Risky Business, Miami Vice and Wayfarer sunglasses

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

Trying to think objectively, which of these did more to popularize Wayfarers?  I was too young to pay attention to such things when this was going on.  

[Vicefan7777]

I was a young man at the time Risky Business came out and remember how cool the wayfarer glasses looked.  Since the movie was a hit the glasses were worn more.  However it really was Miami Vice that made the glasses really explode in popularity.  

[COOPER&BURNETT]

Not to be MIAMI VICE biased, but Vicefan7777 is correct.

 

MIAMI VICE, and the popularity of DON JOHNSON is what really did it. If you look at the sales figures on the glasses, it had a huge jump in sales during the VICE era of season one and two.  Sales during Risky Business was good, but not THAT good.

 

There was an agreement for product placement in TV and films during that time, so wayfarers were seen everywhere at that time, but the biggest draw was MIAMI VICE, and it's weekly exposure.  

 

-COOP

 

( the 1983 movie Risky Business marked the beginning of a Wayfarers phenomenon; 360,000 pairs were sold that year.^[10] By 1986, after appearances in Miami Vice, Moonlighting, and The Breakfast Club, sales had reached 1.5 million.^[10] )

Edited June 8, 2015 by COOPER&BURNETT

[Ragnar]

I think Miami Vice is the main reason why this pair became "cool".

 

True, they were pretty popular before, thanks to the movies mentioned by C&B, but it still strikes me as a kind of hype-fashion, instead of being a classic like it is today. I love how they went with tortoise instead of black, which had almost always been the preferred Wayfarer colour, just to make it different and more unique. Yes, MV is who we owe for making this legendary eye protection "cool" and more open to the general public.

 

PS: Try to avoid buy them in modern green/red/blue or other crazy colours, they look tacky and makes you look like someone attending a hipster music festival. Stick with classic pre 90s colours. You'll also get tired of them fast, as you can't combine with different outfits well.

[James]

They were cool long before Miami Vice and Risky Business.

 

[Ragnar]

Yep, but sadly to most people, they weren't considered fashionable as for example Aviators. 

 

If I remember correctly, Blues Brothers actually saved the Wayfarers from being removed from the market. Sales was very low in late 70s, but when Blues Brothers came, they became popular again. Lucky for us the 80s saved this style from doom.

 

 

Another reason Wayfarers are the best;

 

 

 

 

They were cool long before Miami Vice and Risky Business.

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

I agree with everyone here, and I don't think I'm being biased.  The influence of a single movie can't compare to that of a series that lasted five years, even though I don't think they were used in season 3.

 

I asked the question because on the "Eighties on 8" channel of Sirius XM, Martha Quinn (of MTV fame) had an 80's pop culture quiz asking which fashion trend was made popular by Risky Business and the way she phrased the question made it sound like Wayfarers owed ALL their popularity to this movie.  Needless to say, I was dubious.    

Edited June 8, 2015 by mirrorimageegamirorrim

[Ragnar]

I agree with everyone here, and I don't think I'm being biased.  The influence of a single movie can't compare to that of a series that lasted five years, even though I don't think they were used in season 3.

 

I asked the question because on the "Eighties on 8" channel of Sirius XM, Martha Quinn (of MTV fame) had an 80's pop culture quiz asking which fashion trend was made popular by Risky Business and the way she phrased the question made it sound like Wayfarers owed ALL their popularity to this movie.  Needless to say, I was dubious.    

 

Tortoise wayfarers - season 1 and 2. Black wayfarers - season 4 and 5.

 

Risky Business was a fun movie, no doubt it helped the Wayfarer popularity, but like you mention, Miami Vice ran from mid 80s to 90, half a decade with wayfarers being used in 4 seasons. No question what 80s show/movie made this sunglass the classic it is today.

[Jerry B.]

As far as I remember, in S5 both black and tortoise models were used.

 

As for the rest, no doubt MV had the biggest part in their re-discovery.

