Ear Parties: How To Dress Up Your Ear Piercings for the Season
Having more than one set of ear piercings used to be more of a rarity. Now, having rows of delicate hoops or carefully dispersed diamonds around an ear is peak chicness. Multiple earrings in one ear, or ear parties, is a trend being seen on celebrities, influencers and college students across the country.
From @weworewhat fashion influencer Danielle Bernstein’s carefully curated ear party of large silver hoops, to actress Zoe Kravitz’s statement earrings mixed with studs, the combination of piercings are endless.
When deciding just what piercing to get, it’s important to identify the different places that can be pierced (this guide from Cosmopolitan is super helpful), and just what earrings will work in the future for those piercings. Before getting any piercings or new earrings, it is also vital to ensure they are not made from allergic-reaction inducing metals.
Jordan Kozlowski, a piercer at The Tattooery in College Park, has done more upper cartilage piercings this year than any other type of piercing. Additionally, he has had many people come in to get their noses pierced.
The biggest mistake people with piercings can make is touching the piercing too much and not cleaning it, said Kozlowski.
Many students at the University of Maryland have embraced the ear party trend, and have various iterations of it on their own ears.
For a minimalistic approach, try pairing a single lobe stud piercing with a simple stud in the cartilage.
Sophomore elementary education major Rachel Herman went for a minimalistic piercing combination, with double lobe studs and double cartilage piercings.
Image credit: Lindsay Garbacik for The Campus Trainer
Another approach to the ear party, is the idea of having many piercings lining the ear from the lobe to the cartilage. With numerous piercings done, it provides options to switch up the combinations. There’s the possibility of doing all hoops for a bohemian vibe, all studs or a combination of both.
Sophomore government and politics and art history double major Alicia Goodwin has multiple piercings lining her ear and likes to mix her jewelry with a combination of silver diamond studs and a dainty cartilage hoop.
Image credit: Lindsay Garbacik for The Campus Trainer
For the more adventurous of ear parties, try a conch piercing. It pierces through the thicker, lower part of the cartilage of the ear. While this may be a more painful piercing to get, the look is very cool. It provides continuity from a lower lobe piercings to a higher cartilage piercing.
Sophomore psychology and family science double major Charissa Zhu recently added a conch piercing to her ear party and loves it.
Image credit: Lindsay Garbacik for The Campus Trainer
Finding earspiration (inspiration for your ears) is the easy part. However, the hard part is finding cute, cheap earrings that won’t tarnish quickly or turn your ears green after a few wears. The plight to finding earrings that are good quality and won’t break the bank is difficult. Madewell, & Other Stories and J&Co Jewelry all have a variety of earrings that are relatively cheap and tend to last longer than a $4 pair from Forever 21 would.
If quality of earrings does not concern you, Urban Outfitters and Francescas always have a full array of cute, on-trend earrings in stock. Typically, they do tarnish quickly, but they are trendy and their price tag is quite manageable.
If the price of earrings does not concern you, Maria Tash and Adina’s Jewels are two brands that provide major ear party inspiration on their Instagrams, though their earrings typically cost over $100.
So, whether you’re looking to add one or two more piercings to your ear or to pierce just a new, more exotic place, the options are endless. As long as Instagram and Pinterest exist, there will always be ear party envy.
