How to wear your clip-on earrings

Think an article about how to wear your clip-on earrings is the equivalent of teaching your granny to suck eggs? Bear with us here – there's a lot more to wearing clip earrings than you might imagine! There are important considerations to take into account, like opening your clips without damaging them, removing your clip-ons without damaging your earrings or your lobes, correct positioning for the most flattering look, and adjusting the fit for comfort. Clip-on earrings are a great fashion accessory and our article will show you how to get the very best from them. Opening and closing your clip-on earrings – how to put them on and take them off correctly Always open your hinged/lever clip-on earrings from the top of the clip, pulling evenly out and down in an arc. Opening your earring this way prevents its anchor from being bent out of shape. If you feel some resistance when opening your new clip-ons for the first time, don't force them. A slight adjustment to the tension bar is all that's required. If the earrings are accidentally forced and the anchor does bend out of shape, gently push it back into place with your thumb. An out-of-shape anchor prevents the clip from opening and closing properly and affects the fit of the earring.

When removing your clip-on earrings, avoid the temptation to simply yank or slide them off. Opening them properly keeps your earrings in great shape, is less likely to loosen the tension, and prevents scrapes, bruising and stretching to your lobe.

Managing your paddle back clip-on earrings

Clip-on earrings are available in a variety of different fastenings (see "The Different Types of Clip-On Earrings" in the related articles below) but all will involve some form of opening and closing mechanism – usually a hinge of some description – and here's where the problems most often occur. The most frequently used clip-on earring fastening is the paddle back. It's ideal for supporting the weight of heavier earrings and distributes pressure evenly over a large area of the lobe for more comfort. They're designed to be easy to adjust, and because they're easy to adjust they can sometimes be mistaken for being broken!

Take a look:

The paddle back earring consists of two parts: the earring itself and the removable paddle back clip, and as an experienced clip-on earring wearer you'll know that sometimes that clip can just ping off! Fear not, it's designed that way and your earrings are not broken, though we agree it can be very frustrating if they ping in the middle of a dinner date! (Just put them in your purse and deal with them later – with luck your partner won't even notice!) In the image above you'll see that the prongs go into holes on the keepers. Putting your clip-on earrings back together is simply a case of of squeezing those prongs together and releasing them back into the holes, making sure that the lip of the tension bar sits above its spacer and is not caught underneath or trapped in some other way (the tension bar slides over that spacer ledge when the earring is opened and closed – try it and see). Now to prevent the ping from happening again, use pliers to squeeze the keepers towards each other for a firmer hold on the prongs. Voila! Your clip-on earrings are fixed! Adjusting the comfort of your clip-on earrings Did we say tension bar? Why, yes we did! That's right, your clip-on earrings can be adjusted from too tight or too loose to just right. Get in the the Goldilocks zone with our fantastic easy-to-follow tutorial on adjusting all types of clip-on earrings in the links at the bottom of this page. Here is a sample of what you will find:

Infographic how to loosen clip-on earrings

Location, location, location....

Positioning your clip-on earrings correctly is the difference between effortless sophistication and gawky or possible inebriated, and with clip-on earrings you can get this right all day long because you're not restricted by the placement of piercings. Most clip earrings have a broader lobe piece to facilitate the clip, and so the best place to position your clip-on earrings (if design allows) is as close to your jawline as possible. This snuggled-up fit allows earrings to sit as they were designed and is flattering for most face shapes and earring styles, unless the earrings are very tiny or you have longer lobes. If you consider your lobes to be large, long or stretched, or you're wearing teeny-tiny or very narrow clip-on earrings, then aim your clip for the centre of the lobe to give balance.

Wear larger clip earrings close to the jaw

These larger button clip-on earring looks great snuggled close the jawline. Larger drop earrings and our bold fashion dangle earrings will fit more securely up close to the jaw and be less likely to slip off. They're also less likely to hurt!

Incorrect positioning of clip-on earrings

In this image the earrings are too far away from the jaw and too low down. Pretty soon they're going to pinch like crazy and could slip off! Always have as much of the clip on the back of your lobe as possible, and fix the positioning!

Girl showing placement of earrings for longer lobes

If you have longer lobes, tiny, or narrow topped earrings, aim for the centre of the lobe as in the image above.

Your clip-on earrings really are a wonderfully versatile accessory for anyone who can't wear pierced earrings, and wearing clip-ons doesn't mean you have to endure pain or a lack of style! We have over 500 different clip-on earring products in our store to suit all budgets, events and occasions, and THE most useful clip-on earring adjustment guide on the internet, so take your clip-on earring style to the next level and wear them with pride, comfort and panache!

Next week: "Diamond Simulants" A guide to the different types of artificial, faux, and created diamonds in jewellery use.