Sunglasses at night is the habit of keeping dark glasses on after dark, at a party, in a club or on a red carpet lit by camera flashes. Officially it is about glare; unofficially it lends anyone an instant, borrowed air of mystery.
The habit found its anthem in Sunglasses at Night by the Canadian singer Corey Hart, from the album First Offense, which reached number 7 on the American Billboard Hot 100 in 1984. Accounts of its birth differ charmingly. Co-producer Phil Chapman recalled a London studio where air vents above the mixing desk blew straight into everyone’s faces, so the team often wore shades indoors. Hart, for his part, has remembered packing Ray-Bans for the English sessions and never using them, because it rained almost every day. Either way, the most famous song about wearing shades in the dark was made in a country not known for its sunshine.