A Hole New Me—My Experience at Nolita’s Newest Piercing Studio
I’d been wanting to get a piercing the entire time I’d been studying abroad in New York, but I had been putting it off. Short of getting a tattoo, I liked the idea of making a physical change or altering my person to represent my internal growth and to connect to a significant point in time. I got my nose pierced during my gap year (in a moment of parent-approved “rebellion”), and I love how it serves as a reminder of the craziest year of my life. The effect I expected was that it would change the landscape of my face. What I didn’t expect was how it changed the way I felt about who I am and how I carry myself in the world. In the three years since I got it done, it has become a major part of my identity and self-expression. Mostly an unapologetic good-girl, I’ve never been much of a risk taker, so my nose ring became a way of communicating to the world, “Actually, I do possess some sense of excitement and spontaneity! I can be fun and carefree too! Well, carefree enough to have a giant needle shoved through my nostril anyway!” Once I had experienced the way I felt about my nose ring (the tiny, inoffensive gemstone, that it is), I knew I had to get another piercing as a memento for this other pivotal moment of my life—my semester abroad, alone, in New York City.
Enter Studs, the motivation I needed to actually get my piercing done before I ran out of time and was on the plane back home to Australia. Studs, for those who don’t keep up with Diet Prada’s Instagram shenanigans, is a slick new piercing bar in the heart of trendy Nolita. From the website and the Instagram page, it seems to be super cool, and it features all the essentials for a Millennial/Gen Z-focused retail experience: neon signage, young, hipsterish sales assistants, inclusive prose and the endorsement of effortlessly chic celebrities such as Kaia Gerber. The website even includes a section titled “Earscapes” that features curated and styled lobes that serve as inspiration and are extremely effective in tempting you to buy the entire assortment for any given ear. Upon seeing this, I knew I had to go—partly because I was planning to get a piercing anyway (may as well do it in the place du jour, right?), and partly because I don’t get to experience many of these cool, niche in-store experiences that pop up all over NYC back home in Aus. It was my chance to be a hypebae for just one day. (Yikes, I know.) I hastily booked an appointment because I knew it would be busy after Diet Prada’s feature, and I then waited with anticipation for the following Monday to come.
When I arrived at the store, friend in tow, we both ooo’d and aah’d at the cute displays and expansive earring options. They had a selection of earrings for piercing and a selection of “fashion” earrings for healed piercings or pre-existing holes.
Studs currently only offers ear piercing, but its artists specialize in unconventional picks such as tragus, helix, rook, daith, etc. This is where its niche lies as the store is primarily aimed at those who already have the standard lobe piercings and are looking to add a bit of *pizazz* to the rest of their ear.
The assistants were unfailingly nice, offering me time to look around and explaining the different earrings to me. When it was time for my session, I filled out a form on an iPad that basically noted the terms and conditions of my piercing and disclaimed the risks involved. The form was user-friendly and easy to read, and once I had completed it, I was led to the piercing room.
After working out exactly where I wanted the stud to go, the needle was in. The actual piercing was extremely quick and relatively painless—relative to my nose, anyway. The whole process took less than two minutes, and the lady doing the piercing was lovely. I chose a small gold star to start and then went all out (what study abroad budget?) and bought a gorgeous little starburst stud with a gem in the centre for when I’m all healed up. Upon purchase, I received a cute plastic pouch which came with a loyalty card (complete with a drawing of an ear with the piercing spot punched out), the extra stud I bought and a fresh hit of nostalgia in the form of a sheet of stick-on earrings (those were my entire childhood). It was a super cute takeaway from the whole experience and was obviously cleverly designed to appeal to the target market whose love for ‘90s throwbacks shows no sign of slowing.
Overall, it was a great retail experience and one I believe is going to pave the way for similar niche brands going forward. The over-saturation of the fashion and lifestyle industries means companies need to offer their customers specialized, unique experiences that are focused on a particular product or area to provide an experience they won’t be able to find elsewhere.
Cheers to Studs for leading the way inclusively and for giving me a piece of New York to wear forever.