Made in the shades: Sunglasses can be about style, substance or both (SLIDESHOW)

If you live in Florida, sunglasses are more of an appendage than protective eyewear.

On the beach, fishing off the pier, driving or just walking around the block, it’s rare to spot someone without them.

When Ellie Parkin of Pace was 18, she purchased a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses for $500 while on a trip to Paris.

“I remember talking with my friend and we did the math and figured out if we eat crackers for four days we can get them,” the 23-year-old said. “I would never do it again, but it’s a fun story.”

Now, she wears $5 Walmart shades and leaves the expensive pair in safe keeping at her parent’s house.

“Maybe I’ll wear them again when I’m 30,” Parkin said.

Sunglasses range from a few dollars to more than $700.

• View a slideshow of sunglasses at the beach and the people who love them. »

“Glasses that pricey are worn as a fashion accessory,” said Chic Stout, store manager and optician at Sunglass World in Destin. “You don’t take them to the beach.

“I think they’re almost like artwork,” he added.

When Emily Tucker of St. Louis, Ill., went to the beach recently, she wasn’t wearing a $700 pair of shades. Hers cost about $5.

“I just read that they have UV protection, but obviously that wasn’t something I was looking for in a pair of sunglasses,” the 21-year-old said as she studied her glasses while lying on the beach. “I usually pick out glasses by what looks good. I have a small face so I don’t want any that are too big.”

While many buy them to make a style statement, Kevin Stukey of Fort Walton Beach said he paid $530 for prescription Oakley sunglasses that will protect his eyes and last a long time.

“They are very important, especially when fishing,” Stukey said as he reeled in his line at the Okaloosa Island Fishing Pier. “I got this brand ’cause that’s what everybody out here had.”

Stout said picking the perfect pair of sunglasses is a science. UV protection and optical lenses are a must to protect the eyes.

However, to achieve the right look Stout said it’s all about shape. People with square faces should avoid square frames and people with circular faces need to avoid similar-shaped frames. Those with oval faces can wear just about anything.

“Those lucky oval-shaped face people,” Stout said, laughing. “Really, it’s what you like and what looks good on you.”

Jim Mills of Fort Walton Beach says his cheap sunglasses will have to do until he can afford some Costa Del Mar sunglasses, which cost $130 to $200.

He said the guys catching fish at the pier all wear Costa sunglasses.

“Only reason I’ve got these glasses is because if I want some prescription ones it costs around $500,” he said. “For us out here, sunglasses are a necessity, not an accessory.”