Over the past year, many celebrities have been sporting the wayfarer look, including Lindsay Lohan in last week’s post. While this trend is a direct throwback to the ‘80s, nearly everyone in Hollywood has been spotted with a pair of wayfarers at some point, and this includes standard black-on-black sunglasses and styles that are more outrageous. More appropriately, they are unabashedly ‘80s or early ‘90s (take your pick for the tackiest period in fashion). As seen by Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes, on the left, these sunglasses often incorporate bright shades, even neon yellow or green. In general, these styles are made by Ray Ban, but other designers looking to bring back their classic styles and update them a bit are also going along with this trend.

What style do you go for when choosing to wear wayfarers? As with all sunglasses, wayfarers have more low key looks, while others are deliberately bright and tacky. For something low key, Ray Ban and other designers stick with the classic black-on-black look and also use tortoise frames and black lenses. But if you’re looking to be more adventurous, a range of colored frames and lenses are available. When you go to a website like Vision In Style, you’ll find that Ray Ban wayfarer sunglasses in the classic style can be customized in colors like purple, red, or pink. These can have light colored lenses to match or they can be designed with darker colored lenses.

Wayfarer sunglasses are, essentially, the equivalent of Converse sneakers for the eyes: Take a basic template that looks good in either sex and jazz it up in a number of ways. Converse has experimented with nearly every color of the rainbow for their high top sneakers, as well as a number of patterns, while Ray Ban, in particular, goes through many colors for frames and, with the recent trend, pairs them with either a light or dark lens. Who knew such a basic pair of sunglasses could have so much variation?

1980s fashions have been coming back since 2006, but only recently have we seen celebrities sporting wayfarer sunglasses. The sunglasses, seen on actors and musicians in the mid to late 1980s ranging from Tom Cruise to Depeche Mode, are back and in just as many color combinations as before. Hilton sister number two, Nicky, was seen wearing Ray-Ban wayfarer sunglasses recently, but more celebrities have been seen wearing this style. Although the frames Hilton has on are standard black, she can be seen farther down on the page with a pair of light turquoise frames with black lenses.

Ray-Bans are the brand of choice for the wayfarer style, but other brands carry this style, as well. Ray-Ban, on the other hand, doesn’t only offer an updated look on one of its classic styles but, through many retailers, their styles from the late-‘80s and early 1990s are still available. Although Ray Ban wayfarer sunglasses aren’t the only style by the brand, it’s one of the brand’s most notable styles. Aside from being seen on modern-day celebrities, Ray-Ban wayfarer, and other styles like aviators, shades appeared in various films in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

For those of us who aren’t celebrities, wayfarer sunglasses are still seen as more of a hipster look and, for a look with less irony, oversized and aviator sunglasses are still in style. Nevertheless, if you want to shake up your sunglasses selection a bit, adding a pair of black on black wayfarers isn’t a fashion don’t. As Ray-Ban and other makers reissuing the wayfarer style again, colors are important. For a pair of sunglasses that goes with everything, black or tortoise frame with black lenses is the most versatile. But, if you’re looking for a pair of sunglasses that jumps out a bit more, frame colors range from the bright shade Hilton is seen wearing to neon shades. Although probably pairing neon wayfarers with acid wash jeans is somewhat cringe-worthy, pairing them with darker colors, so that they stand out more, is more acceptable for the times.

This blog often talks about the certain handbag styles seen on celebrities out on the street but, often, handbags aren’t featured in films. A pair of sunglasses, on the other hand, often makes a movie character, and can turn a good guy into a badass. Sometimes, the style is even copied by film goers – or television watchers – such as the aviator sunglasses sported on Tom Cruise in Top Gun. But where do these styles come from? As with handbag blogs knowing or trying to guess the designer brand seen on celebrities, similar blogs are available for sunglasses.

The particular blog linked above identifies famous sunglasses worn in movies, as well as notable celebrities in sunglasses out on the street. For example, want to know the sunglasses worn in 1998 film Men in Black? The blog identifies them as a certain style of Ray Bans, which, by 1990s style standards, were all-black wraparound sunglasses. Other iconic shades are identified, such as the aviators worn in Top Gun, as well as the mirrored aviators worn in Sylvester Stallone in Cobra. Both of these, too, are Ray Bans, as well as the wayfarer sunglasses sported on Cruise in Risky Business. Is Ray Ban, perhaps, the brand behind all of these iconic ‘80s and ‘90s sunglasses? It certainly looks that way by scanning Sunglasses ID.

But sunglasses in films and on television aren’t the only ones identified, and celebrities known for their taste in shades, Bono being the prime example, also have their sunglasses identified. If you’ve been looking to copy Bono’s wraparound or shield look, his shades as of recent have been Armani sunglasses. The blog, as with most blogs, doesn’t sell the sunglasses directly, but they identify the models associated with the sunglasses. Sunglasses fans, then, can go to any sunglasses retailer and look for the respective pair, especially as many retailers continue to carry classic ‘80s and ‘90s styles as vintage sunglasses.