I’ve shed many tears in Claire’s Accessories over the years (specifically, the Upper West Side one on 82nd and Broadway, and even more specifically, because my mom wouldn’t let me get a cartilage earring when I was 12), but nothing compares to the pain of knowing that this beloved haven for tweens with allowance money burning a hole in their pockets and a passion for trinkets is bankrupt, yet again.
While the majority of Claire’s locations in the United States and the rest of North America will remain open as the company “continues to explore all strategic alternatives,” according to a statement released on Wednesday, it’s hard not to feel like the writing is on the wall for this once-iconic chain, where so many of us got pierced for the first time by bored 19-year-olds with unsteady hands, dished about crushes by the racks of charm anklets, and had epic fights with our parents when they wouldn’t spend their hard-earned money to buy us said charm anklets (just me?). Below, find 5 Vogue staffers’ reminiscences about the store that taught us how to accessorize:
“When I was young and still figuring myself out, I would pass by Claire’s in our local mall and secretly admire all of the frilly little pink things in there. I knew it was not ‘for boys,’ yet I felt a draw to the store. I wanted to wear the cute bows and little star-shaped earrings and cheap jelly bracelets. It was aspirational.” —Christian Allaire, senior fashion and style writer
“Call it longing or morbid fascination, but I probably spent hours of my young life lingering outside of the Claire’s at my local mall, watching people get their ears pierced by barely qualified 20-somethings armed with a piercing gun. After I (finally!) was allowed to get my ears pierced in the third grade, much of my allowance went to hideous plastic earrings. The most egregious? A pair of sparkly frogs holding soccer balls, which my mother warned me was ‘not a good investment.’ I beg to differ: a few years ago, she found a pair on eBay for $8 and bought them for me. Consider them an heirloom in the making!” —Hannah Jackson, fashion writer
“I have gotten five piercings at Claire’s—four lobe piercings and one cartilage. Now, everyone warned me before I got my cartilage pierced at the age of 15 NOT to get my cartilage pierced with a gun, but I was terrified of needles and really wanted a cartilage piercing. The only people willing to do it with a piercing gun were the brave employees at Claire’s. Unfortunately, the piercing only lasted a year (longer than I expected, honestly), it kept getting infected, and I had a weird bump on the top of my ear for a few months after I took my piercing out because of the impact of the gun. Never again! Anyway, RIP Claire’s!” —Irene Kim, production and editorial associate