Piercing Is All Grown Up

My first piercing experience was nothing special. I walked into a children’s hair salon in suburban Virginia at seven years old with an emotional support stuffed animal and a dream. I walked out with two pink “diamond” studs and the beginnings of an infection from the industrial-grade piercing gun.

By the time I booked an appointment for two more diamonds (real, this time) 20 years later, the piercing experience and jewelry I remembered had more than a glow-up—and as many adults as kids and tweens were sitting in the piercer’s chair. Mall kiosks and tattoo parlors were still destinations for a first or second piercing, but so were all-out luxury boutiques and jewelry startups backed by major investor funding. Piercing jewelry branched out from simple quartz posts to playfully shaped studs and decadent fine gems. The places where cool, stacked piercings showed up also seemed to shift: semi-corporate offices and celebrity red carpets became a stage to display triple, quadruple, and quintuple-pierced ears. At least in fashion circles, an ear with only one earring almost looked naked.

Piercings—in ears and in eyebrows, on belly buttons and noses and lower back dimples—have always been personal. Some people get their first ear piercings in infancy, per family tradition; others get them at 13, per a coming-of-age, pop culture rite. They’ve also been a site for double-standards: Wearing whatever body jewelry you want, wherever you want, is a privilege not everyone gets. But clearly something has changed in recent years. Piercings aren’t, as Gen Z might say, “so back." They are growing up.

Between a rise in fully bejeweled lobes and the invention of words like “earscape,” it felt like the right moment to check in with fashion’s tiniest—but no less important—accessories. Across the five stories ahead, we’re exploring the state of piercing from various angles and earring placements: from the upscale piercing parlors turning a quick jab into a white glove, Instagrammable experience, to the early-aughts trend Gen Z can’t help but revive, to the woman who built a global empire designing jewelry (and patented holes to hold it) for every A-lister you can think of. Together, these pieces show how piercings are leveling up from a coming-of-age montage or afterthought accessories. They're a (semi-) permanent frontier for personal style.

The infamous Y2K trend is making a comeback with millennials, Gen Z, and their favorite celebrities.

Kylie. Cardi. Rihanna. Taylor. In three decades, Maria Tash has built an earring empire for every big name you can think of.

A new wave of luxe spots are picking up where Claire’s left off.

“I’ve considered getting my ears pierced, but I’ve never liked the idea of having to change my body for fashion.”

There's more to great piercings than adding a new hoop.