Gender labels on clothing exist, what’s up with that?
So, earrings. Growing up I only wore earrings on special occasions, or if I was playing dress up. Princesses always wore long, beautiful, dangly earrings, and I wanted to be that princess. Once I started messing around with different ways to express my gender identity, I cut out anything “princessey” or “girly”. All of my earrings were thrown into a bin, and I swore to never take them out again.
Upon a quick google, it turns out that ancient Persian carvings show male soldiers wearing an earring. This was made a reality to me in October this year - the internet had just blown up with videos of boys with middle parts and dangly cross earrings. Pretty boys in elf costumes ran around renaissance fairs with extravagant earrings hanging from their ears. My older brother had picked up listening to Queen in the car, and Mr. Mercury’s style lent itself to the addition of earrings. David Bowie (who also aided in my discovery of makeup) wore huge, beautiful earrings that hung down and made him so identifiable.
So I dug through all of the earrings we owned, pulled out a pair of golden toned leaves, and popped them in my ears. It took wearing earrings for a couple hours at a time for my ears to reopen, but here we are. Earrings are a piece of my life, and I wear fun pairs on days where I get fully dolled up. I’ve fallen in love with weird, mismatched pairs and anything older fashioned. Now, I haven’t taken back wearing my princessey earrings, maybe that’ll happen soon? But for now, here’s some favs.
1. These are Moms! These are so funky. I wanna try them with just one, and a golden stud in the other ear. Asymmetry makes girlier earrings feel more androgynous :). 10/10 make me feel like I belong in the ocean.
2. These are mine! They make me feel like an awful tiktok star. I love them. 10/10 confused my grandparents.
3. Today’s earrings! Mom has had them forever, got them from her godmother. They’re very strange but make me feel like a preschool teacher. 10/10 make me feel a cool grandpa.
Anyways! I adore earrings and would love to hear all about how you wear them, or how you feel about them. I think they’re just so much fun :)
-A