the ear cuff renaissance is here
jewelry for the airpod generation + the ear as a bodily site for the attention economy
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As a child, I was never able to decide whether to get my ears pierced or not.
I wished I was one of those babies whose moms got their ears pierced fresh out of the womb before my consciousness formed. As a young girl it felt like the biggest bodily decision one could make, and I felt left behind as my peers at school got their Claire’s piercing baptisms done one by one. I listened, transfixed, to my grandmother’s story about getting her ears pierced with a burning hot needle by hand in rural China.
And I was scared of the pain—despite not having an issue with needles at the doctor. Sometimes I would use my thumb and index fingernails and pinch my lobe as hard as I could, leaving red crescent moon marks, to simulate the pain and see what I could tolerate. I looked at the sewing needles in the tin Royal Dansk box at home and imagined them rotating over a stove flame, then puncturing my earlobes into a mini kebab. Children have darker imaginations than adults give them credit for.
Years passed and my ears aren’t pierced. I guess I never wanted it that badly. I’ve never been overcome with piercing fever the way I have with tattoo fever.
There are moments when I see a very beautiful earring and wish I could wear it, but it’s a fleeting emotion that always subsides. It’s also taught me you can just admire things, or dream about things, without committing to a purchase or a body modification.
Ear jewelry for the non-pierced has come a long way in the past 5 years.
The first time I looked into ear cuffs and clip ons was 2019ish, and I bought a random Etsy set that fell apart after a few wears. I noticed that during the peak pandemic years, small jewelry businesses really took off in a big way and started expanding the ear jewelry category to include more inventive designs. My theory is that this small biz jewelry boom is part of the larger phenomenon of skilled “hobbyists” making career pivots during the pandemic and finding success turning their passion into a full-time business. Think of all the ceramicists and sourdough bakers that popped off into IG businesses in the past few years.
One positive effect I see coming out of this is the growing category of ear cuffs within jewelry brands. And small indie brands are really at the forefront of this change.
Let’s look at all the ear cuffs I tried in October.
I’m going to cover all the brands, review the products, and share how I’ve been styling them (spoiler: stacks are so fun). Some notes before we begin, because transparency is important!
I reached out to 6 jewelry brands I admired that made ear cuffs—some that I’ve bought from before and some that I’ve never tried. 3 brands agreed to be a part of this newsletter.
The brands sent a mix of loaned stylist pulls and gifted pieces. I try on a LOT of cuffs for this newsletter so you, as the reader, can see how all the options look in real life. But bear in mind it is not realistic to buy all of these! Know that I had to mail cuffs back! The vast majority of people, including myself, are not spending hundreds or thousands on a massive ear cuff haul. What you’re seeing here is increased access to products because of my job.
Since ear cuff sizes vary in comfort from ear to ear, I recommend getting a pair of jewelry pliers. Our cartilage formations are diverse and that is a beautiful thing! I have some cheap ones I use for beading projects and used them to widen/play around with the arc shape of some cuffs.
Affiliate links are starred *
Let’s start with my favorite cuff I tried—the *pea cuff from CLED.
It’s a simple silver cuff with a colored ball. Lightweight, stackable, and very much my style. CLED is a small jewelry brand I could talk about forever (Asian-American owned! Sustainable sourcing! Accessible price points!).
Founded by Seulye Jo, CLED stands for Conscious Lifestyle Earth Friendly & Ethical Design. Yes, it’s a mouthful but the brand genuinely walks the walk of its values. Most pieces are made of colored glass, upcycled from their previous life as beverage bottles in LA restaurants & bars.
So if you’ve ever had a drink at Joy in Highland Park (an Eastside LA mainstay) to wash down your dan dan noodles, know that the empty bottle became the ear cuff I’m wearing in this newsletter! Also, I’m insanely jealous of anyone who has regular access to Joy or Pine & Crane…
CLED kindly shared a discount code for Molehill readers: enter VIVTHEMOLE at checkout for 15%.
*blue pea cuff + pink silk pj top + jeans
This was hands-down my most worn everyday cuff in the last month, mostly because of how comfortable and easy it is to slip on and off. If you’ve worn ear cuffs, then you know there is a learning curve to it. There were a few instances when I was trying out a cuff and couldn’t get it off painlessly and started freaking out—but it really just takes practice and phalangeal finessing. Kind of like using a tampon.
