Ouch.When I told you last week that my ears weren't pierced, I had no idea that I was opening a sort of Pandora's box of ear piercing tales.

Dozens of you responded here on The Stir with your own ear piercing stories, dozens more sounded off on my personal blog, and over at Yahoo! Shine, which syndicated The Stir's post, more than a hundred women (and a few men) have voiced an opinion.

WHOA.

"I can't believe the response this post has gotten!" I said to my husband over the weekend as I scrolled through some of the comments. "Apparently, it's something lots of women have an opinion on, but it doesn't really come up that often in conversation."

And that's when Hubs asked me a question that shocked me.

"Will you ever get your ears pierced again?" he asked.

I gave him a funny look. "Uh. No," I said.

"But you said your doctor made it so you could," he said.

"But why would I want to potentially go through all that again?" I asked. "Infection, scarring, more surgery. And the scarring hurt. I couldn't even wear clip-ons over that ear because it hurt so bad."

Hubs shrugged.

"What?" I said. "You think I should get my ears pierced again? Why? What's wrong with my clip-ons? They're fine -- you can't even tell they're clip-ons."

"Your clip-ons are not my favorite part of your wardrobe," Hubs said. "I just wish I could buy you sexy earrings sometimes, that's all."

And suddenly, I felt ... frumpy.

So all these years, I'd thought my earlobes looked cute enough in my collection of modest silver hoops, tasteful little diamonds, and retro-looking clusters of pearls.

And all these years, my husband hated them.

Had he secretly been wishing for some other woman? Some ... hussy woman with pierced ears? And ... and ... sexy earrings! What the hell were sexy earrings, anyway?

Oh. Hmm. Probably a good thing my ears were unpierced.

Anyway, the whole incident made me realize that while readers can tell me an outfit I love looks ugly and I don't even flinch, all my husband has to say is, "Your clip-ons aren't my favorite," and I'm devastated.

Devastated!

And ... why? Hubs doesn't know the first thing about fashion!

Am I alone here or does your husband hold the same power over your fashion choices? Is there something he's said about one of your outfits that's stuck with you like super glue? Tell me about it -- and we can pout together!

Image via Claire Schmitt/Flickr