The Sharp End - Jun/Jul 2024

THE

MAGAZINe

The Grangers Body mod pioneers

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PIERCING

PROFESSIONALS > JUN/JUL 2024

Meet the makers Goldsmith piercing pros

Exclusive interview Terry Michael LeRoi

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W W W .T I S H LY O N . C O M

Welcome to

Welcome to The Sharp End! Summer is here, and have we got a sizzling line-up in store for you.

Louise Hoffman Founder and Editor-in-chief

Editor-in-chief Louise Hoffman editor@the-sharp-end.co.uk Creative Director Craig John @craigjohnart To find out how to advertise in The Sharp End, please email editor@the-sharp-end.co.uk The Sharp End Magazine @thesharpend_magazine Find us the-sharp-end.co.uk Get social – follow us Cover image by Lou McCurdy Printed by Page Bros, Norwich

The editor and publishers do not guarantee the accuracy of statements made by contributors or advertisers, or accept responsibility for any statement they express or advice they give in this publication. The opinion of the contributors may not necessarily be the opinion of the editor or publishers. All content including the presentation thereof in this magazine is the property of the editor and protected by international copyright laws. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, modify, create derivative works, or in any other way exploit any part of copyrighted material without prior written permission from the editor. ©2024 Louise Hoffman

Editor’s letter

So, all that remains for me to say is thank you to Aces Supply for what I’m sure you’ll agree is a truly ingenious sticker design (inside this issue)… and I hope you all have a sensational summer!

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This issue’s jewellery showcase is a seasonal homage to the navel, with jewellery that’s begging to be shown off by summer outfits – as well as being year-round statement pieces.

Turn to page 23 to find a style to suit every client.

In fact, we’re treating you to a double helping of jewellery goodness this time, with a special feature on four piercing professionals who have added another string to their bow – by learning to make their very own custom body jewellery! Discover the stories behind their passion for goldsmithing and their plans for the future – as well as their gorgeous designs – from page 36.

A big highlight of the early summer for me was having the opportunity to speak with LeRoi Inc founder and owner Terry Michael LeRoi, in an exclusive interview for The Sharp End (page 14). You know

the jewellery – now you can get to know the man responsible for bringing the brand to fruition!

And what a tale he has to tell…

Of course, there are still plenty more industry delights to soak up this summer. Many of you are sure to be brimming with inspiration after the recent APP Annual Conference, and the UKAPP Conference (see page 34 to find out more) and a host of other big international events are following hot on its heels (page 12).

36_ Inside this issue

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36_ Meet the makers

We hear from four piercing professionals who have taken their passion for body jewellery to the next level – by learning to create their own

06 _ News and views All the latest industry news and updates from the piercing community 12 _ Dates for your diary Don’t miss these exciting industry events taking place in the UK and further afield over the coming months

34 _ The countdown begins Becky Crossan looks ahead to a particularly exciting edition of the UKAPP Conference, which opens its doors at a brand-new venue for 2024 43 _ Time for technique Expert piercer Nicole Holmes of Blue Lotus in Newcastle is here to explain one of her favourite techniques: freehand septum piercing 46 _ The Grangers If you missed out on the Granger exhibit at the recent APP Conference, fear not! Paul King provides a potted history of this pioneering UK body mod couple 50 _ End-note inspo Davide Bassi spurs us all on to stay positive, focused and dedicated to our art, as he shares the story of his career so far

CONTENTS

23 _ Navel gazing In this issue, we’re contemplating a smoking hot range of navel jewellery that’s ready to seduce your clients for the summer season and beyond

30 _ Conditions for growth Jess Sellars’ wellbeing series moves on to look at the ways in which our external environment can impact on body and mind

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14 _ The sound of success In conversation with Louise Hoffman, LeRoi Inc founder Terry Michael LeRoi shares his fascinating story – of a life that has been truly cast in metal

28 _ Aftercare matters Laura Bond discusses her eponymous boutique’s commitment to premium piercing aftercare

All the latest industry news and updates from the piercing community

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News

Celebrating 12 years of Twisted Monkey Twelve years ago, on 19 May 2012, the doors opened to Twisted Monkey Studio in Ipswich, signalling the start of a remarkable journey for piercer Lou Safire, who managed to turn a challenging situation into a thriving business thanks to unwavering vision – and a timely tax rebate!

“It hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park – more like a rollercoaster ride with occasional screams,” Lou concedes, “but we’re still here and rocking it!”

From the start, Lou was committed to providing a welcoming, safe and inclusive space for everyone, and that mission is still going strong.

Indeed, the shop has become a sanctuary for self-expression, particularly for the LGBTQIA+ community, offering a place where clients can celebrate their uniqueness without fear of judgment.

“As a queer person, serving the LGBTQIA+ community as a body piercer is both a profound passion and a privilege,” says Lou. “In a world where LGBTQIA+ individuals often face discrimination and marginalisation, especially right now, offering a supportive environment is crucial.

“Piercing is a bold declaration of self and individuality, and my studio aims to be a place where everyone can feel fabulous and unapologetically themselves.

After all, what’s life without a bit of sparkle and a lot of acceptance?”

As Twisted Monkey celebrates this milestone, 2024 also marks Lou’s 20th year as a professional body piercer – an achievement that fills them with pride and gratitude.

Their story is a testament to resilience, creativity, and the power of creating spaces where everyone can feel truly seen and valued. Here’s to another 12-plus years! @twistedmonkeytattoo

Auryn Adornments opens in Aberdeen Piercer and Buddha Jewelry rep Beth Jenkins has transformed a former opticians in the historic area of Rosemount Viaduct in Aberdeen into a luxury piercing studio.

A lot of late nights were involved in the eight-week refit, which saw walls removed; ceilings, floors and doors replaced; custom cabinetry installed; and a relaxing, neutral colour palette chosen to achieve a high-end boutique feel.

The doors opened to the public in May, kicking off with a special launch weekend. The first customers were treated to discounts on jewellery and permanent bracelets, which the studio is also offering as part of its service. Tattooing is set to be added to the line-up in due course.

Alongside Beth, Vicky NicolsonBirks and Jordan Smith bring their piercing and jewellery styling skills to Auryn Adornments, to form a winning trio.

“I’m so excited and grateful to be in our new space,” Beth enthuses.

“Creating a place where we can all work together in harmony was very important to us and I think we have achieved that. Auryn Adornments mixes a spa-like environment with a high-end jewellery store to give clients a luxurious and calming experience where they can take their time to select their jewellery and relax with a cuppa or nosecco, and there’s no pressure on them or us to work fast. The first few weeks have been amazing and we’re all very excited for what’s to come!” @auryn.adornments.ltd

Piercer pets Bex of The Piercing Studio in Hamilton remembers her best pal, who may be gone, but will never be forgotten.

Name: Best pals for: Fave treat: Best quality: Happiest place:

Zeus 9 years Whatever mum was having!

Best snuggle bug The beach

Fine piercing jewellery brand BVLA has recently unveiled an enticing new line of designs, ranging from new and mini sizes of old favourites such as the Baguette Panaraya to wholly innovative pieces – some featuring new gem cuts such as an industry-first half-moon (pictured)!

