Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Peter Macia writes about the Super Ciccio sunglasses in Havana Glitter, Lil Wayne, Fidel Castro and winter bike commuting.
There are two things I break and/or lose without fail within two weeks of purchase no matter what I do: fuckin' sunglasses and fuckin' earbuds. It's gotten to the point where I won't even spend 15 dollars on either because I'm mad at the whole concept. The earbuds I can live without because I can just read a book or listen to strangers' conversations or something, but as a regular bike commuter I have to have some sort of shield between my eyeballs and the wind/urine/rat poo/car exhaust/garbage that frequently flies through New York air during rush hour.
For awhile I went the dummy route of buying the cheapest things I could find on St Mark's and would deal with the blurred vision of the plastic lenses with a moment of prayer or a shot of whiskey before I saddled up. But then I saw Lil Wayne wearing Supers and I thought to myself, I don't care if this dude gets a new pair every day, the mere endorsement implies that these sunglasses are capable of withstanding god knows what kind of craziness that flies at Weezy's face all hours of the day.
Turns out I had the wrong idea about skimping all along, because I've had these for over a year despite doing the dumbest shit to them, like having them fall off my face in front of my own bike, running over them with both tires, stopping, and stepping on them when I back up to see if they broke. They didn't. They don't. The Ciccios are as beautifully bomb-proof as the Havana Glitter description implies, a tortoise-shelled Fidel Castro for your face. Plus they're huge and the lenses are Zeiss, so when you're riding over the Manhattan Bridge and some dude's saddlebags come loose from his rack and a latch breaks off and ricochets right at your cornea, it's like PING and not even a scratch. It doesn't even come close to doing damage.
So the lesson here, as always, is splurge a little for the long haul and don't ride behind anyone who looks like they piss their pants regularly. That second part isn't technically always part of the lesson but you should follow it anyway.