Aviator glasses were the breakout star of Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial. Here’s why they’re eternally cool

Now that the hubbub around Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski trial in Salt Lake City has died down, and she has emerged victorious and free to Goop it up again, it is time to dwell on the important things that came out of the case. Namely, Paltrow’s glasses.

You know, the ones from the first day: gold wire-framed aviators with a squared shape and yellow tinted lenses. They set the internet alight with references, from Gucci husband-murderess Patrizia Reggiani (as portrayed by Lady Gaga in the film “House of Gucci”) to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (as portrayed by Evan Peters in the Netflix series “Monster”). But really, they could have been worn by anyone’s dad in the 1970s. She also wore classic Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses with her court arrival and departure looks.

Sunglasses used to be an easy way to tell the era in which a photograph was taken. But with today’s whiplash of trend cycles, you can’t tell whether someone is wearing this season’s revived vintage looks or last season’s revived vintage looks. Very little feels truly new; I sometimes think fashion has become an endless remix of hits of the past, like those K-tel records (also, yes, from the ’70s).

Paltrow’s much-dissected rich mom wardrobe, also known as stealth wealth, as seen in Season 4 of “Succession,” was made up of a parade of flattering, restrained, logo-free neutrals from Prada and her own Goop label, and one great long, olive coat by The Row. The glasses made for a playful moment among all that seamless good taste and instantly went viral. Ever the deft social media player, Paltrow ditched them after the first-day feeding frenzy for more serious, heavy frames for the duration of the trial.

The boffo first-day glasses were actually readers from a company called Caddis, which have been featured, naturally, on the Goop site. Paltrow is her own best product placement mannequin. Caddis readers have also recently been worn by Brooke Shields, in the news herself as she promotes her new memoir, and Matthew McConaughey. They are notable in that the brand’s stated mission is to promote “anti anti-aging” and bring down the “fountain of youth illusion,” unlike companies “profiting on vanity and fear of age.”

So far, so cool, so on brand for Paltrow.

Fun readers are a great innovation. Caddis reading glasses run in the $130 to $150 range; my personal choice is the Shopper’s Drug Mart reader rack, because you are going to lose those suckers, even if you store them on top of your head (also my personal choice, because not caring is the greatest thing about aging).

The accoutrement of choice for silver screen stars dating back to the silent film era, sunglasses still serve to provide an air of glamour and mystery, and great punctuation for a look.

Paltrow’s favoured aviator style is a deeper throwback than the ’70s. Commissioned by the U.S. military in the 1930s with an eye to function, they were designed to cover the full field of vision for pilots in the cockpit and could be worn under helmets. Think of General MacArthur landing on the beaches in the Pacific Theatre in the Second World War in a pair of aviators. They caught on fast with the public and the first Ray-Ban aviators by Bausch and Lomb were released in 1937.

Celebrities have long been associated with aviators, from Marlon Brando in “The Wild Ones” to Gloria Steinem’s tinted Ray-Ban Shooters to Tom Cruise in both “Top Gun” movies to my personal favourite reference, Robert Redford in “Three Days of the Condor.”

The great thing about aviators is that everyone who plucks a pair off the rack gets to feel a little bit like an idol themselves. They’re transformative: who doesn’t feel, deep down, a little bit incognito in them, mysterious and unknowable?

Which is all to say, I understand why Paltrow went big with glasses during the trial. Even for someone used to the spotlight, she must have felt very exposed under the relentless eye of the court cameras and the people at home, ready to screenshot and make memes of her every move. Sunglasses, tinted readers — we will take any kind of protection against the world. I hope they made her feel better.

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