Corset Piercing Trend Bizarre, Also Not New

Warning: GET READY for some GRAPHIC PICS.

Making tattoos look positively tame, an absurd, grotesque body-modifying procedure is apparently all the rage.

On Thursday, the Daily Mail has introduced the masses to corset piercing, a fad that involves piercing multiple metal loops into the skin and threading zig-zagged ribbon through them like a corset.

Unsurprisingly, the doctors quoted by the Mail warn against threading a hook through your skin and then tugging on it really hard. "'Any piercing, superficial or otherwise, produces a scar and different people scar in different ways," said consultant plastic surgeon Kevin Hancock, a council member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. He cautioned that "for some, the scarring may be slight but for others it can produce problems where the tissue overgrows and you end up with a red lump which is permanent." In a word: yikes.

The trade-off for scars is temporary body decoration. "It only lasts for three to four weeks and after that it will just grow out," said one piercing artist in England, who admitted, "It does leave a few red scars."

But it's totally worth it for people who want to make a painfully dramatic style statement. Noted the piercing artist, "We get a lot of different people asking to have it done -- one was a 45-year-old mum who wanted it done for a tattoo convention... Others have it done because they want to look nice for a particular occasion."

The reality is that this counterculture trend has been around for years, at least since the late 1990s. So thank you, Daily Mail, for heightening our awareness about a trend that's super gross and also super old. We'll keep this one in mind for our next "particular occasion" -- Mother's Day, perhaps?

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What do you think of corset piercing?

COOL! A bold way to stand out from the crowd.

HORRENDOUS! This makes me shudder.

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Read the rest at DailyMail.co.uk.

Comments

[william95]

06:42 AM on 05/11/2011

This stuff worked well when punk bands were hot and you could get work in video/record stores. Problem is that video/record stores are disappearing. So unless you're planning on working in a tattoo/piercing palour this look might not work for you. "Gee mom/dad nobody wants to hire me. Can I borrow $100.

[MarcEdward]

08:17 AM on 05/09/2011

This sort of thing is for people who want to appear interesting without taking the trouble of having a personality. This won't look so hot when their 40 and have had a couple of kids.

[AngelEyes917]

11:25 AM on 05/09/2011

Did you even read the article? It clearly says it only lasts a couple weeks. Don't get me wrong, it's not for me personally but I think that trying to assume that a person is doing something like that to "appear interesting" is pretty shallow. I don't really do piercings but I have a fair amount of tattoos and they're for no one but myself. Its not to be considered interesting to other people.

[MarcEdward]

11:45 AM on 05/09/2011

Oh - no I must admit I shot my mouth off without reading the article. I guess sometimes a picture might say a thousand words, but all of them are wrong. My apologies.

[deweydecimal]

08:13 PM on 05/08/2011

Not a fan.

[DinSea]

05:57 PM on 05/08/2011

I prefer the art of illusion ...
it's so much cooler to say ... "Let's not but make it look like we did".

[RobinRuin]

11:08 PM on 05/07/2011

I work as a professional body piercer and if HuffPo or the Guardian had done 5 minutes more research on this OLD piercing, they would have found that corset piercings can last as long as you want them to, due to advances in surface piercings and microdermals. Rings should NEVER be used as jewelry in a surface piercing because they will grow out and they will leave wicked scars that our industry has figured out how to avoid. Now, because no one bothered to research, there will be trenders and piercers looking to make a quick buck that will bring back this outdated, painful, and scarring procedure. Thanks.

[WoodsideCraig]

10:59 PM on 05/08/2011

I hope you help someone with this post.

[Hedagui]

03:17 PM on 05/09/2011

As usual HuffPo is late on the facts.

[Progress08]

05:10 PM on 05/07/2011

What did your dad do to you?

[thinkmore1]

04:52 PM on 05/07/2011

Totally alien to me..but live and let live I say.

[wishmehere]

02:09 PM on 05/07/2011

You could never wear a bra again... ouch.

[pcplz]

02:03 PM on 05/07/2011

Fine but when she's 80.........

[Debbie338]

04:37 PM on 05/08/2011

She's going to be old and wrinkled at 80 whether she's pierced or not. Why should it matter?

What I see, though, is a woman who never does any kind of sports or go to the gym. How could you, with all that? So, I don't think she's going to look very good as soon as gravity hits her.

[mushimom]

05:16 PM on 05/09/2011

F&F!!! .....LOL!! I have eight tatts, tastefully done and not huge across arms, chest or butt...they could be hidden when I go to work, yet many people told me, when u get old they are going to droop and look aweful...Hey, I got news for u!!....I am going to be old and wrinkled with groovey tatts that mean something to me anyway...If I can remember when i got them and what they stood for!!!...

[silverwing]

09:26 AM on 05/07/2011

This isn't even remotely new; it's been around for years. Get with the times, HP.

[MmeRosebud]

09:43 PM on 05/06/2011

As someone who holds a serious 9-5 job but has tattoos and at one point in my life 17 body piercings I can say it never hindered my job or my ability to connect in quality interface with people who were obviously not inclined to express themselves in that same way. I have however experienced strangers letting me know in blunt ways that they don't approve. Which is wrong. I actually find flip flops and sweat pants offensive (they make me angry) especially when they are worn in place that is totally out of line. Like to a Broadway show. Where did class go? I may have a ring in my nose and stud in my lip- but I'm in my best heels and skirt with a fine string of pearls! What it comes down to is: unless what someone is doing to themselves is actually going to put you in danger keep your mouth shut. I do. Flesh hook suspension and corset piercings are private things people do for themselves (sometimes they choose to share the transformation). They are part of that persons journey. I recently sought out getting both my arms pierced from wrist to shoulder with needles that were attached to feathers for an art installation: it didn't hurt because it was something I wanted to do for that artist. I was honored. And once the needles were removed: 4 days later with proper care NO scars. -lets just not be idiots to one another.

[Rachelvis]

02:54 PM on 05/12/2011

Feathers? you turned yourself into a bird? Not being facetious...
okay, maybe I am.
good luck on your journey.

[rubygreen]

08:05 PM on 05/06/2011

I don't get it - what's the point?

[contradiction]

07:34 PM on 05/06/2011

Ok... it's a bit different and if done well, sort of appealing. But... no thank you.

[johnnygoodwud]

04:11 PM on 05/06/2011

i was invited to a very l private club here in chitown, and saw a woman have 4 large hooks put in her back, rope strung through and actually lifted off the ground supported by just the four hooks. i don't cringe very easily, but i did seeing that.

[contradiction]

07:45 PM on 05/06/2011

Reading that made my uterus flinch.

[greenwren]

07:51 PM on 05/08/2011

omg, what kind of club WAS this??

[johnnygoodwud]

12:09 PM on 05/09/2011

BDSM, not my style, but interesting and glad i went.

[The Revolving Diet]

02:07 PM on 05/06/2011

Looks pretty cool, very different....but I wouldn't do it. I'll stick to ears only.

[contradiction]

07:45 PM on 05/06/2011

I'd do it if I could just use ribbon and glue.

[Just a passerby]

07:30 AM on 05/07/2011

You probably could, if the hooks were replaced with something that had a ring and a flat bottom with some surface area for the glue.

Thing is, when you're done you'll have to peel the rings off or use acetone. Your skin will be irritated.