The 5 Most Eccentric Sunglasses of the '90s (And Where You Can Get Similar Ones Now)

Spyder Eyewear - 1998

Now mostly known for their outerwear, once upon a time, Spyder made eyewear. According to this ad, they launched a collection in 1998 that featured sunglasses with arms that looked like bones. While I've been able to find sunnies that are similar to many of the other ones in this piece, a pair of skinny-frame skelly sunnies has eluded me. If anyone finds some, send them my way, please and thank you; these are so sick. 

Vuarnet Vortex - 1998 

*French accent* Ah, yes, what do we have here? Le Vortex by Super Chouette Français eyewear brand, Vuarnet. These are super, super sick; how on earth did they ever go out of style? I can picture Seth Morrison rocking a pair of these with his green, spiky hair so easily. The Vortex would undoubtedly make anyone look super cool and super speedy, and the full-coverage sides are a super bonus. 

Smith Bazooka - 1997

Today, those who like to go fast outside and want easily interchangeable lenses are often fans of the wildly popular Smith Wildcat and Bobcat glasses. But what happened to the Smith Bazooka?! The OG interchangeable lens speedy sunny had 10 times the style of the silly wrap shades of today. Who cares if you have to keep track of and change both extra lenses instead of just one handy piece—it's worth it to look this good. 

Spy Scoop - 1997/1996

Ads for the Spy Scoop were all over the pages of POWDER Magazine in the '90s, so they were either really popular or whoever was doing ad sales at the time was really into them. How could you not be? That aerodynamic scoop in the side of the frame surely made you ski way faster, even on skinny skis. Wait, were skinny skis still a thing in the '90s? 

Oakley Full Metal Jacket - 1995

Every single thing about this ad and these glasses is *chef's kiss* perfection. A tagline like "Technology Without Adult Supervision"—Oakley might as well have been Pit Viper back then. The creepy faceless backlit bald dude is giving major alien vibes, which paired with the "lack of adult supervision" is mostly just weird.

Also, this ad claims that these glasses have a "deeply ingrained disregard for the rules." How glasses can have this, I also don't understand. However, clearly the combination of these oddities worked because for their 50th anniversary this year, Oakley re-released a version of these glasses. You, too, can look like you have a "deeply ingrained disregard for the rules" 1994-style for the cool price of $196. Sign me up. 

If you want to rock some '90s-style sunnies but in a variety of colors, prints, and with photochromic options, check out the Pit Viper Slammers. We're fans of the Ignition Slammers and Miami Nights Slammers in particular. 

The Oakley Ellipse is another release celebrating Oakley's 50th anniversary with some '90s-style sunnies. While these are a little more *futuristic* than our pics from the mag, they're too good not to include.