Aviator sunglasses have spent almost a century doing double duty: protecting pilots' eyes and building an entire narrative around masculinity, power, and fashion. In this episode, we trace the shape from open-cockpit flying goggles to American Optical's 1935 D-1, through the mid-air accident that gave Bausch & Lomb the original teardrop shape and green lens, to the moment the US military officially standardized the aviator sunglass in WWII.

We follow General Douglas MacArthur's history-making return to the Philippines in 1944, the postwar surplus boom that put pilots' exact sunglasses into civilian hands, and how Marlon Brando, Paul Newman, and eventually Tom Cruise in Top Gun turned a military tool into a Hollywood signature (and a 40% sales spike for Ray-Ban). We dig into why aviators became a political symbol and how 2025's ~49% jump in aviator searches, Ray-Ban's first-ever creative director in A$AP Rocky, and a Dolce & Gabbana collab are pulling the shape back into the center of culture. As always, we close out by talking about how we each wear (and feel about) aviators, and what this most universal of shapes says about ease, authority, and personal style.

Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro

00:00:13 Gals Catch Up

00:08:07 Defining the Aviator & the First Commercial Sunglasses

00:10:41 Open Cockpits, Goggles & American Optical

00:13:33 Bausch & Lomb & the Original Aviator Shape

00:17:23 Ban Rays: Ray-Ban’s Origin

00:18:02 WWII Standardization: The AN6531 Comfort Cable

00:19:15 MacArthur's Return & the Birth of an Icon

00:20:45 Postwar Surplus & the Aviator Goes Hollywood

00:24:38 The Aviator Goes To The Moon

00:25:26 Top Gun, Tom Cruise & the Ray-Ban Sales Boom

00:28:21 Ray-Ban's Brand Strategy: Caravan, Wayfarer & Taxi Driver

00:32:33 The 2025 Comeback & A$AP Rocky as Creative Director

00:34:01 Dolce & Gabbana, the Shooter Model & the Sunglass Case as Jewelry

00:36:44 Why Aviators Are Universally Flattering

00:38:14 Aviators as Political Language: Biden & Macron

00:43:35 From Sunglass to Optical & the End of "Nerd Glasses"

00:45:53 Military Surplus Goes Civilian (Then and Now)

00:49:12 Personal Style & Feelings

00:52:45 See You Soon! Find our full visual guide, references, and show notes → linked here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sMdPkGoyqesq55UkPWdymhsz_66UDGd8/view?usp=sharing

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A note: we're fashion enthusiasts, not professional historians. We're learning alongside you.

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— Chandler & Yoana