hue and beautifully accented frame colors, you’ll have a great looking set of sunnies that are top quality and long lasting.

3. Serengeti sunglasses are perfect for a broad range of sports and hobbies, including driving, shooting, biking, hiking and day-to-day urban use. Because of the wonderfully and expertly tinted lenses, Serengeti sunglasses are especially popular in the driving world, both for casual drives and for professional and stunt drivers. For driving, you really want light weight, tan or orange tinted sunglasses that block glare and decrease the shock from reflected light (headlights, for example).

4. Serengeti sunglasses have a prestige to them similar to Ray Ban in that a very distinct class of people wear them. Yachting, driving, and golf are just some of the sports and life-styles that are in love with Serengeti sunglasses.

5. For designer sunglasses, Serengeti are surprisingly affordable. And this is especially cool since they are frames most commonly worn by the upper crust and those obsessed with sporting and hobbies.

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Lindsey Lohan in there Dior sunglasses is a great example of a celebrity who has found the perfect look for her face shape and color. Though she wore this getup while appearing before a judge recently on several charges, she still managed to look professional, crisp, clean and most importantly—not like a menace to society! She makes these old-fashioned, throw-back frames look extremely modern, chic and cool. Thanks Lindsey Lohan for giving a nod at fashion the correct way. For a bit more ‘out-there’ coolness, take a look at Elton John’s sunglass-wearing career. From strange piano and sunglasses album covers to random appearances in public and on stage in cool sunnies, he never failed to entertain and impress with his cool eyewear fashion. In the same vein, Bono, from U2, is pretty much famous for his red sunnies. He started wearing them early in his career as a way to block some of the stage glare, and they clung to him like part of his personality.

Finally, an example of someone who makes sunnies look uncool, and completely horrible. You may know and love Lady Gaga, but I’m certainly no fan. While she claims she is rejecting the way our society sees women by dressing and acting in an homogenous way, I think she dresses and acts however she wants and then hires a superstar publicist to come up with rationalizations after the fact. She appeared on Larry King Live on the 1st of June in the most ridiculous sunglasses imaginable. They made her head look like a science experiment. They were simple, round black frames and lenses that blocked her entire face. Whereas Elton John made silly sunglasses fun and cool, Lady Gaga is making them inaccessible and awkward.

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We know celebrities are trying to keep a low profile when out on the town, but that is no excuse for abusing fashion! Look at what too much is doing to Rihanna in these Ray Ban Wayfarer sunnies (image) and hoodie. She looks like a stalker more than a superstar, and that look simply isn’t flattering! There is a right way to do eyewear and headgear, and some of the superstars have got it together…while others of them could take a few lessons in stardom!

So, how to you do the eyewear and headgear combo successfully? Well, you might want to take a lesson from Dita Von Teese on that (image), or Katy Perry—who also does it very successfully. The hat-sunglasses combo is not an easy one to pull off, and it takes real coordination and fashion gusto to even attempt such high-fashion pizzazz.

A few things to consider while trying the hat-sunglasses combo. First, you’ll want to choose one of the two accessories to be the stand out piece and let the secondary piece take the back burner. In addition, you’ll have to prove that you mean business by making this a fashion statement instead of a fashion cop out. More makeup is actually necessary with the combo then less. Look at what Rihanna could have looked like if she had done up her makeup and hair. This would have been a fashionable choice instead of a designer blunder. Finally, if your sunglasses are your stand out item, then you’ll want to make sure they are designer grade. If your hat or other headgear are your headliner item then make it something unique, bold and daring. Otherwise the designer eyewear will outshine the headgear.

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Many of us have been wondering when this over-sized eyewear craze would abate. I’ll be honest, the Miu Miu over-sized look (image here of blonde) just isn’t a look that works for me and I’m not particularly attracted to the fashion sense behind the look. I think they are somewhat bulky and hide the face too much to be a realistic, day-to-day accessory. Nevertheless, I have to admit that people seem to still be crazy for the bug-eye look. People seem to think seeing the world through giant, bottle-sized lenses would be preferable to sleeker, more modern shades and I have to respect their fashion choices. The look has adapted quite a bit over the past two years from the traditional round frames, like the ones seen on Paris Hilton here, to a more square look, like the Louis Vuitton sunnies seen on Demi Moore

(image here of brunette). I think the squared look is much more attractive. It adds depth and charm to Demi’s round face and the color choice really highlights her naturally dark hair and tanned skin tone. Meanwhile, the round look on Paris Hilton serves to make her look like a 12 year old human-fly hybrid. She looks somewhat like Willy Wonka’s offspring in those white, goggle-like frames. Not very attractive, is it?

