I have loved Oakleys since I bought my first pair, X metal Juliet with ruby lenses (they still make me feel like Cyclops from X-men) and now, 27/28 pairs strong. But, and here is the big but, I am now 43 and thinking that Oakleys are for younger guys, not a European man like me (British/Maltese/French). Whilst I love my straight jackets, I am thinking that they are designed, like most wrap arounds, for a younger man. What do you all think? I would value some thoughts on this as I am considering consolidating my collection.

I’m 47 and love my Juliet’s, I will wear them probably the rest of my life, Oakley’s are not just made for younger people

I would agree that Oakleys are made/designed for the younger crowd (current generation and n-1 generation), and that's who they've always built their marketing around; they're the bread and butter, after all. That will always will be the case for a company with the sports marketing and culture that Oakley has.

That said, I don't see anything wrong with wearing Oakleys even you're not in the target market.

I am 50, and I continue to use my x-metals when I feel like it, without a problem, and without caring about other people's movements.
What makes us older or younger is not just our age, but our willingness and spirit to live life as we wish and like it, regardless of the opinions of others.
Live life and be happy with your X-metals ..

First rule of thumb should always be to wear what you like.

Chances are, the models that came out when we more closely fell within the target market are NOT styles that today’s youth market would be laying claim to. I’m sure they will let us have our Straight Jackets.

I agree with Paul 100%.

When those older Oakleys first came out they were in the class of the young and hip. As all things tend to do, styles and trends changed and now what is young and hip is completely different. Just consider it a generational thing like any other category - music, cars, etc. If they were in your era before, then they still are. No need to put em down or pack em up.

I suppose one could reason the one category you must evolve with would be fashion, namely clothes. And while I would agree on the whole (I have long since stopped dying my hair, wearing shredded jeans and obnoxiously adorned leather jackets), I don't think eyewear qualifies. Maybe I'm biased (yep!) but the shades get a pass. Will they look out of place if worn around normally? Sure, especially if they are a wild color. But I really don't think people notice all that much.

And like what was already said, you should wear what you want. We wouldn't be here collecting them if they didn't mean something on their own. It would be a shame NOT to wear them, at least once in a while, right?

Getting dangerously close to the 40 mark, I'm wearing whatever I like and feel like I look good with (which is veeeeery subjective).

I feel like a fair majority of people here are well past the early 20's, especially with the site nearing 16 years old. The company will always target the youth/sport market, but there's certainly enough models to suit almost everyone. I'm not going to be skydiving any time soon, but I can always wear some vibrant model while snowtubing with the family.

First rule of thumb should always be to wear what you like.

Or whatever she ”recommends”...
What anyone else thinks is irrelevant.

Lol!

No Juliet,no life!

Not caring is one of the many hallmarks of growing older. I know that not caring will eventually lead to me wearing pants this high when I'm 80:

The more I look at this, the higher levels of not-caring I witness.