By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Brenda Lopez has a store-size rack for her sunglasses.

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Made in the shades
CHALLENGE! Does anyone out there have more pairs
of sunglasses than Brenda Lopez? Then step up to the challenge.
Until then, Lopez reigns as sunglasses queen.
Or maybe you think you have more of something else
than anybody? If so, let us know. We'll check it out
for another CHALLENGE!
Write: P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802;
Fax: (808) 523-8509; or e-mail to
features@starbulletin.com

By Nadine Kam
Assistant Features Editor

BLAME it on mom. When Brenda Lopez was growing up, her mother Stella would stitch up special dresses for all occasions, in yellow for Easter, green for St. Patrick's Day, red for Christmas.

The Technicolor treatment has manifested itself in a passion for socks, T-shirts, visors and especially sunglasses, in a rainbow of hues.

Lopez has 90 pairs of shades, which she buys for color, rather than flash. That's surprising, given her friends' nickname for her, "Da Portagee Flash."

"I want to look nice. I don't want to look outrageous like Elton John."

Among her more unusual glasses are ones with windshield -- or rather, lens -- wipers and one with lenses in the shape of Texas.

Most of her shades run $10 to $12, although occasionally she'll drop $85 to $125 for a pair of Bolles or designer frames.

Her collecting habit dates to 1965 when she started work as a dispatcher for the Hawaii Newspaper Agency.

"Since I was on the road so much, I needed to have dark glasses. One day I was wearing a purple shirt and I thought, wouldn't it be nice to coordinate my glasses with my shirt," she said.

These days, she finds it convenient that her work beat includes Ala Moana Center, Ward Warehouse and Waikiki, prime sunglass outlets.

"My eyes are always looking around when I'm walking in the store," she said.

At the stores, her passion for collecting is well known among the clerks. "They get a big kick out of it," Lopez said. "They say they can't wait to see what I'll wear next."

When The Ritz was still in business, a part-owner even gave Lopez a rack that will hold 128 pairs of glasses. "I'll fill it up before I retire," she said.