There are also drilled diamond chains and even necklaces, which are proving popular.

“This launch – like everything at BVLA – was a team effort!

Dreaming up designs, producing precision CAD files, refining the moulds and waxes, filing and soldering the metal, selecting

and setting interesting gem combos, polishing to a mirror finish, assuring quality at each stage and even creating the huge number of permutations in our manufacturing software and website – it all makes us very proud,” says the BVLA team.

“This line would not be complete without featuring some of the best designs that come our way from piercers, stylists and shop owners all over the world. Thank you for allowing us to do what we do best!” @bvla

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News

BVLA reveals dazzling new line-up

The (very unscientific) barometer of piercing popularity!

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The social media community has spoken...

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A big thank you to everyone who took part this time! Keep an eye on our Instagram stories and posts for more polls to get involved with for the next issue of @thesharpend_magazine

ARE YOU GETTING READY TO APPLY FOR UKAPP MEMBERSHIP? Then our blood-borne virus biosafety training meets both APP & UKAPP membership criteria.

Scan the QR code below for more information.

Piercer pets How could we not put two gods together in the same issue? Here’s Odin, sidekick to Gemma of Rogue Piercing, Nottingham...

Name: Age: Fave treat: Best quality: Trademark dick move:

Odin Mulder 7 Chicken Unlimited fluffy cuddles Will sneeze directly into your eyes

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If you’d like your pet to make a cameo in the magazine, get in touch via Instagram @thesharpend_magazine or email editor@the-sharp-end.co.uk

Movers and shakers

Over to you

Kitty branches out

In January 2024, Kitty Hillier completed a two-year apprenticeship at Brazen Body Piercings in north Wales and has been working as a junior piercer there ever since.

Now, as of May 2024, she has also joined the Amethyst Adornments team in Chester, working part time as a junior piercer on alternating Saturdays!

“I am so excited to be working in Chester with Shannon, as well as continuing to work at Brazen Body Piercings where I completed

my apprenticeship. I’m so grateful to have both these opportunities and I can’t wait to continue growing and learning!” she enthuses.

Congratulations on this fantastic next step in your career, Kitty! @piercedbykitty

As well as carrying important industry updates, these pages are the place for you, the piercing community, to shout about all of your achievements and developments. So, if for example your studio has held a charity fundraiser, celebrated an anniversary, carried out a refit or rebranding, won an award or hosted an event – please let us know! Likewise, we’d love to hear about any personal achievements, such as graduating apprentices.

There’s a blog on our website with top tips for how to submit a winning piece of content, but at the end of the day, it’s the key details that count!

Send your submissions to editor@the-sharp-end.co.uk or tag us in your announcement on Instagram @thesharpend_ magazine or Facebook (The Sharp End Magazine).

Ace-high Official magazine merch for needle-wielding wizards

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COMING SOON

for your diary

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UKAPP Conference 2024 15-17 September Albert Hall, Nottingham ukapp.org.uk

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The Wee Scottish Piercing Expo 2025 2-3 March 2025 The Old Dr Bells Baths, Edinburgh @theweescottishpiercingexpo

Piercer Trade Show 3.5 6 October RDS Dublin @piercertradeshowuk Dublin Tattoo Convention 4-6 October RDS Dublin dublintattooconvention.com

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International inspiration

Here are some of the unmissable industry events taking place in the UK and beyond over the coming months...

BMXnet 1-4 August Berlin, Germany bmxnet.org GEP Congress 18-22 August Sao Paulo, Brazil @gepsafepiercing APP Benelux Conference 7-8 September Veldhoven, The Netherlands @appbenelux Professional Piercers Poland Conference 20-22 September Gdańsk, Poland @professionalpiercerspoland APA Ritorno Alle Origini 22-24 September Pescara, Italy @ritornoalleorigini.apa

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Antwerp Suscon 5-6 October Antwerp, Belgium antwerp-suscon.be AUPP Annual Professional Piercers Conference 21-23 October Melbourne, Australia safepiercing.org.au

Let’s fill this map up! If you know of a conference, expo or open-door event that should be on this page, or have one of your own to promote, send the details to editor@the-sharp-end.co.uk

Re ding someone else’s copy? get your own FREE subscription at the-sharp-end.co.uk

SUPER FAST CARBON NEUTRAL SHIPPING...

... AND WE PLANT TREES FOR EVERY ORDER!

BY P I E R C ERS, FOR PIERCERS. A C U R AT E D CO L L E C T I O N O F O N LY T H E B E S T E Q U I P M E N T A N D CO N S U M A B L E S

P R O U D LY S U P P O R T I N G T H E B E S T S T U D I O S O N T H E P L A N E T #THECHOICEOFPROFESSIONALS

That’s The Point - UK / Europe

@thatsthepointuk

INTERVIEW 14

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Goldsmith, once-reluctant businessman, rock super-group vocalist – Louise Hoffman gets to know the real Terry Michael LeRoi

They say positivity breeds success, and never has this been more evident than in the story of Terry Michael LeRoi, founder and owner of fine body jewellery brand, LeRoi Inc. “I’m a ‘glass half full’ person – an eternal optimist,” he smiles. And this positive mental attitude has brought him from creative child and wayward teen to wrestler, athlete, artist, jeweller and thriving multi-business owner.

Oh, and did I mention rock musician? More on that later…

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First, we must return to the very roots of this story – a story that begins in Minetto, a small rural town in upstate New York, US, around 60 miles south of Canada.

“I grew up with a mom who was, and still is, a painter, sculptor, seamstress – an all-round crafty person,” Terry begins. “For a while, the two of us lived in a trailer park – my parents having split up when I was five years old – and she painted grocery store advertisement signs for a living. We had a little spare room in the trailer where she had a drafting table, paper and tools, and there were always tonnes of things happening in there. When she got remarried, it was to another artist, and she and my stepdad always had multiple art projects on the go.

So, as a little boy, I gravitated towards the artsy stuff.”

Creativity, multi-tasking and hard work were therefore instilled in Terry from an early age and are the threads that weave through and stitch together the whole narrative of his life – even those tumultuous adolescent years.

“I was pretty wayward as a youngster,” he acknowledges, “but I had a good work ethic.

My dad was a Navy Seabee and I was taught that you keep your word, you show up, and you do the best you can.

So, whenever I had a job, I did a great job… while I was there!” he laughs.

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“I mean, I was all over the place. I worked at the cemetery, I bagged groceries, I did construction jobs, and I was always doing seasonal work on local farms, such as apple picking. Those jobs were cool because they usually paid in cash – sometimes daily. They also gave me the freedom to do lots of different tasks, because I’ve always needed to have multiple things occupying my mind at the same time. I like to move around; take on challenges.

“But it wasn’t long before I was really restless. I also had a bit of a chip on my shoulder – I don’t know, maybe it was teenage rebellion. I was in this blended family and I wasn’t necessarily that happy.

So I was like, yeah, I’m not bagging groceries anymore, I’m out of here.”

It was also during these teenage years that music entered Terry’s life; things he heard on the radio began to have a deeper resonance as he went through this time of angst and transition. Pretty soon, he was hooked…

Volume, up!

