@wolfgang59 saidWhoa not amongst us Bowie fans it didn’t, I can remember getting my ear pierced in the early 70s and I wasn’t exactly a trend setter. I’d removed it by the punk era. Never fancied a safety pin in my nose.
I agree.
Pre-punk you never saw a man with an ear-ring unless he was a gypsy.
Not even musicians/pop stars ... not even Bowie!
A discreet earring for men gradually crept in during 80s.
Favourite was a black stud earring.
@wolfgang59 saidI’m sorry but where I lived only grannies were shocked to see young men with a single ear piercing.
You'll find many more pics of 70s Bowie without an earring than with.
As I said he wore "clip-ons" and to my knowledge didn't wear earrings off-stage
because it was not the norm for men to wear earrings
You'll probably have fun proving me wrong but I cannot think of any Bowie
album cover with him wearing earrings - and he was on all the covers.
As for other glam-rock stars ... their hair was too long to show any earrings!
I think what shocked people about the punk look was the safety pins and the nose piercings and the ripped clothes and the crazy Mohawk haircuts, oh yeah and the spitting.
@kevcvs57 saidWhy would Bowie fans (specifically) get their ears pierced when Bowie did not?
Whoa not amongst us Bowie fans it didn’t, I can remember getting my ear pierced in the early 70s and I wasn’t exactly a trend setter.
Whereabouts you from .. NW or NE I think?
Certainly in East London earrings were VERY rare.
First friend I had with an earring was at Uni in 79.
(And he wasn't a punk ... but an "artist"😉
@wolfgang59 saidSE corner of Kent on the coast it don’t get anymore SE than that and lots of Cockney types came down to Thanet on their holidays in those days and the younger guys were just as likely to have a pierced ear as we were I just cannot understand how you missed it. How old are you?
Why would Bowie fans (specifically) get their ears pierced when Bowie did not?
Whereabouts you from .. NW or NE I think?
Certainly in East London earrings were VERY rare.
First friend I had with an earring was at Uni in 79.
(And he wasn't a punk ... but an "artist"😉
-Removed-I cannot remember them being banned at my school but then they were pleasantly surprised if we turned up. I can remember wearing a sleeper most of the time but has some louder ones for the weekend.
The funniest thing is I read the first page of this thread about breast baring in France and skipped to end snd found a bunch of old fogies having a cat fight about earrings. I couldn’t resist.
@kevcvs57 saidIt's true that in second and definitely third year at school kids were getting gold sleepers so 72/73. Gang of lads in the year above wore denims and bags, feathered hair and pierced ears so probably had them for a while.
SE corner of Kent on the coast it don’t get anymore SE than that and lots of Cockney types came down to Thanet on their holidays in those days and the younger guys were just as likely to have a pierced ear as we were I just cannot understand how you missed it. How old are you?
But, in mainstream culture it was not an accepted look. If you worked on a hospital ward or probably serving in a shop, I think it would have been a no. I certainly removed mine for medical school and I didn't finish there until 86. I think I removed it pre-emptively, but I remember a lad with a new sleeper being told he had to cover it with a plaster if he couldn't remove it for a clinical placement.
So my point is what is accepted changes as fashion changes and hence the link to the OP.
BTW You are in my clan and yet didn't automatically agree with me. So much for Dive's view of a world of cliques. He will now rant about the use of the word "shock" with tedious pedantry instead. I could give an example of a relative of a patient on a physical health ward being shocked about a male staff member's piercing, but I think confidentiality prevents me giving detail (it was a reaction to seeing a hole in the ear lobe with nothing in it - Edit: 1984ish).
@kevcvs57 saidThe clues in the name!
How old are you?
Are you talking about Margate???
That's a bit of a sub-culture isn't it?