Fashion trends tend to change constantly. However, there are beloved elements which never lose their value… There is always space in our cupboard and heart for them. Coincidentally or not each of those accessories carry an interesting story, which I would like to share with you.
Aviator Glasses:
Taking a glance to our photos in facebook, I noticed that most of us has at least one photo wearing a pair of aviator glasses. I was surprised when I disinterred old pictures of my parents wearing the same model of glasses. This is because the aviator glasses were first promoted in the 1936, by guess who… Ray-Ban!
However, the target group to which the particular model of glasses was addressed was military pilots. That is why we call them aviator glasses. Apparently, pilots needed a sufficient pair of glasses to be protected from the glare and the éclat of enemy’s bombing. Ray-Ban’s product satisfied the requirements perfectly.
Until 1938 ordinary public was banned from wearing those teardrop shaped glasses. Since the first appearance of this timeless trend, the design has remained unchanged. There are many more modern classic versions though, as well as different colors. Thus, each of us has the opportunity to choose the pair which reflects best his personality and style.
The taste of aviator glasses was also stimulated by several celebrities. Basically, it was Tom Cruise who has started the military glasses trend through his movie Top Gun.
Many designers have been tempted to introduce their own selection of military glasses. Now days, our favorite glasses, have a myopic version as well. As a result, those who denied to wear glasses, including me, have a pretense to change their mind.
Converse “All star”
Do you know how old are your converse “All star” that you wear every day? The conserve cooperation was initially producing seasonal footwear from rubber such as galoshes. The company decided to maximize its profits by producing athletic shoes. Those days basketball was popular, thus Converse decided to produce a pair of shoe exclusively for basketball. After, a long-time research, Converse came up with our favorite “All Star” which was born in 1917.
The original appearance of “All star” was brown with black trim, and it was the first basketball shoe produced in North America. Charles Taylor, who was a player at Akron Firestones liked the shoes and decided to join the sales force. Later, he travelled across the United States to promote converse shoes. Beside his marketing skills, Converse cooperation borrowed something else from Chuck Taylor. They added his name “Chuck Taylor” on the angle patch (1932). And this is how “All star” Chuck Taylor was born.
It was very soon that all basketball players, as well as American boys wore their first pair of converse shoes. During the world war II , Taylor joined the Air Force and the same time was coaching regional basketball teams. It was than that “All star” became the “official” shoe of the American Army forces.
In 1957, the low cut version of converse shoe was introduced, which was considered to be more casual. Converse has dominated the 80% of the sneaker industry. After 75 years nothing changed in the appearance of our favorite shoes. Today “All star” are lanced in many colors and there are new models in the market such as One star and Dr. J. Unfortunately, Basketball teams have abandoned converse shoes, but it still has a lot of fans and that is why more than 800,000,000 pair of converse shoes have been sold until today!
