Summary:
The oldest earrings ever found by archaeologists were discovered in royal graves in Iraq and date back to around 2500 BC. Gold, silver and bronze hoop earrings have also been found dating back to 2000 BC in Crete.
In 2500BC the 1st earring ever was found in royal graves in Iraq, and after that and exactly at 2000BC the Gold, Silver and bronze hoop earrings were found in Crete.
It is thought that earrings date back to 3000 BC where they originated in Asia and appeared in 2 formats, one being the simple hoop earring and the other the more elaborate pendant earring.
In 16th century in the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt a type of earring called an earplug became fashionable and these fitted snugly into a wide stretched hole in the earlobe. This type of piercing is seen on the sculpture of Tutankhamen.
Poverty in the Dark ages meant that work with precious metals dwindled although some goldsmiths preserved designs that were to later emerge in 7th century Greece. The most popular earrings then there were the pendant type and they often featured a bird or likenesses of the gods Eros and Nike.
Earring was a great way for the women to show how rich and famous is she, and especially in the 2nd century during the days of Roman Empire, but in the Middle Ages every thing changes, and the earrings became less popular than before and the reason may be due to the popularity of elaborate hairstyles and headdresses.
In 16th century Italy, hairstyles changed with hair being swept away from the face leaving ears exposed although for another 100 years things stayed the same in England, Spain and France with the wearing of high collars keeping earrings out of fashion.
By the 17th century, earrings became very fashionable accessory for the well dressed lady across the whole of Europe. One of the most popular designs of those times was the very large heavy pendant type earrings called girandoles which were great favorites of Queen Victoria. These earrings required a substantial amount of precious metals and gemstones and so were very heavy, which meant that most people that wore them suffered from elongated earlobes.
Although earrings were popular with wealthy people throughout the ages, they were also popular with poorer people who adopted their own styles which were less elaborate and made from less expensive materials.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that earrings were completely revolutionized. Different fittings appeared such as screw and clip on as well as those for pierced ears and it also became the norm for women to wear earrings in the day and not just for special occasions. The 1960’s marked a massive change for the wearing of earrings when designs became completely unrestrained and it became common to see men also wearing earrings although most only usually wear one earring. Women began to collect earrings and with so many designs available the choices were endless.
Today the choice is even greater and the popularity of earrings increases with many people now having more than one set of piercing in which to display their jewelry. Modern materials such as titanium and different types of plastics have also become popular in the making of earrings because of their lightness, design possibilities and in the case of titanium because of its hypoallergenic qualities.
Now days you have a lot of choices when you buy earrings, you may get cheap or expensive one, you can get jewelry, diamond, silver and other material you would like as earrings, but you should note an important thing, which is that you don’t have to get expensive earrings, get what best fits with your look.
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