Microevolution in sunglasses

When faced with uncertainty we are required to make decisions that will directly affect our lives.  Uncertainty in the domain of sunglasses is whether that particular style will stand up to the test of time. With so many variations of style sunglasses are forced into microevolution in a consumption market.

For microevolution to occur in sunglasses different styles and trends have to make their way into existence from previous generations of frames and lenses. These styles are selected by consumers leading to the flow of genes and to allow genetic drift to take place.  Since the evolution of sunglasses is driven by a consumption market, it seems that styles and traits are artificially selected by consumers. The genetic drift in these styles is subtle but necessarily occurs.  Successful traits in one style of glasses could be applied to a different style, leading to variation. Sometimes large mutations do take place and can succeed, and other times you end up with an oversized pair of orange Oakley’s with green/orange mirrored lenses.

Some of the styles that make their way to the shelves and onto the face of consumers are generally accepted and become common. If a particular trend is generally conservative and only a slight shift from the accepted norm, they are considered acceptable themselves.  There are styles of sunglasses that seem to never disappear. Unpopular traits can lead to an inability to be artificially selected. When this takes place those undesirable traits are lost and will never be passed on to future generations of sunglasses.