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There's no right of passage quite like getting your ears pierced — especially at Claire's. For years, the mall mecca has been the ultimate jewelry destination — plastic piercing gun, chunky colored baubles, and all. And on Monday, Claire's officially sealed its status as the place to get your first (or fifth) hole — the store announced that it's pierced 100 million ears and counting (more than any other piercer on the planet) since it opened in 1978. Included in that 100 million (besides you and I) are everyone from Vanessa Hudgens and Anna Kendrick to Kaley Cuoco and Alli Simpson. Now that's a lot of cubic zirconia.
But, once we made it past the whole five-seconds-of-pain thing, there were some pretty great jewels to pick from. The store was a total trendsetter when it came to pieces like chokers and slap bracelets, and it was actually an early purveyor of what we now call an "ear party." If only you still had those squishy, rainbow "Rave Ball" earrings still lying around.
In honor of this milestone (and subsequently realizing how on-point our 12-year-old jewelry game was), we're revisiting Claire's selection of earrings — and you might be surprised by how many of its $6.99 pairs you would low-key wear as an adult. With the rise of vintage costume jewelry and kitschy brands like Roxanne Assoulin and Susan Alexandra, we could totally see a few Claire's pieces fitting into your current jewelry box. Now enjoy this little walk down memory lane...
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