Ideally, I’d like to see more women embrace the natural curves and looks that suit their particular face shape, hair and skin color and find a look that works for them rather than blindly following what they perceive to be in fashion.

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Do you ever see advertisements in high fashion magazines that depict tiny women, as thin as a toothpick and as white as wall paint, in giant Dolce & Gabbana bug-eyed sunglasses and depressing grey fabric clothing that makes you think: “hey, does anybody wear this stuff?” Other than the occasional attention-starved actress or musician, who are these high class eyewear companies appealing to? Surely the average Australian doesn’t want to walk around looking anemic, anorexic and wearing clothing and eyewear that takes away all shape, femininity and leaves the wearer looking like a random human-insect hybrid.

So, if they are not appealing to the average, perfectly sane citizen who can make adult decisions for herself, then who is the target market? Sometimes I wonder if some fashion designers create looks that are so off the wall that they can only be trying to impress Tim Burton. To me, the pale lady in the image here looks like a once pretty girl with unwashed hair and a frame so tiny these grandma’s glasses barely fit on her face. She looks like a Tim Burton cartoon character, or a contestant on the TV show What Not to Wear.

All of this has left me wondering if high fashion is even wearable. Not only do the modern clothing designs leave much to be desired in terms of how much skin they cover, but also how they cover it. The human shape is completely demeaned and understated which begs the question of whether the fashion industry really even needs models. So, is high fashion wearable—not really, and definitely not by me.

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The 2010 Grammy Awards did not offer much in the way of surprises in terms of music. For the most part, the hits of 2009 spoke for themselves. What was shocking were the overall fashion trends apparent on a plethora of stars. Take, for instance, The Black Eyed Peas. Their clothing was decidedly new age as they wore all-black tights and knee pads. Robots danced around behind them as they rapped about the future. And they were not the only futuristic-looking band. Beyonce and Lady Gaga wore all-black modern outfits with distinct outer-space influences. How does this apply to you? Well, the stars set the trends that many Americans follow (good or not). If the stars are wearing all-black futuristic clothing you can bet the fashion world will follow this trend on made-to-wear clothing and accessories.

In terms of eyewear, we anticipate all-black designs will sell well in the next year as all-black fashion takes off main stream. Designs like the classically-influenced Prada square-lens models will skyrocket this year. While the hype from “The Devil Wears Prada” has subsided, the love of classic designs with modern influences is hardly ready to dissipate. Several members of “The Black Eyes Peas” were wearing sunglasses for their performance while even more stars in the audience kept their shades on indoors. Nothing shows that eyewear are an important part of a star’s wardrobe like an indoor event attended by hundreds of stars in dark shades. Carrera shades are a favorite for the band, and a modern-classic look that has the perfect blend of the past and present.

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Any real boarder knows that half the sport is about looking cool, and there is no better way to achieve this feat than to slap on a pair of Ray Ban Aviators. While fashion may, to the untrained eye, seem like the opposite of the boarding culture it is in fact their sole purpose for being. Skateboarding is not an easy thing to learn to do, and along the road to awesomedom there are many scraped knees and possible concussions. That’s why when a boarder gets to the point where they can do cool tricks without breaking any bones, they immediately spruce up their wardrobe and take their skateboard to a very public location to show off for the ladies.

Since skateboarding is a recreational sport that requires an audience, the stage must be set and the actors must have on their costumes. The skateboarding costume has several requirements, including but not limited to baggy jeans, a T-shirt with a band name on it, colorful shoes of either the Converse or Sketchers variety and most importantly, a pair of Ray Bans. No other brand of eyewear will do as only Ray Bans are the skateboarders secret weapon. If you fall in Ray Bans you don’t lose cool points, you gain daredevil street credibility. While most boarders are partial to the Aviator, the Wayfarer is a respectable backup option as well.

So, get out there with your board, whether it be snow or skate, and get your Ray Ban’s firmly in place, your baggy pants hiked down, and get your groove on in front of the ladies outside the mall. You’re cool, yeah, you know it.

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