The 2023 Curated Ear Trend

Piercing Updated February 3, 2022

The curated ear fashion trend is still alive going into 2023! Pip Edwards, the 41-year-old fashion designer and former girlfriend of cricketer Michael Clarke, has revealed her curated ear in her edgy new look to her Instagram fans, click here to read more.

Pip shared a close-up of her left earlobe which displays a line of gold jewellery.

The helix, conch, rook, daith and tragus are all recognisable parts of the ear that can be pierced and form part of the curated ear.

man with double lobe piercings and a lower helix piercing with a ring

Look around gyms, work, creative spaces, trendy bars and you will see women, and even men in their 20s and 30s with intricately pierced ears. They may have diamond bars “stacked” along their cartilage or four gold hoops hanging in a single lobe or a heart shaped stud shimmering from their antitragus.

These are what we call the “curated ear”, a popular style for multiple ear piercings styled by the individuals themselves.

An English study found that nearly half of the women surveyed in the United Kingdom, aged between 16 and 24, had piercings other than the earlobe.

According to the Australian piercing pioneers, Essential Beauty, the five most popular ear placements are:
• Lobes (commonly known as firsts, seconds and thirds)
• Helix (upper cartilage of the ear)
• Tragus (the skin in front of the ear canal)
• Conch (inner part of the ear itself) and
• Daith (inner cartilage fold of the ear just above the ear canal)

And the appeal?
“I get compliments on my curated ear all the time and it’s nice that people notice” says one of the thousands of Essential Beauty customers.
Another fan said: “I love the feeling and so every six months, I add to my collection and I love the fact that I can change my jewellery according to my moods.”

Humans have been piercing their ears for centuries. In the Bronze Age, pictures depicting women wearing hoop earrings can be found on Santorini in the Greek Isles. However, the mode for multiple piercings, is a more modern phenomenon.
Ear piercing jewellery, such as this from Essential Beauty is increasingly popular.

woman with gold and diamond conch piercing, and chain stacked lobe earrings