In the beginning, sunglasses consisted of just a few basic shapes: oval, round, square or cat-eye. There was so little variance that when talk turned to choosing the right frames, it was all about choosing the right shape for an oval, round, square or triangular face. Or there was talk of protective features, such as gradient, anti-reflective and polarized lenses. All very practical and utilitarian — and not very fashionable.

Then along came the spring of 2011, when Prada introduced its Minimal Baroque collection of sunglasses with curlicue rococo temples. A surge of creativity, one-upmanship and extremism has since ensued.

Now with so many shapes, colors and materials to choose from, it’s almost impossible to fixate on just one pair.

And all those rules about face shape are out the window when you’re just looking for the wow factor.

Kate Spade offers glasses with lip-shaped frames for $158. Miu Miu has come up with Noir geometric cat-eye frames, some with glitter finish, and has had the audacity to shear off the bottom of both frame and lens with its Rasoir (translation: razor) style, slashing off extra weight and the specter of the cheek touch while delivering an extreme superhero masked look.

Even the classic 1952 Ray-Ban Wayfarer, available for so long in the same basic black as when Tom Cruise donned them 30 years ago in "Risky Business," has gone rainbow. Look for the frames in tasty transparent hues — mint, grape, blueberry, citrus, strawberry and watermelon — that debuted last summer. New this year is the "Urban Camouflage" collection: The frames feature a solid-color front, but a turn of the head reveals camouflage fabric temples in a range from green to purple.

Irregularity is the key word at Miu Miu and at Dior, where butterfly lenses extend beyond the frame in the Audacieuse style ($500), or a heavy brow line celebrates the beauty of nature in the Demoiselle ($490) shades.

While it’s tempting to snatch up dozens of different styles, prices are bound to keep one’s acquisitive nature in check. The market seems to be testing buyers’ limits, pushing price points from the $200 price range a couple of years ago into the $300 to $500 range. At Dior, lightweight Asian-fit silver-and-tortoiseshell Exquise sunglasses are $740.

And before the guys start chuckling over women’s obsession with fashionable specs, men’s Chrome Hearts aviators are in the $1,200-to-$1,700 range.

It appears many are willing to splurge on something they can wear front and center every day.