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Here we briefly step off the chronological timeline – and for good reason – because since catching the music bug, Terry has been in numerous bands (13 to be exact), and they’ve all led up to a jawdroppingly exciting new project that he calmly reveals, catching

me completely off guard.

“My current band, Killington Pit, is a really cool band; in fact, it’s a bit of a super group. It has two members of Evanescence in it, Will Hunt and Troy McLawhorn, and the bass player from Alice Cooper, Chuck Garric.”

Responding to my wideeyed, stuttering requests for more details, Terry continues: “The band first recorded during the pandemic, because when the world shut down all of the entertainers and musicians etc were like, ‘What do we do now?

We can’t leave the house!’ So, a producer I was working with at the time connected me and these guys and we started recording classic rock covers as kind of a one-off ‘let’s have some fun via the internet’. But

the longer the pandemic went on, the more time we had on our hands, and we were like, hey, let’s keep doing this!

“Fast forward to now, four years later, and it’s an actual band with original music that’s about to be released this summer!”

For those of you already diving into a Google search, as I was, the answer is yes, you can find Killington Pit on Spotify right now. With Terry on

“One of the reasons I’m doing what I do for a living – making body jewellery – is because of the music that led me here”

Below: (l-r) Will Hunt, Troy McLawhorn, Terry LeRoi and Chuck Garric. Image by P.R. Brown.

Circle of life

Looking back, Terry has come to realise that finding music was also a stepping stone to finding his true vocation in life.

INTERVIEW

“But I’m a songwriter so it doesn’t really matter to me what the genre is; I’m interested in the song and what it’s about and how it makes me feel. I write songs pretty much every day – not complete songs, but I always have in my voice memos and notes a lyrical idea or concept, or I might play a few things on a guitar. Sometimes I write a whole song myself, but mostly I find the best results come with collaboration.”

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vocals, Chuck on bass, Will on drums and Troy on guitar, the band’s upcoming single, Magic & Dust, will soon be hitting the radio airwaves across Europe and the US, and live tours are in the planning.

“There’s something about connecting with the audience and speaking your truth on the stage,” Terry reflects. “Musicians are the narrators of emotion and social climate. If you listen to song lyrics from any time in history, you kind of know what was happening in society; what the mood was, what the vibe was. Music is just another form of self-expression, and the genre of heavy metal is so primal and passionate – that’s what attracts me to it.

“After leaving those fleeting jobs of my teenage years behind, it took quite a while to finally come full circle and find something I was really passionate about,” he recalls.

“Music has been front and centre for me to this very day, and one of the reasons I’m doing what I do for a living – making body jewellery – is because of the music that led me here.”

Sure, the groundwork was already laid by a creative childhood, which saw him helping his mum with craft projects, carving wooden beads and hammering copper wires from electrical cables into bracelets. He also recalls a defining moment of being taken into a jewellery store as a small boy, and seeing the jeweller come out to the counter with his visor on: “I didn’t know I had a passion for jewellery at that point; all I knew was that guy looked like a scientist, and he seemed really important to me!”

But it was during some time spent working at a jewellery store himself that these two worlds of music and vocation came together to powerful – and fortuitous – effect.

“I’d been doing jewellery repairs and had a little side hustle in fine jewellery, making an exclusive martial arts collection – little kicker figures and things like that, which I sold to martial arts supplies companies. But then

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in the 90s, body piercing came along, and that was kind of my crowd; those were my people,” he smiles.

“There was a pivotal moment when, through my music connections, a guy contacted me from Connecticut who had a fanzine and wanted to do an interview on my band at the time. We started talking and he found out I was a jeweller – while he was a body piercer! He proposed: ‘I have the connections, I’ll send you orders; you’re the jeweller, you make the jewellery, and I’ll sell the jewellery’.

“We did it for a few months, but then he just disappeared and I couldn’t get hold of him anymore. The money dried up, and I figured I’d better give these tattoo shops a call and tell them I was the guy actually making the jewellery. So that’s what I did, and they were like, ‘Oh wow, we were wondering what happened to that guy, he owes us jewellery!’ So I said, ‘Listen, I got you, I’ll take care of everything’.

“So that’s really how it started. It was impeccable timing, and completely by chance!”

Funnily enough, this chapter of Terry’s story sees him back at a trailer park – in a poignant mirror image of his mother’s creative hub. Fitted out with a jewellery bench and small lathe, it was in this trailer bedroom that he began coiling, drilling and tapping metal into body jewellery.

Above: A slice of Leroi Inc’s archive material after 30 years in the game

“Piercers were still figuring out what to call some of this jewellery back then,” he laughs.

“I mean, these were the early days. It was like, ‘I don’t know what this thing is called, but I need a ring that looks like this and has something that clips in it’, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll call that a captive bead ring’. There were a lot of unknowns about body jewellery.

“Some of the west coast jewellery companies that exist now had a two- or three-year jump on us. Those guys already had some things figured out.

But over here on the east coast, we were just kind of flying by the seat of our pants.”

Upping the ante

At the beginning, Terry didn’t need a lot of workspace to keep up with orders from the five or six tattoo shops he was supplying. But as word spread

about this guy in upstate who was making body jewellery, it wasn’t long before that turned into 20 accounts… and then 80.

“I was like, holy shit, what’s happening here! What started as, honestly, just another side hustle had now literally grabbed my attention. I’d been trying to make ends meet with all the different things I was doing, and this thing was like ‘Hey!’, tapping me on the shoulder. Now, it was time for my full attention to be given over to body piercing jewellery.”

So it was that in 1995, LeRoi Inc came to be formally established.

“My first catalogue was literally just a handful of captive bead rings that I put on a photocopier – I ran a copy out in black and white and that was the cover of my wholesale catalogue!” Terry chuckles.

“We were also one of the first companies, in the late 90s,

didn’t have a dream of owning a business. But the moment I started to hire people, LeRoi Inc took on a new life.”

City lights

Below: The Leroi Manhattan Boutique, pictured on a postcard

INTERVIEW

A particular highlight in the LeRoi story is undoubtedly the flagship high-end, piercingonly boutique that Terry opened in 2004 in Manhattan, New York City.

“The idea had been kicking around for some years, and then the right time came to open. It was super cool because it gave me a lot more insight into the application and function of body jewellery; I mean, I was talking to piercers on a daily basis and by that point I’d been making body piercing jewellery for 10 years so I knew my stuff, but when you’re standing over a piercer watching the process happen, and you’re understanding some of the obstacles and challenges, it’s a whole different ball game.”

The only APP shop in New York City at that time, the LeRoi Manhattan Boutique had staff piercers as well as welcoming guest piercers – including the renowned Elayne Angel.

“She did tonnes of genital piercings; she’d been booked out for weeks. It was a historic weekend, which helped to elevate the shop to another level because we were hosting piercers of that calibre. One of the pinnacle memories of that place,” Terry reflects.

Opportunities came calling, with appearances on MTV, TRL and David Letterman, and a feature in the uber high-end Luxury magazine, alongside big names like Cartier.

