Hoop Happy

Every couple of years or so there’s a fashion item that hits it big on the streets before it hits the big stores. And even the trendy set has to spend a certain amount of time searching.

A few weeks ago, one fashion expert we know trotted from jewelry counter to jewelry counter, desperately announcing: “I need hoops! Big hoops!” She’d seen these thick, oversized metal earrings at ski shops in Paris and Switzerland and at practically every local after-hours dance club. But no department store had them in.

Most will, though, probably by the end of this month. In the meantime, you can visit Valley boutiques such as Bangles in Encino, a 1 1/2-year-old shop that carries huge metal hoops of almost every description. Prices range from $25 for a basic, wide silver-plated hoop to $95 for a sterling silver number embedded with crystals.

Why the sudden comeback of these flashy, ‘60s shapes? Part of it might be the influence of pop singer Sade, whose big hoop earrings are as much her signature as her pulled-back hair. Also, of course, the look is very flattering.

“They’re one of the few earrings that show with long hair,” Bangles co-owner Julie Mandel says. And long hair, as you surely know by now, is having a resurgence. Mandel also points out that, although petite women were sometimes overwhelmed by the bulky rhinestones of seasons past, for some reason they can wear big hoops and still look in proportion.

However, as is always the case with fashion, things never come back the same way. So don’t drag out any thin old hoops you’ve still got from Jane Fonda’s “Klute” or Cher’s “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” days and think you’ve got the look.

“Simplicity was in in the ‘70s,” Mandel says, “but this look is more extreme. Maybe the only piece of jewelry you wear is a hoop, but it’s big and elaborate.”