Fashion Experts Always Default to Oversized Sunglasses, So Now They're Buying Up Buy-Eye Frames

It's 2008. Karl Lagerfeld is still "The Kaiser". The Olsen twins are sitting front row at Chanel. And bug-eyed sunglasses are very much on the menu. In fact, Mary-Kate and Ashley, in a rare moment of accessories "twinning", are both wearing frames so enormous, so curvaceous, there's no word for them except "bug-eyed".

They might take inspiration from sunglasses in the '70s—Jackie Onassis' were particularly oversized, curving around her cheekbones and temples—but they famously had a renaissance in the early ’00s with a more symmetrical, spherical shape. Nicole Richie's boho-luxe makeover—by the queen of bug-eyed sunglasses Rachel Zoe—is still legendary: a pair of retro, pleasingly rounded frames was the finishing touch to most outfits.

Today's bug-eye sunglasses take up a similar real estate—totally eclipsing around one third of your face—and lean into their '70s heritage. Celine's Disc Sunglasses, first seen on the the catwalk for Spring/Summer 2026 are one of the best examples, with a temple length of 13cm and a set of sky-blue lenses. Tom Ford's, meanwhile, have thiner frames made of tortoiseshell acetate, the bug-eyed silhouette even more prominent courtesy of a delicately-formed bridge.

The key to wearing round sunglasses is similar to shield frames—i.e. not to overthink it. When Grece Ghanem packed hers for a recent holiday in Seoul, she wore them on repeat, with everything from blossom-printed sundresses to sporty layered knitwear, not letting their extroverted nature inhibit her styling. Meanwhile, in LA Aurora James leaned into their vintage-inspired tinted mood with a retro shift and wooden clogs.

Cool but not too calculated—and more glamorous than aviators or anything slimline—why not devote this summer to rediscovering bug-eye sunglasses?

Shop The Best Bug Eye Sunglasses