The New York Times

Piercings Are Back, Subtle and Sophisticated

J. Colby Smith is a popular practitioner of piercing at New York Adorned in the East Village.
SAM POLCER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
By MARISA MELTZER
JULY 30, 2014
A few years ago, Sarah Slutsky found an online photo of a delicate gold hoop pierced
midway through the ear cartilage. I kept looking at it, she said. I was an assistant at
Vogue at the time, and after one stressful day, I said, Im going for it. She took a friend
along to get the piercing. That was 2011, said Ms. Slutsky, who is now a fashion stylist.
I felt like we were pioneers.
It was a surprising move for her. In the 1990s, when she was growing up, piercings, she
said, were a statement: Hear me roar. I have something to say. Now multiple piercings
feel modern. Its all about personal mementos and secret little jewels so small people
might not see them.
If having a piercing was once an in-your-face roar, the new vogue is a whisper. Dainty
piercings in areas once reserved for the bold through the upper ear or the septum
have taken off with the fashion crowd. Elaborate jewelry going up the ear has appeared on

the runway at Givenchy and Chanel. The model Daria Werbowy has a few subtle gold
rings in her upper ears, which are shown off in her Cline ad campaigns.
Piercing has trickled toward celebrities as well. The actress Emma Watson, who is one of
Ms. Slutskys clients, has been photographed with piercings through her cartilage. Earlier
in July, Rihanna showed up to a nightclub with a ring in her septum, though there was
much speculation on the Internet that it was merely a clip-on.

Elizabeth Brockway is a client.

SAM POLCER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The actresses Julianne Moore, Zo Kravitz and Scarlett Johansson, fashion models like
Candice Swanepoel and Erin Wasson, and Emily Weiss of the beauty site Into the Gloss
have had piercings. And they have all sought out J. Colby Smith at New York Adorned in
the East Village, who has become a kind of guru of the fashion piercing.
Mr. Smith, 37, has been piercing since 1999. He grew up in a Jehovahs Witness family in
Utah, and rebellion took the form of skateboarding and listening to industrial and hardcore music. Being pierced and learning to pierce were rites of passage. Now he sees about
30 clients a day.
Mr. Smith is known for a delicate aesthetic, placing small hoops or studs along the ear,
often in rose gold or black diamonds. The trick is a couple of nice subtle pieces, he said.
For a long time it was something ugly, but jewelry is catching up with refined, simple,
high-quality pieces. Indeed, jewelry designers like Hirotaka Jewelry, Wendy Nichol,
Blanca Monrs Gmez, Jacquie Aiche and Ginette NY are catering to the new aesthetic,
with slim hoops and tiny studs or bars in precious gems.
On a recent Friday night in Mr. Smiths small piercing room at the back of New York
Adorned, John Arthur Peetz, 27, was getting a second piercing in his right ear, and his
friend Carmen Garca Durazo, 25, was getting a gold hoop put into her conch piercing,
which goes around the middle of the ear cartilage. As music from the Cure and the Velvet
Underground played in the background, Ms. Garca Durazo, who had her ears pierced for

the first time when I was a few hours old, talked about pain management. I like to
squeal and hold someones hand, she said.

Mr. Smith with Breanna Daly.

SAM POLCER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

I know your type, Mr. Smith said with a smile. Hes blessed with a calm but slightly
cheeky bedside manner.
You immediately have a crush on him, said Elizabeth Brockway, 24, a freelance photo
researcher for Vogue.com. He is so not threatening, even though its this intimidating
East Village piercing and tattoo parlor. She has gone to Mr. Smith for seven of the nine
holes in her ears. It definitely sounds like a ton, she said, but they are all delicate rose
gold jewelry, so it doesnt look that wild.
She also has her septum pierced, but, she added: I dont wear it in front of my parents.
And I havent yet worn it to Vogue, but Im sure I could.
The septum, Mr. Smith said, is an aggressive piercing meant to look intimidating, but
he has sought out pretty, stylish girls to try it out, fitting small rings so close to the septum
that you barely notice them until youre close up.
Some piercings, like the tongue, eyebrow, lips and gauges that punch large holes through
the ears are considered dmod: The look is too reminiscent of girls gone wild or simply
not subtle enough to be considered cool.
Piercings work with a girlie look, as a contrast, but also for the minimalist Jil Sander
vibe thats coming back, said Ilaria Urbinati, a fashion stylist who works with the
actresses Shailene Woodley and Lizzy Caplan. As far as getting her own piercings, Ms.
Urbinati thinks she has hesitated too long. At my last three dinner parties, guests brought
up wanting to get pierced, she said. I was going to do it, but now it feels like too much
of a trend.

Trends come and go unlike tattoos, say. If you grow tired of your piercings, you dont
have to keep them.
Being able to pierce your ears all over feels like something youve chosen to do, Ms.
Slutsky said. Its sophisticated and ladylike and office appropriate. Youre not raging
against the machine.

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