My Hunt for Clip-on Hoops (That Don’t Look Like Clip-ons)

These two pairs are close to the now-unavailable ones I tried from a starter kit from the brand, which offered the chance to try three backing styles at once to determine which fits your ear the best. I really loved one of the Aiori pairs I tried (coming up in a later category), but these two fell short for me. The padded clip option is exactly the style of classic clip-ons I stole from my grandma’s jewelry box as a kid — and exactly the style that should be retired from the non-pierced market because of the damage it inflicts. Even with all the cushion around the clip, I found them unbearably painful for longer than a short while. The invisible-resin option was more comfortable, for sure, but it perched the hoop awkwardly to one side leaving the clip on full display. Not exactly the subtle sophistication I was going for.

[Editor’s note: The two Aiori earrings the author originally tested are no longer available. We’ve linked to two similar pairs.]

These Vince Camuto hoops were the largest I tested and feature a screw-back style that theoretically promises flexibility and tightness. But to get them tight enough to stay on the ear, I had to screw them in all the way, and the painful pinching started as soon as they were secure. I had a really hard time fixing the screw-back properly with my nondominant hand and eventually had to reach my right arm around the back of my head to finish the job. Because the big hoop is looped through a smaller hoop instead of fixed to the clip-on mechanism, they dangle freely through the air space around my neck and make a tinkling sound every once in a while. This is a feature I’d note as fun and flirty on a dance floor but not so ideal for running errands or giving a presentation at work.

This pull-back spring hoop style is what I have the most experience wearing. They look realistic, they’re easy to put on and take off, and the average level of pain inflicted is lower than other types of clips. The Etsy pair is the most affordable of the bunch — $4.50 is less than it would cost to take the subway to a store and back — and even the more upmarket pair by Simply Whispers is priced at only $15. The main difference between the two is a slight variation in color (the more expensive pair is silver-plated, and the cheaper pair is stainless steel), but aside from that, they performed pretty equally. I forgot I was even wearing them after a few minutes on the lobe, which is about the highest compliment I can give a clip-on earring. Yet still, when I took them off at the end of the day, both pairs left my lobes at a medium level of sore. They might have ranked higher had I not found new styles I love even more. In the future I might be more likely to throw these on with another pair of earrings, set back on the lobe as a faux second piercing. Why not double the illusion while we’re at it?

These Emma Holland hoops have such a luxurious weight to them, and the pull-back spring mechanism is nice and taut. The hoop is thick, medium in diameter, and extra shiny. They’re platinum-plated and immediately feel higher quality (which is reflected in the price) than other pairs I tried. The front-facing arm of the hoop finishes in a sphere shape, and I’m wondering if that’s providing some ergonomic cushion so the earring isn’t poking into my lobe as sharply as other styles. Unfortunately, even with the advanced ball technology, my lobes were quite tender after taking these off. I’m categorizing these as occasion earrings — perfect for events that won’t last all day and leave me with a spherical indent in my earlobe tissue.

These whimsical palladium finished brass earrings by Sézane aren’t clip-on at all. Rather, they’re cuffs, hooked onto the lower cartilage of my ear through an impressive feat of earring engineering. I love how the loop-de-loop frames my non-pierced earlobes like a celebration, instead of covering them up like a shameful secret. My partner said they looked like jewelry Cate Blanchett would’ve worn inThe Lord of the Rings. And because there’s no clip-on mechanism at all, there’s zero pain or discomfort while wearing these. I ran into only one hurdle with this pair when I popped in my AirPods: The two were competing for real estate, an earring nudging a pod out of the ear hole or vice versa. For that reason, they’re not as practical for me to wear throughout a work day or while running errands. But on overall flair score, they easily come out on top.

Ivy & Miles caters to the non-pierced ear in a way I didn’t dare dream possible. The brand’s website is categorized into ten different clip-on back types, many of which I hadn’t ever heard of before visiting the site. I tested a new-to-me style that looked promising — the C-type huggie in a white gold-plated copper. Visually, the style reminds me of a Tromner hammer (that metal rubber contraption your doctor uses to test your knee reflex), which brought me comfort, like the earrings couldn’t hurt me if they had a medical background.

The rotund knob of cushion on the backside of the earring is a revelation: They were securely fastened to my ear for the whole day, weren’t painful, and looked plausibly like pierced earrings up close. And at only $25, I won’t have a meltdown when I inevitably lose one to the earring/sock/bobby-pin thief. This brand gets bonus points for the packaging, too — the earrings arrived in a little carrying case that grips them tight between two thin layers of plastic like a cling wrap. I have, on many occasions, needed to take off painful earrings in public and struggled to find a safe place for them on the go. Too many pull-back spring arms have been bent out of shape and ruined by the unforgiving walls of my wallet. So even when I’m not wearing this Ivy & Miles pair in the future, I’ll be tossing the carrying case in my purse just in case.