Thread: Wearing Giant Tribal Earrings

Hello everyone!

Our troupe has an upcoming performance and I have some really nice tribal earrings with tin cones/spikes poking out of them and blue stones accenting them on front and back that I'd like to wear, but I don't know how.





The fasten-ey parts are clearly made to go over my ears ... or are they? When I do hang them over my ears, they seem too short and make a circle around them, not appropriately hang-ey. The curved part of the wire makes it impossible to wear as pierced earrings and still connect at the back.

Are they meant to go over my ear or be attached to a turban? should I make the shanks longer for over-the-ear wear? or attach them to a different earring, maybe a leverback? or some way that I'm not thinking of? Is there an earrings secret handshake?

What is the best way to wear these lovelies?

You could try attaching them to a lace headband so they still hang at ear level but will be more secure than hanging from your earlobes. If you run the lace in front of your ears and then under your ear lobe and tie at the base of your neck you can cover it with your hair (do fun curls and stuff in front of your ears) then it will look like you are wearing them as dangly earrings, only more comfortable. :-)

They are not very heavy; maybe I should experiment with different findings?

Originally Posted by nadyasidhe

They are not very heavy; maybe I should experiment with different findings?

that was going to be my suggestion try just changing the findings.

Here they are on leverbacks; they spin to backwards a bit. Opinions?

They look like they are made for pierced ears, with the narrow wire going through your ear. If your ears aren't pierced, you will have to change the wire into a clip or screw.

The hook-y bit at the end should be able to fasten into a loop or hole of some sort on the other end of the earring :)

There's not a hole at the back for the other end of the curved wire to go through? That's how they should be worn.

:c Really? That's strange.
Maybe if you're so inclined to, try drilling a hole or constructing a loop for them yourself?

Or if you have a headdress of some sort, you can attach it to that at a point to where it looks like they're in your ears :)

Yup it looks like there is a hole in the back of those earrings that the wire clips into. I can see it in the photos. :-)

I agree that's how they're worn. HOWEVER. You may need to re-bend the wire at the end to make the bend smaller (the bend end shorter), as your problem might be that it's too big. I have a pair of earrings that a former college classmate brought me from India where that is the case--that part is just too wide to go through my standard-sized ear holes. Whereas I have a different pair of hoops where the bend is smaller and they slide right through and are still secure (though those are smaller, lighter earrings). If you have needle-nose pliers, especially the round-nose kind, this should be an easy fix.

Originally Posted by Kat144

I agree that's how they're worn. HOWEVER. You may need to re-bend the wire at the end to make the bend smaller (the bend end shorter), as your problem might be that it's too big. I have a pair of earrings that a former college classmate brought me from India where that is the case--that part is just too wide to go through my standard-sized ear holes. Whereas I have a different pair of hoops where the bend is smaller and they slide right through and are still secure (though those are smaller, lighter earrings). If you have needle-nose pliers, especially the round-nose kind, this should be an easy fix.

Yes Kat! Thanks for understanding. The bend in the back was definitely too big for my earholes, established though they are. (Especially when time came to take them out.) The wire was only long enough to reach the back hole with a small bit to spare and the back connection constantly came loose. I may need to get some silver wire to fix this. If they're worn the way they're meant to be, I think they'll be more stable, not flipping about, as they do with the leverbacks.

I was thinking of making a rather wide U of that part that needs to catch the back of the earring, so it would go through my earlobe. Are you saying rather that I should flatten/narrow the loop that hooks the back of the earring?

So I compromised, and put the wire back on the earrings, took the arc out of it, and hung the wire from the leverback.

The benefit is that they hang the way they should. They still pivot a bit, but don't look as goofy when they do. And they are just a tad longer, hitting the collarbones.

Better pic:

If you trim the wires or replace them with new shorter wires or small segments of chain, you can fix the problem of the earrings being too long and hitting your shoulders.

And make sure you practice spinning and stuff with them on, sometimes the great looking tribal stuff doesn't feel so great once you start moving around quickly.

These are such pretty earrings, where did you find them? I'm always on the hunt for fun things to wear through my tunnels.

These are made for gauged ears. Obviously, adaptations are possible - but that's what they are.

I got them on ebay. Yesterday there were some just like them for sale, but I don't see them today. I think the term kuchi was used.

Yes, I think I want to shorten them up some more.

I'd be putting them on a headdress, myself. Those appear to be hanging low enough on your ears (or your holes are pierced low) that I would be concerned about ripping my earlobe, even without dancing in them.

YMMV of course for personal comfort, but after my aunt ripped an earlobe by gradually stretching the hole to the breaking point (not on purpose, she just liked big dangly french hook earrings and eventually one fell out and when she tried to put it back in...she realized her earlobe had split), I am paranoid about this type of thing.

Indian earrings also tend to have wider wires/posts, from my own experiences.

Or if I knew the right gauge wire to get, I could make them hang over my entire ear. Has anyone done that? Should I just macrame some thin cord?

I hope to wear them to perform Saturday, and then I'll know more. I did wear them around the house for a half-hour, and forgot about them, but that's certainly not the same as dancing with them.

Thin cord with a bobby pin or two would also work for hanging over the ear :-)

I don't have any new suggestions, but those earrings are nice!

Normally those earrings will be fixed on turbans with pins. They look too heavy for your ears. I would fix them on a headdand, turban....

Originally Posted by Karnak

I don't have any new suggestions, but those earrings are nice!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Zarka

Normally those earrings will be fixed on turbans with pins. They look too heavy for your ears. I would fix them on a headband, turban....

I'm thinking they would pretty high hung from a headband or turban. I'll have to figure a way to hang them so they actually might look like earrings at the right location. Hmmm. This could still work I think, but maybe not in time for Saturday, lol

If those earrings suit your costume then why not?