 

I used to own a pair in the early 80s though, before DJ started copiyng me LOL!!! ;-)

[Detective_Crockett]

As far as I remember, in S5 both black and tortoise models were used.

 

As for the rest, no doubt MV had the biggest part in their re-discovery.

 

I used to own a pair in the early 80s though, before DJ started copiyng me LOL!!! ;-)

Your younger brother DJ started looking up to you Jerry   :)

[Jerry B.]

So it seems, Detective_Crockett, but I'm the younger one ;-)

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

Tortoise wayfarers - season 1 and 2. Black wayfarers - season 4 and 5.

 

Risky Business was a fun movie, no doubt it helped the Wayfarer popularity, but like you mention, Miami Vice ran from mid 80s to 90, half a decade with wayfarers being used in 4 seasons. No question what 80s show/movie made this sunglass the classic it is today.

Is your name a reference to Norse mythology?  

[Ragnar]

Is your name a reference to Norse mythology?  

 

Ragnar is my real name : )

 

Its actually not too uncommon in Scandinavia, in different forms. Ragnar, Regner, Regnar. Goes back to the viking age. My grandfather told me it means Warrior of the Gods or the Gods chosen, something like that.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Ragnar

[COOPER&BURNETT]

After Wayfarers' heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, sales declined.^[7] Though Wayfarers' cultural popularity was boosted in 1980, particularly due to the classic film The Blues Brothers, only 18,000 pairs were sold in 1981,^[10] and Wayfarers were on the verge of discontinuation.^[11]

The sunglasses' fate was reversed, however, when in 1982 Ray-Ban signed a $50,000-a-year deal with Unique Product Placement of Burbank, California, to place Ray-Bans in movies and television shows.^[10] Between 1982 and 1987, Ray-Ban sunglasses appeared in over 60 movies and television shows per year.  

 

By 1986, after appearances in Miami Vice, Moonlighting, and The Breakfast Club, sales had reached 1.5 million.^[10]

 

 

'nuff said.

Edited June 8, 2015 by COOPER&BURNETT

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

After Wayfarers' heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, sales declined.^[7] Though Wayfarers' cultural popularity was boosted in 1980, particularly due to the classic film The Blues Brothers, only 18,000 pairs were sold in 1981,^[10] and Wayfarers were on the verge of discontinuation.^[11]

The sunglasses' fate was reversed, however, when in 1982 Ray-Ban signed a $50,000-a-year deal with Unique Product Placement of Burbank, California, to place Ray-Bans in movies and television shows.^[10] Between 1982 and 1987, Ray-Ban sunglasses appeared in over 60 movies and television shows per year.  

 

By 1986, after appearances in Miami Vice, Moonlighting, and The Breakfast Club, sales had reached 1.5 million.^[10]

 

 

'nuff said.

 

 

 

Brilliant info.  Thanks!

Edited June 8, 2015 by mirrorimageegamirorrim

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

Ragnar is my real name : )

 

Its actually not too uncommon in Scandinavia, in different forms. Ragnar, Regner, Regnar. Goes back to the viking age. My grandfather told me it means Warrior of the Gods or the Gods chosen, something like that.

 I actually did not know you were from Scandinavia.      I just looked at your profile and saw you're from Denmark.   There's some element of Norse mythology called Ragnarok that has to do with an apocalypse.  That's why I was asking.

 

Your written English is flawless, by the way.  I had no idea you were not American.    

[Tony D.]

They were cool long before Miami Vice and Risky Business.

 

The sunglasses do nothing for the Blues Bros......but DJ makes the sunglasses!

[Kavinsky]

Yeah I gotta admit they didnt really fit with John Belishi, although it did give them that G man like vibe that lead to a good joke in the film, although the new wayfarers would probably work well on them.

 

although I must wonder if this was still going on in 1991, as in the film reservior dogs they were all wearing either Wayfarers or Clubmans it seemed for the famous opening scene and for the rest of the movie. either that or they were left overs from the Vice days.

