In 1993 a then unknown Alicia Silverstone appeared in Aerosmith's
Cryin' video with a navel ring and a tattoo to spite her cheating
ex-boyfriend.
It wasn't long before high school girls were heading off to their
local tattoo parlour for a stud and a paint.
Holes in the ear seemed tame compared to those in lips, tongues,
eyebrows, navels, genitals and nipples.
Modern body piercing grew out of the sado-masochistic society of
the US, but piercing is now chosen for all sorts of reasons, from
spirituality to shock value to expression of individuality or simply
to 'look cool'.
Whatever the reason, the barriers have come down and most piercings
no longer have the shock value they used to.
Piercing
on The Clothes Show
