Nipple Piercings: C’mon, Everybody’s Doing It

Bella Hadid shows off her hardware in Balmain. Photo: Getty Images

Purchasing the season’s hottest accessory used to be a fairly pleasant experience: Seek out that must-have bag or pair of shoes or earrings, swipe your card (or type in the digits), and voila! You were instantly cool.

But not anymore. Because getting your hands on fall 2015′s must-have piece of jewelry means paying to have a needle penetrate you in one of the most sensitive of areas: It’s a nipple ring—and if you don’t have one, youcan’tsitwithus.

Nipple piercings are nothing new. Like all body modifications, it started out as a tribal thing several centuries ago. From the 1970s and onward, nip rings for both genders gained popularity as a form of self expression (like in the Punk movement), and as a way to potentially enhance sexy times. And professional models (Lara Stone), ~rebels~ (Pink), and Nipplegate participants (Janet Jackson) have been seen sporting them regularly for the last decade or so.

But it’s only now that having metal in your boob is basically a requirement to be a fashion It-girl.

Kendall Jenner Wore a sheer dress to the 2015 ESPYs. Photo: Getty Images

Over the last half year, three headline-grabbing teens have gone under the needle: First Children Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and most recently, model and equine enthusiast Bella Hadid. They follow Rihanna, who’s had been sporting tinsel tits for the past few years.

In September, the elder Jenner, 19, who’s generally considered the demure one in her fam, recounted her piercing experience. “[I was] so terrified, I’m laying on the bed like, ‘Why am I doing this. Honestly, it hurt, but wasn’t as bad as everyone made it seem and maybe because everyone hyped it up and I thought it would be really, really bad. Then it wasn’t as bad as I expected.”

I concur: People tend to get really squeamish around the topic of nipple piercings, or really, any piercings that aren’t of the typical ear, nose, or navel variety—but a lot of times, they aren’t that bad. When I was a freshman in college (so, around the same age as Hadid and the Sisters Jenner), I had my left nipple pierced with a stainless steel barbell. I absolutely loved it: It didn’t have any problems healing, and, as someone who’d gone through high school as a “good girl,” I felt like I had this sneaky little secret. (Though sometimes, it kind of smelled funky. TMI?)

Kylie Jenner at the 2014 AMAs. Photo: Getty Images

That was, until I dated a guy my sophomore year who decided to tell the entire hockey team about it—and not even the college hockey team… the high school one! Which might sound dumb, but my little brother found out and confronted me about it and at the time, I was so uncomfortable that I just said, “I USED to have one, but not anymore!!” No way was I being considered a puck slut. And so, I untwisted the balls and tossed that beautiful, shiny piece of metal into the trash. Sigh.

Now, this new breed of pierced people is much more confident in their personal decisions, flaunting their jewelry all over social media and through their designer gowns. Note Kylie, 18, in that slinky Alexandre Vauthier gown at the American Music Awards—her nipple bling poking out from beneath the satin. And Hadid, wearing hers proudly under see-through Balmain at a Vogue party in Paris, forgodsake! Then there’s Rihanna, who literally appeared on the cover of a damn magazine topless with her piercings in full view. Now that takes guts.

Seeing all these PYTs—just living their fabulous lives in the age of #FreeTheNipple—is making me seriously consider getting re-poked. It’s hardly a financial commitment, with each piercing rarely costing over $50. Bar the Great Striped Shower Slides Movement of summer 2013, when was the last time you could say that about fashion’s hottest accoutrement?

Rihanna and her nip bling. Photo: Getty Images

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