Older & Wiser: why ageing lobes don’t mean the end of earrings
Beautiful image from Renaissance Magazine
One of the most bizarre complements I ever had was from an art student in a university lift. She praised my earlobes then informed me they were lucky. I did some quick research and sure enough, in Asian cultures, long earlobes are auspicious symbols of luck and wealth and signifiers of wisdom and compassion. Consider Buddha the epitome of this idea.
While loss of hearing is the most pressing concern with ageing ears, their changing external appearance can become an issue for some. It is a myth that ears continue to grow (alongside noses). What you’re seeing is the normal aging effects of gravity and lax skin elasticity that are more visible here. ‘I see a lot of ears,’ says jewellery designer Sian Evans, ‘Loss of collagen causes once plump, softly cushioned earlobes to become floppier and thinner from front to back’.
And so, while a distended lobe may be considered fortunate in some parts of the world, it is unlucky for our favourite statement danglers that might have to be relegated from service. Heavy earrings can also cause ear piercings to become stretched and in worse case scenarios, split. But mature ears don’t have to spell the end of earrings.
Fashion’s stock answer to the ageing lobe is the tiny stud or modest hoop. Evans advises if buying studs, combine them with big butterfly fasteners, ‘Big scrolls on the back will provide a flat plate and support for the earring’. Evans has also designed a fitting that looks like a faux drop earring that is actually a stud.
When it comes to adorning the mature lobe, weight – not size – is key. After all, you can have small studs made from heavy gold or other metal whose weight will drag on and emphasise a stretched piecing. A lightweight material like relatively inexpensive brass, will permit larger, more ornamental designs. At Nou Moon, an ethical jewellery company, brass – which can resemble gold but is an alloy – is utilised to create simple and striking earrings of all sizes.
Sian Evans earrings
Sian Evans’s BOTANY collection was created in the lightest aluminium and brass gold plate. A process called anodising makes it possible to introduce colour to these large, but ultralight earrings. Inspired by 19th century botanical drawings, Matisse cut-outs and Alexander Calder’s mobiles, the designer was drawn to these materials because they are easy to recycle. Pieces from this spectacular range are now in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s permanent collection.
Other lightweight materials include resin, wood, clay, buffalo horn and acrylic. TNMA favourite, Branch jewellery has a selection of ethically-sourced buffalo horn and rose wood earrings, in a variety of shapes and finishes. For party-season dazzlers, Toolally creates earrings using layered pieces of acrylic, with a focus on bold colours and art-deco design influences. Clay polymer earrings are also very light, and you can pick up lots of cheap and cheerful handmade designs on Etsy, or Light Moves Atelier on Wolf & Badger.
Another solution is any earring with detail at the top that will conceal an elongated lobe piercing. For many women, the go-to has been large 1950s or 1960s- inspired clip-ons that cover the entire lobe. But these can be uncomfortable and hurt after a while.
Considering the entire ear, not just the lobe, as a potential site of decoration is a popular solution. Numerous jewellery designers create ‘ear cuffs’, ‘climbers’, ‘creepers’ and ‘wings’ that can spread upwards, across the top of the ear, drawing emphasis away from the lobe. Here the structure support of the ear depends on cartilage not collagen. For those with loyalties to their Punk or Boho sensibilities, ‘Adding piercings around the ear can show a continuing joy in life,’ Evans says.
So, perhaps it’s time to think of our ears, not as sad holes but glorious wholes!
Nilgin Yusuf is a freelance writer. You can find her on Twitter @Nilgin and Instagram @nilgin_yusuf
Adorn your ears with these cuffs, crawlers, clip-ons and lighter-weight earrings:
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Discussion (20 Comments)
Nina says:
Something called ‘earring things’ are little transparent stickers that support your earrings and stop them from tugging on your lobes they are great and stay in place until you remove them.
Harriet Forde says:
I read somewhere that you can do the same with small pieces of Elastoplast… haven’t tried it yet but planning to with some of my heavier ‘danglies’ for christmas parties!
Ciclochick says:
Brilliant! I’ve just found some on Amazon called Earlite which get very good reviews, most of which seem to suggest it revolutionises earring wearing! They went straight into my basket!
Gillian Bingham says:
I’ve never had my ears pierced, mainly because when I was considerng it years ago in my twenties I had friends who suffered infections after piercing, so that put me off. I’m sure things are better now and, in my seventies, I still think about it occasionally. I have some old earrings that attach with clips or screws but they can be painful, as you mention. While I’m still thinking about piercing can you tell me where, apart from vintage stalls, I could buy some nice, preferably comfortable, clip-ons? Thank you!
Hi Gillian, We’ve included quite a few pairs of clip-ons in the gallery at the bottom of the feature, John Lewis and Susan Caplan both sell vintage pairs and Jon Richard has modern day versions.
Sandie Saulsbury says:
I usually wear studs because dangly earrings become uncomfortable after a while because they are dragging my ear down. I do love the look of long earrings though, so this is a bit of revelation. Thanks Alyson.
Lucy says:
As an earring enthusiast, I have had very short hair for years but have skin allergies which make it trickier. I prefer to wear something more noticeable than studs. Titanium is brilliant and very light. I have a collection of Ti2 who sell direct and via other sources (like https://www.serenityjewellery.co.uk/). Ti2 do coloured hoops as well as interesting studs and other designs. I also like anodised aluminium and Hazel Atkinson in Nottingham (https://www.hazelatkinsonjewellery.co.uk/) has a very vibrant collection. There are lots of other designers working in these metals, but I can speak for these not irritating at all.
Nancy says:
With cheap earrings, paint the parts that are touching your ears (mostly the stems) with clear fingernail polish. That will prevent the irritation you get from cheap earrings. You will need to redo it periodically. But not real often.
Excellent idea if it works for you….but I am allergic to an ingredient in nail varnish. Not an uncommon allergy apparently.
bev says:
I have just forwarded this post to my daughter. She is delighted that she is not the only 35 year old with long lobes and this has opened up a whole new earring wardrobe for her. (She might even start reading TNMA like her old mother!!).
Yvonne says:
I love earrings and I have quite a collection but can’t wear most of them now because my earlobes are droopy, and I am only in my mid-sixties I see women older than me with firm earlobes. Jealous! Will try butterfly backs and very light earrings. Can’t stand clip-ons. They hurt too much.
Liz Andersson says:
I loved wearing earrings when I was younger, but I became very self-conscious about two years ago when my earlobes became long and thin, seemingly overnight. Thanks for bringing this aspect of ageing into the open. I hadn’t heard of it before. I will be looking for the ‘Earlite’ items right away.
Wendy says:
I have 2 holes, from late teens early 20s, and the lowest one is stretched ( I’m 61). I bought a small bar shaped stud to wear in this one, which pushes the slit shut, and now wear more dangley ones in the back hole!
Jan says:
I have always loved earrings most of all big hoops. I finally gave them all up due to metal allergies. Not another person in my family has suffered from this kind of an allergy. For the longest time I truly thought it was from having my ears pierced in my dorm by a dorm mate with a sewing needle and a potato behind the ear! Many years later a surgical procedure using staples proved any kind of metal even surgical metal was a fail for me so I sadly gave it all up. I still miss wearing them and everyone is right clip ons are just too distracting and painful!!
Splendid! I love studs and I have truly an assortment yet can’t wear the majority of them now in light of the fact that my ear cartilage are sagging..!They went straight into my crate!
Camilla 
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I let my hair be the focus (very short silver hair pixie cut), not my ears. I wear silver stud earrings that are simple in design and comfort (must be nickel free ).