Earring wearing is
documented back to 2500 B.C.E. In many
ancient cultures, earrings were reserved for royalty ... like the original golden boy,
King Tut.
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| I'm the Golden Boy. |
Throughout the Dark,
Middle and Enlightened ages, earring wearing for women was dependent on the
visibility of the ear. High,
ear-covering collars meant no earrings.
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| Earrings, schmearings! I can barely move. |
Elaborate wigged updo's brought out lobe to shoulder jewels.
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| You can't see them, but my little dog is wearing earrings too. |
In the early part of the
20th century, Victorians thought piercing the ears was barbaric and
uncouth. As bad as saying "sex" or "pregnant" out
loud.
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| You can't make me say it or do it and don't even try to look at my ears. |
As the Victorians eventually got over
themselves, hairstyles swept upward, ugly bonnets came off and earrings were
popular once again.
Screw backs were invented,
allowing women freedom to choose styles and shapes of earrings that were
comfortable to wear. With the surge of
the Roaring '20s Art Deco style, women wore long chandelier, angled and
straight designs.
Screw backs do have a downside .... screwing the little
screw tight enough to keep the earring on, but loose enough to be comfortable
is tricky. I had a pair of small pearl screw backs in the 1950's and I rarely escaped without throbbing earlobes. The pearls never made it through Sunday dinner
… I always took them off on the way home from church.
Clip on earrings arrived
on the scene in the 1930's and were a big improvement over screw backs. As hairdos climbed shorter following World War
II, earrings filled that space from hair to shoulder.
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| Vintage Elee |
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| Vintage Monet |
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| Looks like Bakelite, but is modern plastic. |
The 1960's brought back ear
piercing and fashion has never looked back.
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| Mexican 'Alpaca' silver, which is not silver at all. |
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| Every bird deserves shiny feathers. |
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