If you’ve been a complete media hermit for the past few years (and seriously, nobody will blame you), you might have missed one of the hottest earring trends to grace the catwalk. Whilst most of us have been brought up with the idea that earrings come in pairs and both ears should match, celebs and fashion designers everywhere are proving otherwise.
Above – cat and fishbone mismatched earrings
Mismatched earrings are basically odd earrings. You don’t have to buy them specifically as an odd pair, although it can help you quickly create the mismatch look if you do. You can instead buy more than one pair and start to mix them up – or save any odd earrings when one gets lost.
Above – moon and star mismatched earrings
Commerce Editor for Glamour.com Tara Gonzalez says they’re everywhere in fashion and have been spotted all over the runways in the last few years, from Area to Phillip Lim to Dior. Supermodel model Gigi Hadid wore a toy car in one of her lobes, while Oscar De La Renta’s Spring/Summer 2019 collection playfully mixed up hoops.
Above – moon and star with ball mismatched earrings
Area’s Spring/Summer 2020 looks included oversized mismatched script earrings featuring the brand’s moniker while Alexandra McQueen in Fall/Winter 2019 included one of the most awesome (and distinctly not matching) ear stacks ever to grace the catwalk. Fendi, Simone Rocher, Gucci, Chanel, Valentino, Schiaparelli – they’ve all brought this look to the runways.
Above – double heart mismatched stud earrings
There’s no shortage of celebs embracing the mismatch trend too – our fav Emma Watson was spotted with a hoop and cuff one side, and a simple stud the other. Tracee Ellis Ross was seen with a hoop one side and bold geometric earring the other, Janelle Monae wore completely different link-themed earrings while Rihanna’s diamonds shone bright but definitely did not pair up. Scarlett Johansson’s emerald ensemble was a mini hoop one side and dangly the other; while the gorgeous Damaris Lewis sported a glitzy chandelier one side and contrasted with a mini hoop.
We offer a range of mismatched earrings, or simply pick from our huge range of studs and threaders, and create your own mismatched combinations! There are lots of ways to mix and match your earrings – you can choose different earrings of the same type (studs, or threaders) for example, for each parallel piercing – or you can go big one side, small the other like some of the celebs mentioned above.
One of our favs which fits right in with the celeb trends is to wear a stud one side with a threader the other. For example:
Above : Tiny star stud earrings / Simple star threader earrings
Above: Tiny circle threader earrings / Tiny circle stud earrings
Or use threader earrings on the same theme to create a mismatched ‘pair’:
Above: Small triangle threader earrings / Triangle pull tight threader earrings
Q: Can I also mix metals?
Yes, absolutely! Don’t think because you have a silver earring in one lobe, that you MUST choose a silver earring for the other. You can mix and match your earring types, shapes and metals! The Masterclass team explain, “Wearing gold with silver might have once been considered a fashion faux pas, but sartorial opinions on mixing metal jewellery evolved, and mixing metals is now commonplace.”
But there a few tips for making this work well: first, try to achieve balance. If you have multiple piercings, don’t wear all gold on one side and all silver on the other, for example. Mix gold and silver on both sides.
Then, try to stick to a theme – we have a lot of themes on the site, such as hearts or stars, which can help you match the ‘tone’ of your earrings, even though they’re not identical. You can see all our themes/collections just above the footer on the homepage, or in the sidebar of any category page.
Finally, think about the finish of the metal. For example, if you’ve chosen oxidised silver, this can sometimes (not always) look a little odd next to polished pieces. So consider whether the finishes will sit well side-by-side or whether they’ll look awkward.
Q: Can I mix all my piercings?
If like me you’ve got several piercings in each ear – such as a daith, helix, lobe and upper lobe (yep, that’s mine!) – you might be wondering if you can just mix up everything! Does ANYTHING have to be in pairs at all?
The answer is no, it doesn’t – but you do need to think about the overall look of what you’re putting together. As above, themes can help. Don’t overdo the number of different types of metal either – if you have a mixture of rose gold, gold and silver earrings on each side, all of which are different, the look will be too chaotic.