Why even lawyers and accountants are embracing men's earrings

Yet the extent to which men are now experimenting with different earring styles is unprecedented, said Saisangeeth Daswani, who analyzes fashion at global trend-forecasting agency Stylus and calls this a mainstream phenomenon. Brian Keith Thompson, the owner of celebrity hotspot Body Electric Tattoo in Los Angeles, said that in his 15 years as a piercer, he’s never known guys to be so adventurous. In the past, said Mr. Thompson, men would only pierce their lobes. Now customers in their 20s and early 30s—business entrepreneurs and “artsy” types alike—are embracing everything from stacked lobe rings and drooping gemstones to cartilage cubic zirconias and tragus studs (the tragus is the flap of cartilage that covers the ear canal). It seems that lawyers, however, are yet to get on board. “The attorneys that I pierce have to keep it on the earlobe; courts are still very conservative,” said Mr. Thompson.

This trend chimes with the loosening of workplace dress codes that once banned outré piercings, said Lisa Bubbers, the New York-based co-founder of piercing chain Studs. And it’s a natural extension of men’s recent embrace of fashion and accessories once seen as “feminine,” like nail polish and pearls.