Then, after seven successful years, Terry made the heartwrenching decision to close the boutique – but with no regrets.

“The lease was coming up for renewal, the rent was about to go even higher than it already was, and living 300 miles away from New York City I’d racked up 414,000 miles on my Jeep! I was splitting my weeks between the factory and the boutique, and, in truth, both were starting to suffer.

“It was very, very emotional for me and difficult to let that go, because I’d worked so hard on it, but I had to face up to the fact I couldn’t keep it going – it was spreading me so thin, I wasn’t going to pay the higher rent, and I wasn’t feeling healthy. So, I said ok, we’re going to close it, and we’re going to come back to LeRoi, which was waiting with open arms.”

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to have a precious metals catalogue, because being from a fine jewellery background, right from the start I always felt that the jewellery should be elevated. I thought, wouldn’t it be cool for me to take little gold settings that I’m already working with at the jewellery store and attach them to rings or barbells.”

Taking the next step with his body jewellery company also forced Terry to face up to the fact that it could no longer be a one-man operation. “I was kind of kicking and screaming a little bit in the early days. I didn’t want to have employees; I just wanted to sit and make my jewellery at my bench.

But it was like, bro, if you wanna do that then do that, but what are you going to do about these 30 companies that want the jewellery you promised them?” he laughs.

“It was very difficult to be put in that situation, because I wasn’t a business guy, I didn’t go to school for business, I

to the first year and having someone say hey, learn all this and do all this and be all this – I would just implode! It’s progressive over time; you have challenges and obstacles to overcome, and you learn a little bit more as you go along.

“There’s never really been a master plan for LeRoi; it’s been all about the natural evolution of it. We grow as needed. It’s a privilege to own something like this, so it’s important to be a good steward. I’m super proud

of it and everybody here. We really care about each other; it’s a family.”

In fact, two of those family members have been there almost from the start: Julie Truell, who left her job as a waitress to join LeRoi 29 years ago and is now the COO of the company, and Kim Conners, who has worked in shipping and customer service for 25 years and attends trade shows. “We have other people who’ve been with us for 10 to 15 years as

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Left: Terry with FiancÉe Tammy; Below: The Leroi Inc Team

Next level, unlocked

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Turns out, it was a wise decision, because staying focused on what really matters has led the company to a 13,000-square-foot, purposebuilt factory in Oswego, on the shores of Lake Ontario, with a team of 50 people working in everything from design, to laser welding, to CAD, to stone setting, to polishing (you’ll even find Terry at his bench there on the reg!). Not only that, but it’s about to celebrate its 30th anniversary.

“When we give tours to people and explain what we do, I realise how much information we’ve accumulated over the years. It’s quite a legacy,” Terry notes. “To imagine rewinding

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well, but the two longeststanding team members are Julie and Kim, and we couldn’t do it without them,” says Terry.

Coming up, LeRoi has plans for 30th anniversary celebrations, new international distributorships, and a greater focus on high-end jewellery, packaging and displays. “We’ll always be a one-stop shop for everything from haute couture clusters to niobium captive bead rings – we’re set up that way,” Terry assures, “but I want to show what we’re really capable of in the highend precious metals world.

We can literally make anything!”

Meanwhile, expansion plans are also afoot at Terry’s other business – a state-of-the-art wellness centre just across the river from the factory (think flotation tanks, salt rooms, cryotherapy etc), which he built three years ago with his fiancée Tammy, who co-owns and runs the daily operations.

“Looking back, it’s been a long road, but a good one,” says Terry. “It’s taught me so much about myself – I’m much more mature and focused than I was 30 years ago.

“And to think, when I first started LeRoi as a simple side hustle I kept wondering, when is this going to die out? Is this some kind of strange fad? Well, I’m confident at 30 years to say that I don’t think this is a fad or a trend anymore!” he laughs.

“It’s literally a lifestyle that we’re a major part of, and it’s not going away!”

The Sharp End ads Oct 23.pdf

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Navel jewellery is the centre of attention in this summer-special showcase

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1. 5.5mm Elaine, 14ct yellow gold with diamonds 2. Doja Skull, 14ct white gold with diamonds 3. Flying Countess, 14ct white gold with diamonds 4. Oceane 3, 14ct yellow gold with diamonds 5. Rianna, 14ct yellow gold with faceted chrysoprase 6. Rianna Trillion, 18ct yellow gold with diamonds 7. Tamara, 14ct rose gold with faceted labradorite 8. Tanti, 14ct yellow gold with Chatham champagne sapphires

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1. Internal 14ct gold Amethyst Pear Navel Bar (TLPN7AM) 2. Internal 14ct gold Smokey Quartz Pear Navel Bar (TLPN7SQ) 3. Internal 14ct gold Plain Navel Bar (TLN8)

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Jewellery showcase

1. 14g Curved Navel Barbell, ASTM F-136 Titanium with 4mm/5mm Bezel-Set White Cubic Zirconia 2. 14g Curved Navel Barbell, ASTM F-136 Titanium 4mm Bead, Bezel-Set Gem in Royal Blue Topaz 3. 14g Curved Navel Barbell, ASTM F-136 Titanium with Sunflower top, Faux Opal in Moonglow and White Cubic Zirconia, 5mm Bezel-Set Aurora Borealis Cubic Zirconia 4. 14g Curved Navel Barbell, ASTM F-136 Titanium with 4mm/5mm Bezel-Set Multi-Lavender Synthetic Opal 5. 14g Curved Navel Barbell, ASTM F-136 Titanium 4mm Bead, Bezel-Set Blue Pacific Synthetic Opal 6. 14g Curved Navel Barbell, ASTM F-136 Titanium with Blossom top in Fire and Snow/Blue Pacific Synthetic Opal, 5mm Fire and Snow Synthetic Opal

Aftercare matters Laura Bond discusses her eponymous boutique’s commitment to premium piercing aftercare

Tell us a bit about Laura Bond…

I started Laura Bond from my living room five years ago. It was born out of a frustration that I couldn’t find the pretty, feminine pieces I wanted for my piercings. My background was in the fine jewellery industry and I wanted to create solid gold body jewellery at an accessible price point, without compromising on quality.

I started selling my jewellery online and we grew rapidly (on average 50% year on year). Then in September last year we opened our flagship fine jewellery boutique and piercing parlour in Edinburgh, due to overwhelming demand.

Everyone who books in for a Laura Bond piercing gets a personalised ear styling appointment. We’re passionate about customer experience and go out of our way to make everyone feel welcome and like piercing is for them.

FIND OUT MORE AT PIERCEMED.co.uk

What has client feedback been like?

We have so many wonderful customer testimonials; they tell us that they find it reassuring to have the aftercare explained to them so thoroughly and that there’s a product they can reach for every day to clean their piercings.

The Laura Bond team all use Piercemed too, so we’re able to speak from personal experience when recommending it for an exceptional aftercare routine.

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We’re thrilled to support Laura Bond in providing exceptional aftercare to their clients. Our partnership highlights a shared commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. Piercemed piercing aftercare is trusted by many of the top piercing studios throughout the UK, with a global rollout coming soon, underscoring our dedication to safety and reliability.

