What does "conspicuous" mean regarding wear of civilian sunglasses in the updated AR 670-1?

Ultimately it comes down to what the commander deems as conspicuous. As long as it is applied across the board, no one can complain. The definition of conspicuous is "standing out to be clearly visible". Save yourself some trouble and get sunglasses with no logos. I recommend getting some good Oakleys through their military program because the "O" is subdued and therefore not conspicuous. Or wear the issue eye-pro. Be glad you can wear it because for a good part of my career, we could not wear sunglasses on a regular basis. Good luck.

The logos are supposed to be subdued. Most brands carry a "military edition" for this reason.

Ultimately, SPC (Join to see) , you've got your exact answer below from PVT Robert Gresham -- the AR spells it out in detail.

But allow me to digress for a moment, and give you some unsolicited advice from a 20+ year senior NCO. When your seniors tell you not to wear something because it's trendy or "conspicuous" or whatever -- you have a choice to make. You can sea-lawyer it (that's our term, I'm sure you have one similar to it in the Army), and try to work out a way in the regulation that your senior is not quite exactly correct and you should be authorized to wear whatever it is or do whatever they told you not to do.

And then you can show up every day wearing those sunglasses that he told you not to wear, and he believes are "faddish" (that's our term), or "conspicuous" or whatever other term of art (not science -- it's vague for a reason) applies. And every time he sees you, it's like you're poking him in the eye with a stick. "I was right, you were wrong, see how cool I am in my cool shades that are just barely on the right side of unauthorized and I can get away with it because I got the IG to say I was right". And you might be. But how do you think that's going to go for you? I've seen this play out, many times, and generally that's the road to pain, suffering, and what could have been a good career ruined to wear some cool shades.

Or... You can try to follow the rules carefully. In the military, we have a way of life. We should be quiet, unassuming, not flashy or trying to draw attention. Not wearing fancy colors or things we think we can get away with because we're just a little above the law. Instead of asking if you can get away with something, when you go shop for sunglasses to wear in uniform you want to shop for the pair that would most fit in with your military uniform. Look for the sunglasses your senior NCO wears -- how would he possibly jack you up for wearing the same thing he does? I know -- we're old and not stylish anymore -- but realize that the military is not about being stylish, it's about doing a job. Wear the cool sunglasses with the lightning stripe when you put your civilian clothes on at the end of the day to go out with your friends -- that's your time to be stylish and impress the ladies and whatever else ya'll young people do these days...