posted by grr arg

Aug 08, 2007 2:07PM

but weren't wayfarers big with the polo/khaki set back in the 80s?

posted by guest

Aug 08, 2007 2:14PM

Please, someone put me out of my misery -- what are rehab jeans?

posted by Natalie Matthews

Aug 08, 2007 2:16PM

rehab jeans is just our office joke term for skinny jeans

posted by Jen

Aug 08, 2007 2:22PM

Because rehab jeans and converse sneakers aren't cliche! (note: i wear them).

posted by dia

Aug 08, 2007 2:30PM

yeah, grr arg is right. and actually, the hipsters and the preppy set at my school started resurrecting them around the same time last year.

posted by Barret

Aug 08, 2007 2:39PM

raybans have been quietly here for a long time - they have not JUST been discovered and all the people who have bought them to follow a trend will ditch them right quick when the next trend trumps them. i say stay with your raybans because you love them, not because you care about who is or isn't wearing them.

posted by steph

Aug 08, 2007 2:41PM

Ray-bans have always been mainstream. They've been the perfect accessory to a Polo collar and a pair of Dockers for decades. Ray-bans can hardly be compared to "your little secret".
And who the hell will wear a classic pair of sunglasses as a nod to Sienna Miller other than NYU freshmen and fashion newbies? Oh wait, the fashionista girls.

posted by chloe

Aug 08, 2007 2:44PM

just felt like posting and saying that i'm kind of sick of people referring to the "wall street" types as the losers who can't dress or have no style or when describing something that was cool and now "wall street" people wear it...i work on wall street and it's just a job and has nothing to do with my fashion sense...you should have seen the faces i got when my boyfriend's "artsy" friends found out i worked in finance..they couldn't believe it..they would have never thought bangs and alexander herchcovitch would look so good on someone who worked with numbers all day...as always there are stereotypes and yes there are "wall street" people that embarass me but there are also "fashionistas" that are embarassing also as there are people in any profession that give a bad name to what we do for a living..just my thoughts

posted by Kara

Aug 08, 2007 2:51PM

Audrey Hepburn style or not, I have always hated wayfarers and thought that they looked stupid on pretty much everyone.

posted by guest

Aug 08, 2007 2:55PM

i think wayfarers look better with classic style because they are so iconic, just like lacoste's and chucks. i think they round out the 80's references in a preppy outfit. the people wearing them with skinny jeans and gramma shoes will toss them aside when they go out of style, just like they will their keds and tsubis. the people who incorporate them into a classic wadrobe won't. hipsters are the latecomers to the wayfarer party.

posted by rachel

Aug 08, 2007 3:01PM

no one should be wearing them unless you want to look like you caught on way too late.....

posted by Natalie

Aug 08, 2007 3:02PM

Wayfarers have always been around. They are hardly a tongue-in-cheek, ironic trend like trucker hats, and not as horrendous-looking as UGGs. Just because a few hipsters and mall girls discovered them this year doesn't mean you should stop wearing them. Same goes for any other accessory or item you love.

posted by emilie

Aug 08, 2007 3:03PM

there is this black and white picture of JFK wearing a pair of wayfarers while sailing.... i saw this picture like 6 years ago which made me buy them. doesnt get any more classic than that.

posted by Leah

Aug 08, 2007 3:06PM

God I know I hate it when these these things happen...it sounds silly, but it makes me mad.

posted by arcadia

Aug 08, 2007 3:24PM

i don't think anyone should abandon a trend if it fits into their style. i agree with Leah, i too hate it when it happens but i stick with my favorite "trends" because i know eventually all the "mall girls" will move on to something else and i will still be able to covet may faves.

i have a gorgeous pair of hand tooled cowboys boots that i routinely wear. i have a friend who once said, "i can't pull off cowboy boots like you." i said, "exactly, because for you they were a trend that came and went, for me i've always worn them regardless, they fit my look."

posted by Natalie Matthews

Aug 08, 2007 3:37PM

arcadia, thanks for your response. That's the type of discussion I was hoping to start when I posted this.

Instead of people ranting about how much they specifically hate/love Wayfarers in particular, I think it's more interesting to think about this issue in terms of the popularity of our favorite items- and how we react to it when an item we associate with one "personality" spans many different genres and ages.

I dont agree with the Observer that Wayfarers are "just like" trucker hats. In my opinion, Wayfarers are flattering on most people and pretty timeless. But I see my friends abandon them just because they don't like to see everyone else wearing them.

I like your point about how if something fits your personal style (I too have an amazing pair of cowboy boots), then you don't necessarily need to stop wearing it when it becomes popular.

posted by Liz

Aug 08, 2007 3:52PM

I don't really mind that everyone else is wearing the same sunglasses as I am. If I have found something that looks good on me and suits my style, I'll wear it until i get tired of it. I try to only pick up on items that suit my personal style and wear them regardless of whether they're trendy or not. For example, I have been wearing ballet flats since I was about five. Now they are everywhere and I couldn't care less- just means I have more options for styles and colors. Doesn't bother me at all to have the same item as other people because I don't believe that having a distinctive personal style or look hinges on one item- it's about how you put things together and how you pull them off.

posted by kjd

Aug 08, 2007 3:56PM

Ugh. NOT liking something because it has become popular/trendy is just as bad as liking something ONLY because it has become popular/trendy. This site is no less annoying than it was yesterday.

