Do clip on earrings hurt?

The answer is yes...sometimes.

I figured this question deserved a blog since I have a lot of people I encounter in my daily life and stopping by my stall at the Downtown Mercado who seem bemused by my love of vintage earrings.

Some clip ons are just very tight and will pinch if you wear them long enough.  Having said that only two of my two dozen personal pairs pinch me bad enough for me to notice.  And since they were both sentimental (one was the first pair I ever owned, the other a Christmas present from Will) and really, really cool to boot, frankly I don't care.  Honestly I don't even notice my earrings after a while.

However, there is an exception to this statement.  Vintage earrings and phones don't mix.  Especially the 50s style cluster earrings which are so big they get in the way of the receiver.  So you grab them and pull them off right?  Big mistake.  Pulling clip ons off, particularly the tight ones, hurt like hell.  We are talking the blinding, give-me-a-moment kind of pain.  (I've done it.  Frequently.)

The solution?  Always take the time to unhinge the earring before removing it.

There are a couple of ways our smart Grandmothers/Mothers dealt with tight earrings.  Remember, it used to be tacky bordering on whorish for a woman to have pierced ears at one time.  One trick is to place small pads of material between the clips and the ears.  A few earrings I've purchased have still had these pads in place.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com.  See link to purchase below.

There are several variations available; just type "clip on earrings pads" into Google shopping and see what pops up.  One variation that can be found on Hobe jewelry are rollers that fit onto the metal clasps and make slipping the earring off your earlobe much more comfortable.  All these are great options if you want to wear vintage earrings on a regular basis.

Image courtesy of Sparkles Vintage Costume Jewelry.  See link below to purchase.

My favorite way around the problem of painful earrings are screw back earrings.  Even older than clip ons, these date from the turn of the century to the early 1950s when they went out of style.  Screw backs operate just like they sound.  You slip your earlobe in between the earring and the post, then screw the post in until the earring is secure.  It is a bit tricky getting the earrings lined up right the first few times but you get the hang of it quickly enough.  The cool part is that you control the tension, so you can adjust them as tight as you want or don't want.  It is not as easy to pull them off (you must unscrew them first or risk damaging your treasure) but the designs are usually much smaller, small enough that you can use the phone while wearing them.

You can, of course, snap the backings off and attach modern posts which you can buy at most craft and jewelry supply stores.  That was actually my plan when I bought my first pair.  And then, after the first few times I wore them, I realized that there was no way I could deliberately damage an artifact over 50 years old.  But that's just me.  One recommendation: do some research on your earrings before you decide to alter them.  Costume jewelry typically is affordable but some pieces have some serious value ($$$) that, as we all know from watching the Antiques Roadshow, can be damaged if you alter them in any way.

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Clip on pads seen above can be purchased through Amazon.com.  http://www.amazon.com/LawrenceProducts-Clip-On-Earring-Cushions/dp/B0041SP070

Hobe earrings seen above can be purchased through Sparkles Vintage Costume Jewelry: http://www.sparklz.com/signature/Hsignature.htm