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Kim Kardashian wears Balenciaga’s fashionable take on the sunglasses you’ll find at your local gas station.
They’re always there, if you look for them: sturdy, affordable sunglasses at your local gas station, usually wrapped in style with a reflective lens, and under $20.
From slogan T-shirts to Uggs, fashion has always loved irony and ‘gas station sunglasses’ are just the latest item to be added to the ‘so ugly it’s cool now’ list – except they’re now being released by luxury brands such as Balenciaga and Prada and are worn by celebrities, fashion girls and Gen Z. But let’s not forget their roots and biggest fans: tradies, bogans and dads.
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What comes to mind when you hear “gas station” or “wraparound” sunglasses depends on your age, location, or interest in pop culture and the news.
Kim Kardashian has run a high-profile one-woman campaign to make it a coveted designer item, featuring several Balenciaga versions in paparazzi photos, on the red carpet, and at the actual gas station.
On TikTok, the king of oversized and sloppy dadcore, Adam Sandlerhas been made nameless.
There’s Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sunglasses in Terminator 2: Judgment Day; the Persol Ratti 58230 style; no longer in production. Some might immediately think of Brian Tamaki’s reflective Oakley shades (immediately uncool by default). Others, Ali G and his yellow lens versions.
If you came of age in the 90s or 90s, you might think of images of rave, snow or surf culture, with their futuristic apocalyptic enveloping shades that protect against the harsh glare of the sun. That’s what came to mind when I saw the 3D-printed sunglasses from the young Auckland-based brand Kettle, an overly stylized take on the enveloping style.
There’s also a royal connection: Princess Anne, the most stylishly royal, in her groovy reflective tones paired with prim and good tweed. Her favorite style – Adidas with a red polarized lens – is really sportier than a gas station, a pair you would see on a biker, jockey or horse girl. But you’ll likely find a similar (cheaper) version at your local Z, Mobil, or Shell.
Your reference may be closer to home: your uncle, brother-in-law or father in their favorite pair of Arnette, Dirty Dogs or Locs. For Kiwis and Australians, there’s the ironic moniker: as seen in The Alternative Commentary Collective’s “Speed Dealers” frames, described as “previously reserved for middle-aged dads wearing Holden t-shirts”.
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The girls who get it get it: Princess Anne has been a long-time fan of sporty wrap-around style.
To try and figure out the true genius of this classic dad accessory, I decided to turn to the most qualified person I know: my dad. He works in security, proudly wearing a Ford T-shirt and wearing Westie (although he now lives in Hawke’s Bay) and currently has two pairs of sunshades in his car and two in his work bag.
“They should always be black,” he says of the sunglasses. “And they should be dark or tinted.”
According to Dad, the best pairs are streamlined and should be real sheaths; better for crafts that work outdoors. “It has to be practical first because you’re doing it all day — then it’s about looks,” he says.
What about gas stations and frames like this, I ask. Wherever you are in Aotearoa, New Zealand, you can go to a gas station and at least one pair will be displayed, usually quite prominent.
The obvious appeal is that they’re cheap, Dad explains, but they’re also sturdy and handy to leave in your car as a spare. ‘You just stand there waiting for your purchase, tempted. A good gas station has it in sight, and you just grab them. Don’t think too much about it.”
As for fashion turning the wrap into a luxury item, he has no interest whatsoever in my intellectualized theory that it’s just about designers and celebrities like Kim Kardashian co-opting and cosplaying working-class aesthetics.
Instead, he likens it to musicians today who go back to old songs and recreate them, with a typically simple explanation from my father: “They just don’t have any new ideas anymore.”