A nose chain is a type of facial jewelry that originated centuries ago as a part of women's fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

It has risen to prevelence as a recent introduction of gothic fashion

Gothic fashion

Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture; a dark, sometimes morbid, eroticized fashion and style of dress. Typical Gothic fashion includes dyed black hair, black lips and black clothes. Both male and female goths wear dark eyeliner and dark fingernails. Styles are...

 and is now known for its use in several different subcultures around the world, primarily the Darkwave

Darkwave

Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...

 scene of the Goth subculture

Goth subculture

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...

.

Physical aspects

Simply put, the nose chain is a link between a nose piercing

Nose piercing

Nose piercing is the piercing of the skin or cartilage which forms any part of the nose, normally for the purpose of wearing jewelry; among the different varieties of nose piercings, the nostril piercing is the most common...

 and an ear piercing. Typically —and appropriately so—, these "chains" are just that: chain links

Chain

A chain is a sequence of connected links.Chain may also refer to:Chain may refer to:* Necklace - a jewelry which is worn around the neck* Mail , a type of armor made of interlocking chain links...

, usually (though not always) made of some kind of metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

. Yet, besides actual chains, the term "nose chain" can denote other types of connecting materials b nose

Human nose

The visible part of the human nose is the protruding part of the face that bears the nostrils. The shape of the nose is determined by the ethmoid bone and the nasal septum, which consists mostly of cartilage and which separates the nostrils...

 and ear

Ear

The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system....

 piercings, such as the common alternative of rosary beads. Other connectors can be used as well.

History

The nose chain has been commonly worn by women in the Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

 for centuries. It is often worn as jewelry, especially during wedding ceremonies.

Today the nose chain is best known in the Western world

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

 within the Darkwave music scene within the Gothic subculture and sometimes that subculture as a whole, and has appeared as an aesthetic item worn by fans and a small amount of purveyors of such music. Possibly, the most notable wearers of such abstract jewelry are dance-pop

Dance-pop

Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...

 musician Jane Child

Jane Child

Jane Child is a Canadian dance-pop singer, producer and musician.-Career:The daughter of Ricky Hyslop, Child joined Canadian Opera Company's children's chorus in her youth....

 and Anna-Varney Cantodea, the sole member of the Darkwave

Darkwave

Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...

 project, Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows. It is possible that these two artists, more than likely Child, brought this type of jewelry to the semi-popular knowledge it has today.

The nose chain has a small occurrence in other cultures, such as the punk rock

Punk subculture

The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...

 and body modification

Body modification

Body modification is the deliberate altering of the human body for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, shock value, or self expression...

subcultures.