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Tell us more about the specific qualities that make Piercemed the perfect choice...

A lot of our clients are new to body piercing, so they aren’t always aware of the importance of aftercare when it comes to healing.

Being able to give them a product that is safe, reliable and easy to use is so important to us. We also have a lot of clients who visit us from overseas. The fact that Piercemed isn’t an aerosol is brilliant, and they can take it in their hand luggage on their flight home without any issues.

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What role does piercing aftercare play in the success of the business?

We pride ourselves on the quality of our jewellery, the experience of our piercers and the elevated luxury environment we offer customers. Fantastic aftercare is part of the high level of service that we give our clients – this is in the written and spoken advice our piercers give every client and in the aftercare product we offer.

How is Piercemed helping you to achieve these high standards?

Piercemed feels and looks like a luxury product. From the sleek design of the packaging to the ease of use, it’s important for us to offer our clients the best on the market and we believe Piercemed is just that.

for growth

Conditions

Jess Sellars looks at the ways in which our external environment can impact on our wellbeing

Over the course of this article series so far, we’ve established that there is a mind-body connection, and we’ve started to go to bed earlier, drink less coffee and be mindful of what we eat. Now what?

Above Jess SELLARS

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I also think it’s important to create a work environment that suits you. I am currently studying human design, and I won’t go too much into it, but it has an environmental factor to it. Human design environment is all about the space that your body resonates best with.

Everyone is different: some people thrive in busy environments, while others need a slower pace.

For example, I need a lot of stillness and quiet time, but at my old studio it was very high volume, with lots of people working there and so many different energies in one small space.

This was very overwhelming for me, which really dysregulated my nervous system.

I’m not saying that you should all go for a human-design reading, but it’s worth tuning in to when you feel most stressed, when you feel most calm, who is around at those times and what kind of physical space you’re in.

I also think it’s totally fine to adjust your environment when you really need to. Last year I was going through some big changes and healing; I was really stressed and overwhelmed, and my ADHD symptoms were particularly intense. At this time, I noticed that I needed more space, so I changed my days to booking-only.

Wellbeing

Next, I want to talk about other factors that affect our wellbeing, starting with our external environment. Your diet is not just what you eat; it’s what you watch, listen to and read, and it’s the people you hang around with.

For the first half of my career, I was consumed by hustle culture. My feed was full of ‘boss babes’ grinding every day and never resting. So, I was telling my nervous system that this is what we should be doing. I would also look at other piercers and compare myself to them, and my work to theirs, at every moment – how many followers they had, how busy I perceived them to be, the jewellery they were using and so on. Again, this was signalling to my nervous system: ‘not good enough, need to be doing more’.

What is your feed full of? How do you feel after you’ve opened social media? Is all the content you’re consuming piercing related? How is that affecting your brain?

which it grows, not the flower.”

you fix the environment in

“When a flower doesn’t bloom,

Alexander Den Heijer

This meant I could manage the number of people in my day and give myself extra time if I needed it. Now that I’m in a good place, I have opened the studio up for walk-ins again.

How can you make your environment work for you? Try small changes first, and if nothing feels different, maybe it’s time to change the environment.

“When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”

– Alexander Den Heijer Next up is taking stock of the people around you. If you’re surrounded by negativity then it will adversely affect your mental health, your nervous system and your body. You should be surrounded by people who see your value and make you feel good!

Up until very recently I was a massive people pleaser; I had done so much work on boundaries with clients etc, but the last piece of the puzzle was the hardest. I realised that my people-pleasing translated into my relationships too. It was time to look at those relationships and whether or not they were going to stay in my life. I made a big, scary decision: to part ways with some of my friends. But it was necessary for my mental health.

How did I know this needed to happen?

I would feel drained when I was around them, I would feel like I had to make extra effort, I would become irritable around them, my body would clam up – I couldn’t make eye contact, or sometimes even speak. My body was having a very real, physical reaction to them. Why? Because the body and mind are connected.

Don’t be scared to reconsider the people around you. Do you leave your interactions feeling full, positive and nourished? Or do you always feel drained, demoralised and pessimistic? Do your friends and colleagues hype you up and make you feel supported?

Or do you always feel like you’re trying to prove yourself and your worth?

Your body is trying to tell you what’s good for it – and what isn’t. Listen to it. @jessicat_piercing @_lunarising

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Preview

Becky Crossan, UKAPP Public Outreach/Vice President, looks ahead to a particularly exciting edition of the UKAPP Conference for 2024

As we move closer to the UKAPP 2024 conference, we’re super excited to reveal some of what we have in store! This year, the conference is moving to a brandnew venue in a brand-new city!

It will be taking place from 15 to 17 September 2024 at the Albert Hall in Nottingham, UK. This amazing new space is a dedicated conference venue, allowing our event to take over the whole building, with a range of classrooms and chill-out spaces and a show-stopping vendor area in the Great Hall.

As our event has grown, we’ve had a lot of attendee feedback about wanting to return to the sense of community that the early, smaller events had. Having the whole venue will really allow folks to interact more outside of classes, whilst still enabling us to grow and bring in more attendees. Not only that, but Nottingham is a super alternative-friendly city with lots of places to stay near the venue, for a range of budgets.

As with previous years, the conference programme will boast a selection of classes to suit every experience level, with returning speakers who have been popular at previous events, as well as some new speakers to help cultivate new talent.

About the UKAPP The UK Association of Professional Piercers (UKAPP) is a not-for-profit health and safety organisation dedicated to spreading knowledge of safe piercing practices and up-to-date information for industry professionals and the general public.

The UKAPP has a list of criteria that industry professionals are required to meet in order to become a member of the organisation.

This includes environmental criteria, jewellery standards, and health and safety criteria such as being trained in first aid and blood-borne pathogens.

The UKAPP also holds an annual educational conference.

For more information, visit ukapp.org.uk

There will be a range of piercing technique classes. One particular highlight will be Brian Skellie’s renowned ‘Needles: the cutting edge’, which is a fantastic deep dive into bevel theory (pool noodles at the ready!). We will also have technique classes focused on specific piercing placements, including helix, navel, eyebrow, tongue, VCH, PA, bridge and surface, as well as a session on children’s ear piercing. On top of that, we have Ryan Ouellette and Lola Slider presenting their open techniques workshop to show different ways that piercings can be marked and braced.

For folks looking to take their freehand techniques up a notch, we will have classes on using fewer tools, as well as Daniel Harrington’s brand-new class exploring piercing from back to front.

For those who love their piercing history, we will have a number of history-based classes, including some from Paul King. We are particularly looking forward to his new class about UK piercing pioneers Ethel and William Granger (turn to page 46 to whet your appetite!). Plus, we will have J’son D’souza presenting his highly acclaimed ‘History of body modification in the Indian subcontinent’ class, and some

we will have a dedicated photographer! John Balk photographs the APP Conference in Vegas and will be attending UKAPP this year to document the event. He will also be presenting a photography class – we can’t wait to learn about product photography from a professional photographer!

This is of course by no means an exhaustive list of everything taking place, but we hope it gives you a snapshot of some of what we have in store. For more updates, follow us on social media where announcements are made several times per week! @safepiercing_uk

Don’t miss out!

