Over the past few decades, mens earrings have made something of a style comeback. Many people of the older generation – especially the men – have not liked this trend, and will always shudder at the thought of men wearing earrings. For them, earrings are for girls and gays, while men should be wearing spats and waistcoats, perhaps with a silver pocket watch and chain. You may be thinking it’s time for gramps to get with the times, but actually his era was simply a style anomaly. Throughout the ages, men have always worn earrings.

If you research the ancient Egyptian era, both men and women wore earrings, and the more ornate and flamboyant they were, the higher was the status of the wearer. Men’s earrings were worn in both ears and were made of pure gold containing gemstones and various etched patterns. Moving into Europe, even the remains of the earliest human ever discovered – named Otzi – have substantial evidence that his ears were pierced. In his day, he may have worn earrings made from bone. Then in more recent times, men of the Elizabethan era – from 1558 to 1603 – were known to wear earrings. So male ear jewelry has a very long history, and it was only really during more reserved times, especially in England and especially in the Victorian era, that suddenly, men were not considered men if they adorned themselves with such accessories.

Today, mens earrings tend to be worn by certain cultural groups, notably by people who dress in the goth style, but also by punks. Arguably, it was the punks that brought earrings back into fashion for men, and that is something they would hate the thought of, since they wore their crude handmade piercings as a sign of non-conformity. So there’s the irony, mens punk earrings started life in the 70s as an anti-fashion, anti-establishment gesture, and today they have established a revival in mens jewelry styles and moved into the mainstream.