Earings male

[macwilkin]

I think you are about twenty years behind the times in terms of what is acceptable at "black tie" events in many metropolitan areas of the United States. A man wearing an earring might turn a few heads at a formal event in the Texas Hill Country, but not so much in many other parts of the country, unless the earring was really outrageous or inappropriate.

Somehow I don't see it being that accepted at a formal event in the Lowcountry either, especially among polite society in Charleston.

T.

[Llama]

Oh, come now. Excluding surgical implants and permanent piercings, which are a small minority, earrings are simply jewelry. Just because a person might normally wear it doesn't have any bearing on whether it's appropriate for black tie. Trying to put earrings in the same category as medical items like eye patches or hearing aids is stretching the truth a bit, wouldn't you say?

If someone asked you to take off your wedding band at a Black Tie event, would you? I think this is the sort of significance that Sailortats is trying to convey. For many, piercings have more significance than mere jewelry.

Also, I honestly think it would be more jarring to see someone without large gauge ear plugs, if they normally wore them.

[sailortats]

Llama, you are reading me perfectly. I see no difference between wearing earrings or wearing finger ring(s). And I definitely agree that someone with large gauge ear plugs should almost always wear their plugs in public. An empty stretched earlobe is just not a pretty sight.

[piperdbh]

I think this horse yielded up the ghost one day last week. Keep beatin' him!

[Zardoz]

Llama, you are reading me perfectly. I see no difference between wearing earrings or wearing finger ring(s). And I definitely agree that someone with large gauge ear plugs should almost always wear their plugs in public. An empty stretched earlobe is just not a pretty sight.

That's been my take, it's just jewery.
It is quite interesting how much comment and varying views the topic has generated though.

[TheOfficialBren]

I think this horse yielded up the ghost one day last week. Keep beatin' him!

:-)
Lmao! Without a doubt.

[Holcombe Thomas]

Somehow I don't see it being that accepted at a formal event in the Lowcountry either, especially among polite society in Charleston.

Polite society in Charleston is a whole 'nother world.

Holcombe
Loyal son of the Lowcountry

[Deirachel]

Polite society in Charleston is a whole 'nother world.

Holcombe
Loyal son of the Lowcountry

And, could quite easily argued as not being very polite.

I can say the real answer has been given in this thread though:

"It depends."

On the group, location, situation, etc.

At one formal event, an earring wouldn't matter. At another, it would. At some of these same events, wearing highland black/white tie would be just as scandalous, IF NOT MORE, than even a giant earplug with a Sigil Baphomet (the symbol of the Church of Satan) inscribed on it worn in the ear.

All that said, the most important aspect is not what is or isn't worn within the general confines of the event (i.e. no cutoffs at a black tie, but a dark suit if you don't have access to black tie), but as Father Bill so neatly put it, how one CONDUCTS ones self in the situation.

[Tobus]

If someone asked you to take off your wedding band at a Black Tie event, would you? I think this is the sort of significance that Sailortats is trying to convey. For many, piercings have more significance than mere jewelry.

Also, I honestly think it would be more jarring to see someone without large gauge ear plugs, if they normally wore them.

If rings on one's fingers were not normally part of the dress code, then yes, I would take off my rings. Their personal significance is not relevant to their appropriateness at the event. And if I were unwilling to let go of something as unimportant as jewelry, then I would probably choose not to attend the event. I'd rather not go than to make a spectacle of myself by being inappropriate.

My point here is that there are times and places where it's not all about you. Why are people so reluctant to spend a single evening dressing nicely and fitting in with a conservative traditional dress code? Why must it always be about personal expression? This is as relevant to wearing earrings as it is to wearing kilts in general. Sometimes it's just not appropriate. Yet people seem unwilling to live with that. There's a constant American urge to make it all about "me, me, me". Why?

*edited to add:
Maybe a point to consider also is that if one can't be oneself without a piece of jewelry, it should probably be cause for reflection about self-identity. I hope that doesn't sound preachy, but I think perhaps we sometimes put too much emphasis on WHAT we are, not WHO we are. Removing jewelry for an event doesn't change who you are, does it?

[Llama]

I wouldn't say it's a singularly American urge. Dinner jackets were introduced because in late Victorian England, men thought full dress tailcoats were too foppish for everyday evening dress - so they took away it's most impractical aspects and introduced more comfortable alternatives which became the standard by Edwardian times.

This sort of adaptation happens again and again throughout history, going more formal or less. There are always those that push the limits of style, and those that are detractors. Some adaptations happen, some never catch on. But they are always personally motivated.