posted by Rose

Aug 08, 2007 4:06PM

Where I live everything comes late. Wayfarers are just coming in here. It's sad. My husband started wearing them like a year ago because he wanted "Ferris Bueller" sunglasses. He has since gone back to his aviators because he doesn't want to look like everyone else. There are some trends that I've hung onto even after they got popular here. For instance my small frame looks good in so called rehab jeans so I still rock them and I still wear my huge sunglasses because they frame my face well. I'll still carry my oversized bags cause I need the room and they are my trademark. If you like something and you can rock it why give it up just cause the highschool girl in Cincinnati(my neighbor)discovered it. Unless of course it's Ugg boots.

posted by Chels

Aug 08, 2007 4:07PM

Yeah, so, I wore wayfarers as a Southern sorority girl* a couple years ago. I idolize Audrey Hepburn and was in a big "Breakfast at Tiffany's" kick, which included highlights, wayfarers and pearls.

Don't wear them anymore and wouldn't now. I don't want to be mistaken for a lemming who's only wearing them because they're trendy and I have other sunglasses that I like better.

*Like working on Wall Street, living in the south and being Greek doesn't eliminate one's fashion sense.

posted by Laura

Aug 08, 2007 4:54PM

It's funny, 90% of the stuff you talk about being "sooo over with" was never popular where I am and probably never will be.

My boyfriend bought some fake wayfarers from Walgreens a few months ago when he lost his last pair of sunglasses. He was floored when I told him that they were all the rage in other places. He loved them for their classic look.

For his birthday a few weeks ago I bought him a beautiful vintage pair from the 50's.

posted by hannah

Aug 08, 2007 5:03PM

I'll admit to getting a pair of white Wayfarer knockoffs at F21! They were only $5 and I couldn't resist! They are so cute and they look almost cartoonish, plus Wayfarers haven't quite caught on in my area yet. I rotate them out with my gigantic Fendi sunglasses. ("is that a BELT BUCKLE on them?" seriously, people, well, kids mostly, always ask me that and sometimes they even ask if the buckle works. It's stiff plastic, seriously!)

As far as dropping things when they get trendy, it sounds shallow but in reality, I find myself doing it with fashion (it's cool when I'm the only one wearing something but when everyone's wearing it it gets old) and with bands (I turned into a closet Fall Out Boy fan). I'll only where a modern band tee if it's for a band I can count on most people not knowing.

posted by SS

Aug 08, 2007 5:39PM

I've always thought there was a universal appeal to wayfarers that blended well with any style of dress. I still wear mine, they are ten times better than anything Rachel Zoe has been forcing upon the masses.

posted by Courtney

Aug 08, 2007 5:50PM

I've been wearing aviators from Wal-Mart for about the last 7 years. I haven't stopped wearing them even though they're popular now though because I love them. If you love something, wear it. The trend will change in a couple of months anyway, and then you'll be singular again.

posted by Glenn

Aug 08, 2007 6:01PM

After reading many of the posts on the site this week, I've decided Fashionista needs to do some basic research about politics and pop culture in the '70s and '80s. You're welcome.

posted by mo money

Aug 08, 2007 8:27PM

After urbanoutfitters decided to come out with fake wayfarers I knew they had reached their peak and saw their demise. it was only after going to nyc and noticed not only hipsters wore them but it was more often that kids with preppy abercrombie polos from the upper east side sporting them.

my wayfarers (which I got LAST summer) don't see the sun as much. it's a shame really.

posted by MH

Aug 08, 2007 8:41PM

Haha, yeah, you mean Wayfarers like the kind Don Henley sang about in 1985? When they were the height of preppy? The thing I love about us true preps is that the look is basically trendproof--we wore them before you, we're wearing them now in spite of you, and we'll keep wearing them afterwards. Whereas you'll continue to do whatever the MisShapes tell you to do until you collapse in a puddle of your own ridiculousness.

posted by KA

Aug 10, 2007 3:54PM

Originality.

I peeve copy cats yet in a since we are all mimicking something we saw someone wearing, loving a favorite "secret" song someone introduced us to, and even using certain slang just because it grows on ya. But when did wanting to be original become so out of hand?

It seems to me that these days any one will do anything to be deemed "original".
Wearing clothing thats totally out there, or listening to the most obscene bands just to seem like they "get music". Its like trying to be one of a kind is this new group that everyone wants in on.

Competing with each other to know "cool" things first, and wear the latest trends before everyone else.

Then it leads me to the question, if being original is so "mainstream" now, is being "normal" considered cool?

But then I guess that puts me back in a circle by me wanting to be "normal" instead of following the "mainstream" obsession with being original.

posted by guest

Aug 10, 2007 5:18PM

rightfully said barret

to others: please do not knock uggs. when you live in vermont like me and it is 0 degrees outside, they aare a lifesaver

posted by guest

Aug 13, 2007 10:33PM

emilie, i totally had amoment similar to yours about 4 years ago when the wayfarers where featured on the backpage of t magazine. it was the men's editon but they just looked so clean, and they reminded me of my uncle cleaning his sailboat.

I don't want to seem like some mall rat copying what lindsay lohan or sienna miller is wearing, but i love wayfarers so much that 've come up with a compromise- keep them in light rotation for the rest of the summer, and then wear them again next summer when hopefully the tragically hip and nicole-richie wannabees have abandoned them

posted by guest

Dec 02, 2008 1:55PM

Not necessarily but didn't Ray Ban Wayfarers get started with Ray Charles?