Tickets for the 2024 conference are available at ukapp.org.uk/shop Please note that this event is for piercers, apprentices and other industry professionals only.

Preview

Middle IMAGE by Adam Holmes

“WE HOPE THIS GIVES YOU A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF WHAT WE HAVE IN STORE”

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other exciting history and cultural explorations too!

We are also excited to welcome Rob Hill to our event for the first time. He will be teaching a range of classes including ‘Scratching the surface’, which is a deep dive into jewellery surface finish. Not only that, but we’ll be welcoming back Jef Saunders, who’ll be teaching the helix and navel classes mentioned above, as well as a class about piercing aftercare.

If you follow Jef’s blog, you’ll know he has some great and thoroughly researched ideas on how to take care of fresh piercings, which we’re very much looking forward to hearing.

We have an enormous variety of vendors, including: BVLA, Buddha Jewelry, LeRoi Fine Jewelry, People’s Jewelry, Industrial Strength UK, NeoMetal, Canasteel, Anatometal UK, Stiletto UK, and many, many more! We also have some smaller companies in attendance, including Danila Tarcinale, Hawn Handmade, Fenestra Fine Jewellery, Queen of the Ashes and Local Natives.

In addition to all of these exciting announcements, we’re super pleased to announce that for the first time at the UKAPP event, we will have a live Piercing Wizard Podcast episode! And what’s more,

M e e t H m a k e r s Working with beautiful jewellery is surely one of the biggest perks of being a piercer or front-of-house – and these four uber-talented piercing professionals have taken their knowledge and passion to the next level, honing the skills required to bring their own jewellery designs to life

Hazel Jane

@fenestrafinejewellery

Sharp thinking

two are the same. I’d say one of my biggest inspirations is probably High Noon Handmade, who initially put me onto this method and has been so supportive of me in this process.

I plan to keep experimenting with this technique.

The materials I currently work with are 14- and 18-carat recycled gold and second-hand gemstones.

In addition, I have my own batch of alloyed Scottish gold, which I’ve sourced from a trusted panner. I’m really big on using what’s already out there, and I think that comes from my drive to always make use of what I’ve got, even if it’s limited.

I very seldom take on custom work these days, as I like the ability to maintain my creative freedom and give myself time to perfect things. But you should all stay tuned, as I’ve been working towards something very exciting this year, which will be available to professional piercers.

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My first foray into jewellery making was piercing chains. These had really burst onto the scene, but at that time (2021) you couldn’t really access them easily, or the sizes weren’t specific. After a couple of months, I decided to shadow a friend’s mum at her workshop to see if I’d gel with the other complex parts of making jewellery; that’s where I made my first threadless end two years ago and I immediately wanted to create more.

I took the gamble back in June 2022 by getting my own rented bench at a community jewellery workshop and learnt everything I now know on my own. I melted a lot of stuff in those first few months!

Quite recently, I decided to start experimenting with an open-mould casting technique. It allows me just the right level of control, whilst making totally unique pieces – no

Opening IMAGE and left: Lou McCurdy

Piercer at Botanical Piercer/Sanctuary Body Art, Edinburgh

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Abbi Wolfhard Piercer at LNO Piercing, Cheltenham I’ve been a jewellery designer and maker for around five years now, producing heavy silver rings and pendants. I took a year-long level 3 diploma in jewellery design and silversmithing at VS Jewellery School in London to gain the basic skills needed to then carry on learning things on my own. Partway through my course, I decided to go into making body jewellery.

I figured it would be awesome to become a body piercer as well (best decision of my life). This led me into getting my apprenticeship at LNO Piercing. I have been piercing for three years now. It’s helped me understand what is needed to create

luxury body jewellery, as well as giving me an income to fund my gemstone-buying addiction!

My main jewellery business, Wolfhard Silver, which focuses on heavy, silver adornments and wax-carving workshops, started at the beginning of the pandemic. Lockdown provided time to improve on my wax-carving skills – a technique I use for the majority of my work. I love that wax gives me the freedom to make interesting, one-off designs whilst keeping an organic, handmade vibe.

I take a lot of inspiration from history, nature and macabre themes – from mossy gravestones to coral under the sea, and from the insides of the body to historic statues and buildings.

My jewellery design process is fluid, creating something that is inspired and is different to what all the big brands offer.

The first Wolfhard Jewellery collection, Primus, is being released slowly and sold exclusively at LNO. Future collections will be available through a website, to clients initially, with some pieces available to a few piercing professionals down the line.

I am excited to grow as a jeweller and body piercer, creating and piercing with jewellery made by my own hands. @wolfhardjewellery

Rachel Peppiette

My journey began a little after my battle with cancer – as clichéd as it may sound, facing your own mortality has its way of changing you, your priorities and aspirations.

Although I loved where I was in my professional career, I’d spent a great deal of my life working in hands-on roles and I missed holding space for my creativity to flourish.

The inspiration and drive behind Hawn Handmade solidified after a wee dinner with Artyr Tyrkerson, a local jeweller turned mentor and chum, who helped me to find a little bench space to call my own. Then, in July of 2023, I dropped the remainder of my savings on tools and gold – Hawn Handmade had landed!

It didn’t take long for my style to show itself, working with 14- and 18-carat gold and drawing inspiration

IMAGE: Poppy Moon

Studio manager and jewellery specialist at Bold and Gold Piercing Art, Edinburgh

from the Brutalism movement, Art Deco and the organic nature of each stone that passes my bench.

Focusing on building each piece around the gemstone it features, I’ve been able to have fun working with mainly raw gemstones and unique cuts, with each finished piece screaming of its own individuality.

Although I’ve always got a selection of rings, charms and chains on the go, it’s the 14g threaded attachments that spark the most joy in both me and my client base.

I’ve been so blessed with the opportunities I’ve been presented with – vending for the first time at the Wee Scottish Piercing Expo and having my pieces find homes across the world.

The sky’s the limit, but if I can make it through all the global conferences and up to Vegas, that’d be just as good!

Currently my website and order requests are closed while I build stock for UKAPP 2024, although my little tinkering journey can still be seen over on Instagram. @hawnhandmade

Sharp thinking 40

Josh Hawkins Piercer at Degenerate Art Tattoo Studios, Rugeley I began making jewellery properly towards the end of 2023. Prior to this, before I was piercing, I had attended a short course at Birmingham School of Jewellery, which covered the very basics of wax modelling for jewellery – something I quickly realised was not for me!

The reason I started making jewellery was because I wanted some conch plugs that would fit my anatomy perfectly, so I ordered the stones I wanted, made a few practice pieces in silver that were turned into cufflinks and gifted for Christmas, and once I felt confident that I had watched enough YouTube tutorials I moved on to making my gold conch plugs.

I quickly found that making jewellery was something I really enjoyed, and it helped me to unwind – which as piercers we know we all need to prioritise more.

As clients saw my conch plugs and other gold pieces I’d made, I started getting a few requests to make custom jewellery here and there, which is always something I enjoy.

