Summer’s Kitchiest Earrings Will Make You Want to Play Dress up

This summer’s weirdest and most wonderful trend looks like it fell out of your elementary school self’s dreams—and right into your favorite retailers. Kitschy earrings, in all their brightly colored, sequin-covered, statement-making glory, are all over the place this summer. So consider this your invitation to play a little dress-up (and, of course, to go shopping).

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I first stumbled upon the kitschy earring trend while I was shopping for acrylic earrings (summer’s favorite form of statement jewelry). As I perused the earring selection at ASOS, Net-a-Porter, Nordstrom, and more, I started noticing tons of earrings that looked like they belonged in an arts and crafts class.

There were beads, shimmery ribbons, tassels—charms that looked like animals, rhinestones that weren’t even pretending to be real jewels. The earrings I saw were delightfully tacky—and even better, they were trying to be.

When I saw everyone from Tory Burch to Oscar de la Renta getting in on the kitschy earring movement, I knew I couldn’t just ignore it. Kitschy earrings were officially having a moment—plus, there’s no better time than summer to experiment with bold, character-filled accessories.

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Here, you’ll find 19 kitschy-cute pairs of earrings that are tacky, charming, and on-trend all at once. Even if you’re not willing to wear giant pink lobsters (or rhinestone-covered stars) on your ears, you’re sure to find something in this slideshow that’ll get your creative summer style juices flowing.