The pea cuff comes in two sizes. I tried both and prefer the smaller one, which is shown here.
If you’re stuck between the color offerings I recommend baby blue. No deep reason. I just like it the best.
triple pop of red: the bag, the swim shorts, the *pea cuff
pea + heart stack
Here I’m stacking the *pea cuff in baby blue with a gummy silver heart cuff from Steff Eleoff to play with the contrast between a thick blobby shape and a thin hoop with a little ball.
I did find the heart cuff a little tricky to put on and take off, because the opening was on the narrow side (perhaps the snug fit is needed for a heavier piece). It is possible, but again…prepare to have some patience with yourself and use a mirror.
Zooming out, I think silver ear hardware pairs nicely with gray knits for fall. For a long time I would not wear gray clothing because I felt that it washed me out. However, gray has grown on me when it’s mixed with blingy metal, vibrant fire red or murky pea soup green (see: green cashmere cardigans inspired by Prada).
bleeding love stack
I’m starting to get the hang of layering (and the sensation of weight on my ear). This was an awesome cuff stack with *presence* I want to replicate.
Top is the red pea cuff, bottom is the *heart dangling ear cuff from CLED. So I got the one with the blue stone, but actually wore it flipped around here because I wanted an all-silver monochrome effect. I’m thrilled to unleash the dangly earring bitch that lives within me. She’s been waiting for this moment.
The middle is the super simple and sleek ouroboros cuff from Loren Stewart, an LA-born and bred jewelry designer inspired by the sights and sounds of the ‘80s.
Andddd here’s a peek of my outfit. I was feeling girly.
on my other ear, the single *pea cuff in green (this is the large size, all others are small, for reference) with my janky manicure situation.
starburst candy stack
This red and pink together remind me sooooo specifically of the pink and red starburst candies. The chunkier oval ring at the bottom is the *sculpture cuff from CLED.
The full outfit.
A moment for the shoe and sock…
These looks have skewed silver because that’s what I prefer right now—but I also tried out gold from Loren Stewart.
Here is how I stacked the *14K solid gold Lanyard Cuff with the gold ouroboros cuff on a good hair day lol. I do appreciate how the gold interacts with my hair and skin coloring differently than silver.
The single gold lanyard, subtly peeking out of my hair.
designing for the airpod generation
I’ll end on another trend analysis theory…could ear cuffs be a sartorial response to the rise of the airpod generation and growth in the wearable technology space? A generation accustomed to wearing objects that nest in the ear canal or hoop against the cartilage are more likely to hold an expansive view of what “eargear” can be.
Earbud-style headphones are just a functional form of ear adornment. Some of the designs I’ve seen for sports like running or swimming emphasize an ergonomic design—but taken out of their performance context, they look rather avant-garde to me.
I hope to see more applications between functional eargear and design in the coming decades. For example…blinged out hearing aids would be AWESOME.
That’s it! Let me know if you have questions about any of these cuffs I tried. And reminder that if you chose to buy anything from CLED, use VIVTHEMOLE to get 15% off.
If you enjoy this kind of fashion writing and in-depth product review, consider a paid subscription to read the whole archive + future posts 😌
I know there are tons of cool brands making ear cuffs—let’s start a list in the comments!
xoxo
viv
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I'm from Colombia, and the ear cuff renaissance was in full peak last year, so much that now almost every jewelry brand offers them. It's very interesting to see how much our designs differ from those in the US.
I have to say, though, that I very much prefer the ear cuffs you showed. Here in Colombia, chunky, funky pieces are more popular so it's nice to see variations that I hadn't thought of before!
Love love love!! Especially enamored of the heart + pea cuff combo
I have a single piercing in each lobe but have never gotten additional piercings since my ears are kind of small and I don’t want to experience the pain of cartilage piercing. I used to wear a lot of big statement earrings, but since I commute with a mask on public transit now, I’ve found those hard to wear without their getting tangled up when I take my mask off. I’ve been wearing smaller earrings and am in a little bit of a rut and now I’m thinking that cuffs might be the answer, especially with how smooth-looking several of these are (easier to not snag).