I exclusively work with 14- and 18-carat gold for body jewellery, but I’m more than happy to take traditional jewellery commissions in silver too. I found as I made more, I was gravitating towards large pieces with stones and beaded accents, but I knew in the back of my mind that this was not a style I’d be working with forever. I’m currently focusing more on stone clusters with prongs (think trinities and flowers etc); I have a range of prototypes I’m currently working on in silver and CZs, ready to start making with gold and gemstones.

I tend to keep my jewellery available solely in my own studio or direct to clients who reach out online; I don’t feel that I could keep up with the volume required to sell wholesale based on the way I currently make pieces. That being said, a goal of mine for the next 12 months is to add to my workshop with a full casting setup, which will allow rapid prototyping and larger-scale production of original pieces and mean that small-batch wholesale could be on the horizon in the not-too-distant future.

We’ll see! @piercedbyjosh

Over to you

We’re on the lookout for piercing professionals with super interesting or unusual side hustles or volunteer work.

Email editor@the-sharp-end.co.uk

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ABOVE: Anatomy of the septum right: the finished result of a beautifully executed freehand septum piercing by nicole.

Tech advice

The septum piercing is positioned in a soft tissue area commonly referred to as the ‘sweet spot’. This area is located between two cartilage structures: one that comes down from the nose bone and the other that consists of two plates below the piercing site.

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Boasting 26 years of experience, next up we have none other than UKAPP founder Nicole Holmes of Blue Lotus in Newcastle, who explains her freehand septum piercing technique

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To check the client anatomy for piercing suitability, I look for two things between these structures. Firstly, I look for the thinnest and most parallel soft tissue area. Secondly, I check if the footing plates of cartilage will push against the jewellery when in a relaxed position.

If I can meet all the requirements, I will proceed with the septum piercing freehand. There are different techniques to perform a septum piercing, such as clamped/braced, with a receiving tube or freehand. However, here I will only discuss my technique for the latter.

As the piercing site is not always visible, I perform this check by hand. I gently and evenly massage and pull the tissue with my two index fingers. I envision a site that has two flat sides meeting each other in a parallel plane. I also find a spot that doesn’t move too much and retains its position as I manipulate the tissue. Lastly, I ensure that the fluid and movable foot plates of the lower septal cartilage do not fold over the piercing position.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to take you through the process…

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1. With the person receiving the piercing sitting in front of me, I hold the lowest area of their septum gently but firmly enough to ensure the piercing passage will not push the tissue from my grasp.

2. I hold the area I’ve designated to pierce taut to make the piercing as swift and smooth as possible without changing the trajectory.

3. The needle bezel will be pointing downward, towards the lips and chin. First, I visually align the X axis (side to side, or across the plane of their face), and then the Y axis (up and down) by ensuring I hold the needle in a way that keeps the bezel parallel to the floor. Finally, I align the Z axis (back and forth) by looking from beneath the client.

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4. After I am satisfied with the alignment, I will use a breathing technique to pierce. As the needle exits the skin, I will angle the needle further to avoid causing damage to the exit-side nostril tissue.

5. I will have my jewellery loaded into the needle, which allows me to complete the entire process, including jewellery insertion, in a very short time. This means the sharp object can be disposed of instantly and only the closure of the piece remains.

6. Overall, this is my personal favourite technique to perform a septum piercing as I feel I have the most visibility and control over the tissue and, therefore, the final outcome, as pictured here! @bluelotuspiercing

Meet the expert

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Nicole Holmes began piercing in 1998, first in a coastal town in the north of England and then across several locations in Europe and the UK, including the European distribution of Wildcat body jewellery.

In 2009, she and her partner Adam opened Blue Lotus piercing studio in Newcastle, UK, and together they are UK distribution for

Anatometal jewellery.

Nicole is also the founder of the UKAPP, which she formed in 2015 by harnessing the momentum of a Facebook group (‘UK Piercer Meet-up’ – now called ‘UK Piercing Professionals’) that she had created earlier that same year as an open learning forum where piercers could connect and share experiences.

The

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Archive

Images courtesy of the Body Piercing Archive

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Ethel and William Granger were arguably the most important body modification couple of the 20th century. The totality of who they were as individuals and as a couple, their shared tenacity encompassing a lifetime committed to a fetish aesthetic, and their detailed chronicles and photographs, as well as the time and place in which these mavericks pursued their astonishing body modifications, solidify their uniqueness

Grangers

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Paul King tells the fascinating story of the UK’s pioneering body mod couple, Ethel and William Granger, which was the theme of a Body Piercing Archive exhibition at the recent APP Conference

and historical significance.

William’s fetish origins began in Cambridge, UK, rooted in his earliest memories of his mother’s beautiful and corseted friends and his father’s shoe store with its elegant high-heeled and booted ladies. Born in 1904, William began crossdressing at around 12 years of age by squirrelling away his mother’s old corsets and borrowing shoes from his father’s shop. In his early teens, he would pierce his ears at night and sleep in them, only to take them out every morning. This process was repeated over and over.

It would be problematic to make overreaching assertions about his motivations for cross-

2. william performed multiple piercings on ethel (although the cheek jewellery here is glued on) 3. A young ethel, at the start of her journey 4. london life cover, 19 january 1935

From the beginning, William encouraged Ethel to multi-pierce her ears, corset her waist, grow her hair and wear high heels. From William’s writings, we learn that Ethel’s participation in the modification of her body for his pleasure seemed sometimes reluctant, sometimes enthusiastic, and at other times resigned.

Two months after Ethel became pregnant, they were married in the registry office. Their only child, Wilhelmina, was born in 1930. Soon after childbirth, Ethel took up corseting and piercing in earnest again. William cited his low teacher’s salary and World War II rations as major hurdles to their progress, yet what they managed to accomplish was astonishing! There were other significant limitations to both of

their transformations: William’s tight-lacing was greatly hindered by a hiatus hernia, while Ethel’s facial piercings were restricted by the necessity for public concealment.

They lived their entire lives in conservative East Anglia, England. After more than 20 years of hiding their secret practices of tight-lacing and piercing, the changing small-waisted Dior fashions of the early 1950s permitted them the social wiggle room to start to ‘come out of the closet’. England was finally recovering from the shortages of wartime rationing, and the ‘New Look’ with belted-waist dresses allowed Ethel to show off her form, while the chicness of veiled hats permitted her to ease into public piercing display with discretion.

In 1926, William had seen a friend’s copy of London Life magazine, and it was the first time he’d realised there were large numbers of others with fetishes – but it wasn’t until 1955 that he had the _04

Archive

1. E thel granger demonstrating her nasalang

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dressing in relation to today’s understandings of gender identity. But we can safely state, given his own accounts, that these practices were very erotically charged.

William’s first sexual partner, Mary, shared his secret pleasures of piercings, corsets and heels. Sixteen years older than William and a friend of his mother’s, Mary possessed the tightly cinched waist that was no longer in vogue with the younger generation of the 1920s. While spanning several years, their love affair was long-distance and sporadic. It was during one of the lonely times in between visits that William began casually courting Ethel.

The day came when Ethel’s feelings demanded an ultimatum: “It’s Mary or me”. In great detail, William explained his many attractions and fetishes, none of which he was willing to give up.

