History of Earrings | Georgia P Designs

Gold and silver Plated Man & lady earrings

Did you know earrings have been around for thousands of years and first originated in the Middle East and Asia? Throughout the ages they have been worn by both men and women, slaves, pirates and prostitutes. They have been worn to indicate signs of wealth, cultural and social status, as fashion statements and they have even been worn to ward off evil spirits.

Depending on the fashions of the time, they have fallen in and out of favour and during the 13th Century the Catholic church even banned the piercing of ears, only thieves, pirates and the lower classes continued to wear them.

During the 1920’s we saw the introduction of clip on earrings which made piercings fall out of favour as it was thought that they were less hygienic. But in the 1970’s they gradually grew popular again.

So, if you have pearced ears, when did you get yours pearced? I didn’t get my ears pierced until the late 80’s when I was 21 and my mum didn’t pluck up the courage to have hers done until she was about 45.

As you know earrings come in a variety of styles, from simple studs, drop earrings and hoops to the more long and flamboyant chandelier earrings but did you know that earrings can be worn to help compliment and correct the shape of the face? Long earrings optically elongate the face and neck, geometric shapes help to sharpen the features, whilst round or oval earrings soften the features.

(Photo from http://www.dangelique.com)

Who knew that small round earrings are best for long faces whilst long dangle earrings are best for square faces. That large earrings are good for faces with small features and massive earrings should be worn without a necklace. Does all that makes sense or is it a little confusing? Apparently younger people can almost get away with wearing any style of earring, whilst older ladies need to be more conservative, but scrub that idea! Who says you can’t wear what you want, eh!

This is only a brief summary of what I found out about earrings, but I hope you found it interesting, there is much more available on the internet if you want to go looking.

So now that I understand that there are more to earrings than just being an accessory, I thought it’s about time I started to put more effort into making them. You will find that some jewellery makers prefer to make certain pieces of jewellery, for example bracelets, necklaces or earrings, for me it’s necklaces but I promise from now on I will be making the effort to be a bit more creative when making earrings.

So here’s what I’ve made a start on.

Copper wired earrings. Copper is a much easier wire to manipulate than silver wire so lots of jewellery makers practice with this metal first before moving on to sterling silver. I love copper coloured jewellery even when it darkens, do you know it also has healing properties? People who are deficient in copper may benefit from wearing copper jewellery, since it can be absorbed through the skin. Jewellery is a good way of taking in the small amount of the mineral needed. The healing properties of copper, in the form of bracelets, necklaces, rings, or earrings, can allow a minimal amount of the mineral into the body without overwhelming it. Some wearers of copper jewellery find it relieves the symptoms of arthritis and circulation problems. Copper is also a very durable metal and copper jewellery will last a lifetime if cared for properly. It’s also easy to clean with a simple soak in lemon or ketchup and then just clean it away with mild soap and water.

: Copper & Turquoise wired earrings

: Copper and purple agate beads

: Copper wired ‘jug’ earrings with green agate beads, although I didn’t intend them to be jugs!

: Copper and silver wired earrings with purple agate, I love mixing metals

A selection of silver plated earrings featuring beads, I tried various designs and practiced hammering the hoops without marking the wire. A while back, I bought a jewellery hammer for this purpose and a metal block, but found the hammer I bought kept marking the metal, so this time I picked up my hubby’s really old grubby hammer and it worked perfectly!!! I have a while yet before I move onto Sterling Silver though. You will see with this bunch of earrings I tried some different shapes.

: Silver Plated swirls

: Silver Plated hoops with mauve agate and turquoise beads

: Silver plated wired hoop earrings with agate beads and leaf charm

: Silver plated drop earrings with turquoise beads and gold plated wire wrap

: Silver plated earrings with a chequed wired pattern and purple agate beads and amethyst

: Simple silver plated loops with purple agate bead drop

: Silver plated wired earrings with purple agate beads

: Silver plated wire wrapped earrings with blue agate beads

: Silver plated free-form earrings with black crystal.

A few miscellaneous earrings, I was not sure where to put!

: A handmade polymer clay heart with silver plated chain

: Silver plated hoops with seed bead dangles

: Gold Plated wired earrings with black crystals

With these last couple of pairs of earrings I tried some novelty shapes, the man and woman didn’t turn out too bad for my first attempt and the cat earrings were a request from a friend.