Style vs Substance

photo courtesy of www.lespecs.com.au

What do you look for in a pair of sunglasses?

A shape that suits your face, a colour that goes with your complexion and blends in with – or nattily contrasts – your general wardrobe palette? Or just something to protect your eyes from the sun and glare?

Or you could be swayed by the latest styling, the designer brand name, a high level of quality or tons of street cred, or perhaps a bit of all these things?

photo www.rayban.com.au

The particular dilemma of style versus substance was one I was intrigued to face recently when trying to decide between what, at first glance, appeared to be two very similar styles of sunglasses: both back-in-fashion – but still classic – aviator shapes, both metal frames, both within $50 of each other; in short, not much between them. So what was I to do – flip a coin?

Well, I did flip a coin in the end (after phoning a friend and doing a lap of the shopping centre in an effort to calmly come to a decision); but before that there were several days of um-ing and ah-ing and in-depth discussions with anyone who would listen until eventually their eyes would glaze over from a mixture of disbelief and disinterest…

So why was I so indecisive about what was, after all, ‘just’ a routine and relatively inexpensive purchase of a new pair of sunglasses?

Well. You see, despite what you may tell yourself, not all sunglasses are created equal. And as one of my patient gf’s pointed out, once you get out of the $20 price range it starts to become what I remember from my university days is known as a high-involvement purchase i.e. one that will take a bit longer than the usual oh-I-can’t-decide-between-these-two-funky-H&M-five-euro-styles-so-I-will-just-buy-both! type of scenario.

photo courtesy of www.lespecs.com.au

So there I was: on the one hand (well, in one surf shop) the super cool, retro Aussie brand Le Specs, with a beachside vibe & a very sexed-up, cheeky ad campaign (don’t believe me? then go check out the website – oh la LA!!! But don’t forget to come back when you are done ;-P)

http://www.lespecs.com.au/#/campaign/

On the other, the more established, mega-brand juggernaut Ray-Ban, recently back in global favour courting the young crowd and the choice of fighter pilots and rock stars everywhere. Oh yeah, and with the added bonus of being reduced by almost half.

You see my friends, that’s actually what had me wavering. I had decided on the Le Specs style over a week before, already imagining myself on the beach in Barcelona in them, attracting the approving stares & offers of cold cervezas from hombres like young Monsieur Le Buff in the catalogue.

But that was before I saw the ‘Bans’ in what was now within reach of my price range.

photo www.rayban.com.au

The other thing that stopped me from simply snapping up this bargain of the season? Well, although Ray-Bans have always been for me the wise buyer’s choice – good quality, using ‘high precision optical lenses’ (read: scientific & geeky cool & guaranteed to sway a spectacle and all-year-round sunnies wearer like yours truly with this implied gravitas), every second person in Barcelona – no, make that practically EVERY person in Barcelona, if not the whole of Europe – has a pair. And who wants to look like everyone else?

Pfff…but enough with the thinking, I had to make a decision.

So which pair won out at the end of the day? Well, let’s just say that in the end I learnt the long way that there is no substitute for quality, sometimes the head should rule the heart, and you should always have the sense to snap up an incredible bargain when you see one.

Which one do you think it was?

photo www.lespecs.com.au

Happy (sunglasses!) styling

Rubi