Men wearing earrings in the seventies

[Danny]

HOW IT BEGAN…

Summer hols – week 2 – 1970 - Boredom had kicked in big style; we were hanging round the local playing fields eating crisps and drinking Fanta (pre-ring pull so you had to either use a fancy opener that punched a triangular hole or bang in a nail with a brick as we did)

We’d already watched the mobile Army recruitment show but the soldiers only had predatory eyes for the latest bunch of jobless school leavers so kept chasing us away.

Suddenly a murmur went round our gang; some older kids from the next estate were on our turf!
I recognised one of them, their leader - the fat Ginger kid, he had his cousin from London who turned up most summers and they were swaggering about on our home ground like they had a right.

As they passed us the lanky Cockney sneered contemptuously at the locals and tossed his hair back and we gaped in astonishment – he had an earring in! This was the first time we’d saw a male wearing one. How cool it looked!!

Later at home I badgered my sister into giving me one of her sleepers and she pierced mine with a safety pin with half a potato held behind it – couldn’t hardly sleep for the ache.

Next day I went back to meet up with my friend’s and no less than five out of the nine of us had got the same thing done! We sat and exchanged the stories to see who’d been the bravest, one lad claimed he’d done his own with a dart against the door frame of his bedroom and got stuck for two hours.

As soon as we got back to school we were forced to remove them but every weekend or holiday after that it went back in until I left school, kept it until my early twenties when they dipped out of style

[frame]

Re: Men wearing earrings in the seventies

I had both of mine done but removed them in the eighties. My girlfriend put some in a few years ago,I looked a bit of a muppet so took them out.Also made my ears swell up.

[culnara]

Re: Men wearing earrings in the seventies

have never had my ears pierced, never fancied it??
although when i was 25, I got this notion in my head to get my tounge done
only thing that annoyed me was the bloke never told me to watch my teeth when eating
as a result I cracked four of my molars, and broke one canine which was very Very, Painful :cry:
stupid b"^&*y thing
teeth have been sorted and I dont wear it now ( although I can still wear it cause the hole has never healed)

[Danny]

Re: Men wearing earrings in the seventies

Out of curiousity I've just straightened out a paperclip and pressed it to my earlobe and it slid right through my old earring hole -over twenty years since I've had one in there

It was weird cos like a big hard extrusion of soap popped out first!!

[rossobantam]

Re: Men wearing earrings in the seventies

As George Whitebread might say "Earings! Earings! Yer big girl's blouse!!"




having me ears done NEVER appealed to me

[Richard1978]

Re: Men wearing earrings in the seventies

Same here, I don't wear any jewellery at all.

[W1 Rover]

When punk kicked in during the 70's it became quite popular for the lads to get their ears pierced, it had to be one stud or small hoop and it had to the the left lobe. Some of the boys were turning up a school proudly showing off their piercings. The arguments I had with my parents, they were adamant that I wasn't allowed to get my ear done until I was eighteen!

Off I went to Carnaby Street a few years later and got a gold coloured stud pinged into my ear, the left one of course and a bottle of TCP to clean it with. To this day whenever I smell TCP it brings back memories, quite evocative.

[Semi42]

Had a gold stud in the left earlobe early 80s , found out that any kind of jewellery just irritates me, can’t even wear a watch for more than an hour or so, even though I collect them.
went on a Spanish holiday a good few years back where I had to wear a wristband, that lasted 15 minutes and I had to carry it in my wallet all the time.

[Heather74]

Since the above posting I've got married & wear wedding ring, but usually only when I need to since the lockdown.

Congratulations

[W1 Rover]

Had a gold stud in the left earlobe early 80s , found out that any kind of jewellery just irritates me, can’t even wear a watch for more than an hour or so, even though I collect them.
went on a Spanish holiday a good few years back where I had to wear a wristband, that lasted 15 minutes and I had to carry it in my wallet all the time.

Yes, I gather some people have real problems with metal against the skin. My problems were of my own making, moving on from the ears thing I got my nose pierced, ended up in casualty getting it removed a couple of days later.
Not one of my proudest moments.

[George 1978]

Did they get both ears pierced back then, I wonder?

[Semi42]

Some guys did have both ears done , but the main fashion was just having the one in

[George 1978]

I assumed that two earrings would make one's face more symmetrical which means more feminine; hence just the one earring?

One decade later, but I know that Michael "Kevin Webster" le Vell had both his ears pierced, but then again he had so much feedback from gay Corrie viewers in 1990 when he decided to get rid of his moustache.