If Ethel really wanted him, she would have to acquiesce to William’s desires, and she did just that for the next 44 years.

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courage to contribute. He remained a lifelong follower of the publication, even through its decline in quality, size and fetish content during the war years and until its final demise in 1960. Through fringe publications such as London Life and the small worldwide network of corsetieres, the Grangers developed their earliest relationships with other important piercing pioneers such as Roland Loomis (aka Fakir Musafar) and Cyril Wilkinson, the Queen of England’s ear piercer.

It is important to stress that William always experimented on himself before trying any process on Ethel. He researched and developed techniques and documented

complications and healing times. Back at the age of 13, he had progressed from piercing his ears to piercing his foreskin. In 1936, he had modified a hypodermic needle by flattening the back of the bevel, which created an easier and less painful piercing procedure, but he found the initial wound bled more.

He created several styles of piercing devices and experimented with various methods and materials for piercing enlargement. He also fabricated most of Ethel’s elaborate jewellery and the flesh-toned piercing retainers designed to maintain the size and health of the piercings while concealing them

from public view.

He researched and experimented to find biocompatible materials beyond gold, such as new forms of plastics. And, perhaps most importantly, he shared this knowledge with Roland Loomis.

Being avid hobbyists, the Grangers belonged to many clubs and passionately pursued projects, from beekeeping to rifle shooting. In 1956, from his home-built backyard observatory, William became the first person to photograph the Arend-Roland and Mrkos comets, gaining him media attention.

Then, in 1967, Ethel’s 13-inch waist was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as being the smallest in the world. This public accolade catapulted them briefly into the international limelight, broadcasting their interests in tight-lacing and also piercing. The newspaper articles connected them with fans at home and abroad.

William died in 1974 at age 70, whilst Ethel passed away eight years later in 1982, at the age of 76. We know from correspondence in the Jim

5. E thel in black nylon dress, white leather belt and black suede gloves 6. v ogue italia, september 2011, with cover shot inspired by ethel granger

@bodypiercingarchive bodypiercingarchive.org

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following year, in Body Art magazine, Ted Polhemus wrote a nuanced piece about the complexities of navigating a romantic relationship when partners have discordant levels of desire for particular fetishes (1991, n.13, p.39).

He astutely utilised the Grangers as a model case.

In 2011, Vogue Italia published Steven Meisel’s groundbreaking photo essay in homage to the aesthetic of Ethel Granger.

They hired Sjef Dirks, a Dutch corsetier and expert on the Grangers, as a consultant. The issue’s cover, with Stella Tennant’s waist allegedly cinched to 13 inches, made international news.

Later, it was discovered that the photos had been digitally altered, but they had already fuelled the public’s curiosity for tight-lacing and Ethel Granger.

Tragically, the Grangers’ daughter, Wilhelmina, became a recluse in her later years, dying alone and in squalor in 2001 at the family home. At the discovery of her death the city of Peterborough condemned the property and destroyed the entire material estate, including all the publications, personal correspondence, films and photographs.

As a gentle reminder, relationships are always complicated. Trying to untangle a complex emotional and sexual

dynamic between two people from another place and time, told entirely from one partner’s point of view, makes finding a definitive ‘truth’ elusive. Perhaps the best we can do is attempt to remain aware of our bias, which is inextricably rooted in the norms and understandings of our own time.

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Ward/Gauntlet archive that in her final years without William, she seemed lonely and in poor health.

Although both were gone and unable to appreciate their continuing impact, the ripples of their legacy grew.

In 1989, the seminal book Modern Primitives was released. Fakir Musafar discussed the couple’s historic impact on corseting and body piercing. The book inspired a generation of young alternative folks to experiment with body modification including piercing, tattooing and corseting.

The only known interview with the Grangers’ daughter, Wilhelmina, appeared in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association (1990, v.100, n.5, p.214-217). The article, authored by Rossie Atwell, summarised the Grangers’ civic lives, with their staggering level of participation in local clubs and charity events. The

This article is largely an excerpt from the upcoming 2024 book, Shaping Desire: Ethel and William Granger’s Astonishing Tale of Corseting and Piercing.

The hardcover book is a limited edition of 500 numbered and signed by the author, Paul King.

The book is a companion to the June 2024 APP Conference Las Vegas exhibit, The Incomparable Grangers: an Exhibition of the UK’s Pioneering Body Mod Couple. Both the book and the exhibit were generously sponsored by the Association of Professional Piercers.

End-note inspo

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I’ve been piercing for about eight years, sparked by the rebellious spirit of the 90s punk scene and The Offspring’s Gotta Get Away music video. My journey began when, as a teenager, I found myself losing my passion for kitchen work and sought a new path more closely aligned with my creative interests. While living in Camden, London, I met Yann Brenyak, a significant influencer who rekindled my passion – this time for piercings – and introduced me to the broader aspects of the craft, including body suspension.

Inspired to fully embrace this new calling, I enrolled on a piercing course in 2016, but quickly realised that five days were not enough to master everything. My breakthrough came at The Great British Tattoo Show, where I took a genital class led by Sean Dowdell. That experience was transformative, opening doors to meet prominent figures in the industry, including the UKAPP board.

I dedicated myself to gaining hands-on experience in studios, often working for free, and this hard work culminated in my attendance at the UKAPP Conference, participation in Youmodify Milan, and an invitation to work at the London Piercing Clinic, thanks to Dainis (Dee) Zeimats and Claudio Liberotti.

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I love my job because it gives me the opportunity to unleash my creativity and help people express themselves through body art. Each session is a collaborative journey, and witnessing the positive impact on someone’s confidence and self-expression is incredibly rewarding.

The constant evolution and innovation within the industry inspire me to push the boundaries of my craft. Attending conventions, meeting industry leaders and forging lasting friendships make me feel grateful and fulfilled, underscoring the immense value of being part of such a vibrant and supportive community.

So, one of the things I’m most proud of is transitioning from a chef to a piercer in London. This shift allowed me to follow my true passion.

I’m grateful for the trust and loyalty of my clients, whose continual support validates my skills and deepens the personal connections that enrich my journey. Starting from scratch in a new city taught me resilience and adaptability, driving my commitment to excellence and innovation in piercing.

My advice for staying strong during tough times is to maintain a positive mindset and focus on what’s within our control.

Setting realistic goals, practising self-care and seeking support from loved ones are crucial.

Finding joy in small victories and remaining adaptable to change can significantly increase our resilience and optimism amidst adversity. @db_piercing

Piercer Davide Bassi spurs us all on to stay positive, focused and dedicated to our art, as he shares the story of his career so far

14K Yellow Gold Collection by BVLA Featuring - Septum: P e t i t e P e n n y / N o s t r i l s : S e a m R i n g & I n f i n i t y

MAKE A STATEMENT! Himalia / Tragus: Achilles / High Lobe: Illusion – Ramon Carrion - Piercer & Studio Owner - Puerto Rico

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Telesto / High Nostrils: Mini Compass & Suzanne Chain / Philtrum: Tiny Nanda / Labrets: Cab Crown / Helix: