Salman Khan influenced the guys to opt for the aviator look perched on their noses, even though as Chulbul Pandey he preferred to hang it from his shirt at the nape of his neck.
The sunshades may be a rage among men but at the same time more and more females, too, are going in for the cool look. Huma Qureshi who wore them in Gangs of Wasseypur was surprised to note that several storeowners had upped their sales in aviators after the film. And though mostly guys preferred it, girls were snapping it up as well.
Huma was in New Delhi recently visiting her family who is based there. When Huma went to a sunglasses shop at a mall, the owner shared some interesting facts with Huma on how the sales of aviator glasses has gone dramatically up after she sported them in Gangs of Wassepur.
The shopkeeper told her that the style though prevalent was never high in fashion among female consumers. But after her look in the film, college girls were opting for it. Says a source close to Huma, `She was both happy as well as amused to hear about it.`
The pilot's glasses
Aviator sunglasses, or pilot's glasses, were originally developed in 1936 for pilots to protect their eyes while flying. Aviators were given their name due to their original intention of protecting aviator's eyes. It became a well-known style of sunglasses when General Douglas MacArthur landed in Philippines during World War II wearing them. Newspaper photographers snapped several pictures of him wearing them.
French connection
Later they also found popularity with the French army. The aviator style has been popular since the 1960s, but became even more so following pop culture references of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Freddie Mercury. After Tom Cruise wore it in Top Gun in 1986, sales of the brand rose by 40 per cent. In the 1990s, its popularity waned but eventually resurfaced in the early 2000s when comedian Johnny Knoxville wore them in Jackass.
