Screen Cool: Ray-Bans Still Rule

Cinderella without the tiara. Popeye without his spinach. The Hansons without their hair. And the Blues Brothers without their shades.

When Dan Aykroyd picked up John Belushi as he rolled out of prison in Joliet, Ill., back in 1980, they were just a couple of dopey dropouts--until they put on their Ray-Bans.

A star was born: the Ray-Ban Wayfarer. Along with skinny ties and black fedoras, the squared-off black frames with darker-than-dark lenses became almost as famous as the soul men themselves.

Now, the Blues Brothers are back and so are the Ray-Bans. In “Blues Brothers 2000,” Aykroyd revives his role and John Goodman makes his soulful debut, replacing the late Belushi as Aykroyd’s new partner.

Although the story line hasn’t changed much, the sunglasses have. In addition to the classic black Wayfarers, cast members don a variety of other styles from the 1998 Ray-Ban collection, including Outsiders, Daddy-O and Predator. “Two icons of soul take on the millennium in style,” cheers the latest Ray-Ban press release from Rochester, N.Y.-based Bausch & Lomb Inc.

But the Blues Brothers aren’t the only ones who gave Ray-Bans a starring role at the movies. In 1983, Tom Cruise wore the sunglasses (Wayfarers, again) and white underwear for his lip-synced version of “Old Time Rock & Roll.”

The swoons for Cruise continued as our favorite fighter jock pulled on his classic Ray-Ban Aviators to play war games in 1986’s “Top Gun.”

But for “Men in Black” stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, Ray-Ban Predator2 shades set the style for a whole new generation of world-class alien chasers. At the premiere last year for “MIB,” the entire audience was equipped with Predator2 shades. And though Ray-Ban wasn’t quite so generous with its party favors for the Saturday premiere of “Blues Brothers 2000,” anybody who was anybody wore at least one pair during the Universal City party. The stars rotated Wayfarers with the ‘90s version of the classic Outsiders.

So what if it was dark outside by the time the post-premiere events began? This is Hollywood, where the sun never sets on the fashionably hip.