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

Yeah I gotta admit they didnt really fit with John Belishi, although it did give them that G man like vibe that lead to a good joke in the film, although the new wayfarers would probably work well on them.

 

although I must wonder if this was still going on in 1991, as in the film reservior dogs they were all wearing either Wayfarers or Clubmans it seemed for the famous opening scene and for the rest of the movie. either that or they were left overs from the Vice days.

I recall this too from R.D.  Movie came out in '91 I believe.  Tarantino is a fan of classic styles.  

Back to Vice-- Did anybody in season three wear Wayfarers, main character or not?  I know Castillo wore them occasionally but I'm not sure when.  

[vatdim]

Thanks to Coop for the handy info on Wayfarers! I think the numbers are clear - while Risky Business did help the design make a decent one-off profit, it was mostly Miami Vice, a show which ran for 5 years, that really turned these sunglasses into a pop culture phenomenon.

Being born after the original run of MV, I still have some very vivid early memories of people wearing the Wayfarer design while on vacation in the early 90's. Actors still wore them on many shows that were put on the air, as well as in many TV commercials. To me as a small boy, the Wayfarer design was the design I would naturally associate with the word "sunglasses" until about '96-'97. By then a plethora of different designs had emerged and made these cool sunglasses drop out of favor.

Edited October 5, 2015 by vatdim

[DeepCover333]

I have a few pair of these, and for me I can say it is all due to Miami Vice. (I'm wearing an old pair from back in the 80's in my profile pic) The recent resurgence in popularity has been nice! I generally try to keep my vintage 80's safe, so last year I purchased a new high priced black pair, and a few months thereafter lost them on the beach late one night.(ouch!)

 

Wikipedia has a short interesting article, including product placement marketing:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray-Ban_Wayfarer

 

 

"You got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on, baby"

[Lifeguard]

On June 9, 2015 at 11:26 AM, mirrorimageegamirorrim said:

I recall this too from R.D.  Movie came out in '91 I believe.  Tarantino is a fan of classic styles.  

Back to Vice-- Did anybody in season three wear Wayfarers, main character or not?  I know Castillo wore them occasionally but I'm not sure when.  

I don't recall what other characters wore that season.  But there is a random appearance on Crockett.  In the first episode of the season "El Viejo", the scenes on the St Vitus Dance with Willie Nelson had Crockett putting on a pair of black Wayfarers that actually had the logos on the temples.  The rest of the episode were tortoise shell Persols (sometimes they look black, but I'm not sure if he ever had black ones outside of the exploding Ferrari reflection scene).  Why the Ray Bans just randomly show up in that shot I have no idea.  The boat was also in a different slip than usual for that scene, so there was other weirdness there too.

[Daytona74]

I wore tortoise shell Wayfarers for years,  even bought a second pair once when my old ones were showing signs of wear and tear.

Of course I bought them because of Miami Vice. I wanted to own a pair since I was twelve and saw the first couple of season 1 and 2 episodes.

At some point, I got tired of them though. I wanted to try something new, and switched to black Ray-Ban Predator Cutters RB2046 Rectangular Wrap. Still wear them today. Would like to buy a new pair, but they have long been discontinued. Even called Ray-Ban's parent company Luxottica, but they don't even have spare parts for them anymore.

 

Edited July 4, 2016 by Daytona74
uploading different image file

[ivoryjones]

Here where I live, one sees 1 Wayfarer on the streets after spotting 9 Aviators. I do my part favoring Wayfarers LOL. Once a couple of years ago someone remarked I was using a beautiful sun glass but a little too '80s. Though some part of me liked such partially uninformed comment, I had to go with "Absolutely not! Did you know Aviators are an older design and that Wayfarer was big in the 60s and still is ?!?!" To my luck, that day, there was a tennis match somewhere on TV in which an incredible number of people had wayfarers! So I went on with "Here's your too '80s!"

I watched Risky Business around 1986, and, by then, the feel was like "oh, just like Miami Vice", not otherwise.