Global Gathering

This weekend, Sunglasses Shop will be at Long Marston Airfield in Stratford-Upon-Avon. While we love a good airfield from time to time, the reason we'll be there is much more exciting - it's the number one electronic music festival, Global Gathering!

Forward thinking and defiantly cutting edge, Global Gathering showcases the hottest underground acts, pitting them alongside critically acclaimed DJs and chart-topping superstars. It's essential for anyone who has ever tapped their feet along to a beat.

Headlining the main stage on Friday, drum and bass chart-stormers Pendulum will help us rave the night away to their electro and d'n'b infusion.

Global Gathering have another superstar act for us to get excited about - two-time Brit winner Tinie Tempah will return after a triumphant performance last year. Tinie Tempah is the man in Ray-Ban and one of our favourites. We can't wait to jive to his slick take on the grime.

Also riding high on the wave of critical acclaim, Chase and Status will unleash their grimy beats and booming bass on Global Gathering. And we're going to soak the whole lot up.

The real question though... what sunglasses to get involved with?

The Jeepers Peepers Saba has a distinctive style. We reckon this'll make us stand out from the huge crowds at Global Gathering.

But then what about the Carrera Champion? A classic style, and definitely something we could get behind.

The British Grand Prix

The clouds gathering overhead threaten to dampen the efforts made throughout Silverstone's Friday practice session. Bulging at the seams, looking too heavy to stay airbourne, the clouds soon burst and the British Grand Prix braces itself for a Formula 1 weekend that looks set to be doused in rain.



Last year's race saw Mark Webber drive like a man possessed, determined to cross the line first and in front of his Red Bull team-mate Alex Vettel, who Webber felt Red Bull favoured over him. It made for a tense, exciting race, especially with Silverstone favourite Lewis Hamilton on Webber's tail for most of the race.



This year's race looks to be a little soggier than the last, with few weather professionals optimistic about the weekend's prospects for good weather. Rain or shine, Sunglasses Shop will be following the Grand Prix and we're bound to see sunglasses being worn by driver and spectator alike.



In Pole Position



The image of the race driver wandering around the paddock, with his eyes concealed behind dark lenses, is a lasting one mastered by the likes of Jackie Stewart and Stirling Moss, and continued today by style-conscious drivers like Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.



Fernando Alonso in particular is bound to wear sunglasses – bound by contract to be precise, due to being the latest sports star to be adopted into the Oakley family. Alonso is tied to Oakley like Jenson Button was once tied to Ray-Ban when he raced for Brawn GP in 2009 – a team that only existed for one season but, due to winning that sole season, is the only Formula 1 team with a 100% season win rate.



Driven To Victory



F1 drivers and sunglasses combined to winning effect when Serengeti and Alain Prost worked together to produce a limited edition range of Serengeti sunglasses. The ultimate in driving sunglasses, the Alain Prost versions of the Coppa, Piers and Torini united driving excellence with streamlined technology to produce a range of sunglasses as distinguished as Alain Prost's career.



Rain or shine, the British Grand Prix is the one to watch and Sunglasses Shop will be doing just that, waiting for the chequered flag.

Fighting Haye-Fever

If you caught the fight on Saturday, you may have noticed the sunglasses David Haye wore in the post-fight conference. After his title unification fight against the more-mountain-than-man man mountain Wladimir Klitschko, heavyweight ex-champion David Haye threw on a pair of Ray-Ban to face the hungry flashbulbs of the waiting sports journalists.

Haye opted for the Ray-Ban 4099, a visor frame that covered his eyes and helped him hide the shame of defeat. Haye reckoned he broke a toe in training three weeks before, an injury which hindered his performance during the fight, and said he wasn't sure about retiring as planned when he really wants a rematch with Klitschko.

Haye might be waiting a long, long time for that to happen, seeing as it took a couple of years to get Klitschko out for this bout, so we at Sunglasses Shop reckon perhaps it's time to lay down the gloves. After all, with all that fighting he does, he might end up scratching his Ray-Ban sunglasses!

All Hail Hailee

At the young age of fourteen, Hailee Steinfeld received an Oscar nomination for her performance in the Coen Brother's remake of True Grit. Her mature performance as Mattie Ross went down so well she was considered for the Best Supporting Actress Award, and now, on top of that recognition, design house Miu Miu have chosen her to be the face of their new ad campaign.

In the campaign Hailee shows a maturity well beyond her young age as she poses beside a dusty railway track wearing pieces from Miu Miu's latest collection, even wearing a frame from the new Miu Miu sunglasses range.

In another photograph Hailee is surrounded by shoes, and in another she tucks into a slice of pizza. Hailee works the photographer with a maturity beyond her years, and she's certain to be the envy of countless fashionistas for many years too.

The Decade That Style Remembered

It's no surprise the Eighties are constantly labelled the decade that style forgot. Considering how common fingerless gloves and bum bags were, those years were certainly an interesting era for fashion. Garish colours and vulgar hairstyles stooped to new lows of gaudiness, and let's not even start with the music...



But although the Eighties had a few questionable trends, those who choose to write off the decade as one big fashion faux-pas are missing out. Some of our latest sunglasses collections prove there was a little more to the Eighties than perms and legwarmers.



Take the Nooka Mercury. The Eighties are truly back with a vengeance with this visor frame - unlike most frames today, there's no Sixties or Seventies influence in this electric little number from New York design company Nooka.

Even if you already own a visor sunglass, there's no way it can match the distinctive style of the Nooka Mercury. The acid colour range is totally Eighties and has already bewitched loads of celebs, including Jason Derulo, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. And if that doesn't prove the Eighties are back, then what does?