Kylie + Demi Have Us Asking: Is Wearing Bling On Your Ring Finger *That* Big of a Deal?
The celebrity rumor mill went all abuzz yesterday after Kylie Jenner posted a photo on Instagram where she was wearing a ring on the ring finger of her left hand. It was paired with a bunch of other bling, but that certainly didn’t stop the engagement chatter from taking over the Internet for the evening. Demi Lovato recently faced the same issue when she posted a similar photo, holding hands with her longtime beau Wilmer Valderrama. But all this has left us wondering, are we overreacting? I mean, we are living in an era where it’s legal to love (and finally MARRY) who you love, ladies are proposing to their fellas and brides are wearing rainbow-colored wedding dresses. So who says you have to wait until you’re married to wear a ring on that finger? To see if we’re alone in our modern day ways, we chatted with both married and single folks to have them weigh in on the topic.
First, we talked to B+C’s assistant buyer and newlywed Alicia Cox. She told us that she used to wear a non-matrimony related ring on that finger all the time, but when her and her boyfriend got serious she stopped. She tells us, “I think it was one of those things where I knew he was going to propose soon so I wanted my hand to be ready.”
Similar to Alicia, Jessie Wayburn, a friend of B+C who isn’t terribly traditionalist in her customs says that she too used to wear rings on her left finger all the time. She tells us, “I had two rings I liked wearing, and they only fit my ring fingers. Additionally, wearing rings on my other fingers isn’t so comfortable.” While she never worried about it for herself she says that she does notice when other ladies wear something on their left ring finger. “My mom is a jeweler who would make wedding and engagement rings frequently. She would also ask people if she could look at their jewelry, which is something I’ll do if a piece is particularly eye-catching.”
When we brought it up in our daily editorial meeting, one concern some single ladies mentioned having is that wearing bling on a traditional engagement ring spot could give eligible suitors the wrong impression. So to get a guy’s take on the topic we chatted with our resident B+C dude (and one of our in-house photographers) Kurt Andre. He told us, “I see [the ring], but I never know what they mean because sometimes girls wear rings on that finger and it doesn’t mean anything. It wouldn’t stop me from talking to her, but I would assume that she might be married.”
Our Editorial Director Lisa Raphael is in an upcoming wedding where the couple is following old traditions and starting their own when it comes to engagement ring “etiquette.” Bride-to-be Nikki Perry, a UX designer in the Bay Area, wears an engagement ring and her fiancé does too — kind of. “Joe wanted to wear a ‘practice ring’ for a while, because he’s never worn a ring before,” she GChatted us. “He thought he might lose his actual wedding band, so he started wearing a cheap ring from Amazon. I think that makes sense, because, as a guy who has never worn jewelry, I do think he could lose his band at some point. He’s dropped the practice one several times, but never actually lost it.”
We asked what people say — do new friends ask if he’s married? Do old friends do a double take and wonder if the date on their Save the Date was wrong? Nikki gave us the scoop: “His new coworkers just call me his wife already, even though they know the wedding is in November. People, like his dentist or whoever, just assume he is married because of the ring and he just rolls with it because it’s easier than explaining the concept of the practice ring. I’m cool with it.”
So what’s the final conclusion here? It seems to be something of a free-for-all. Believe it or not, ladies (and fellas), you can wear a ring on any finger you want. Imagine that. The left ring finger definitely isn’t reserved for only engagement rings and wedding bands anymore, but there’s no denying that the tradition is still alive and well. If you’re single and actively looking for a match, you may want to consider keeping that finger bare. But at the same time, if there is a ring you love and you only love it on that finger, it’s probably not going to ruin all your chances at finding love completely. This is 2015 after all.
Where do you weigh in on this hot topic? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
