Septum Piercings: A Trend Exploration

Growing up in a rural, conservative Texas town, the mere mention of a septum piercing (the small bit of cartilage between the nostrils) immediately conjured up images of offbeat rocker Marilyn Manson or…well, a bull. Even when I decided to rage against the machine at the ripe age of 14 and get my eyebrow pierced under the cover of darkness, I still thought that decision was far less outrageous than a full-fledged septum ring. Besides, back then Fergie had her eyebrow pierced and, to 14-year-old me, that was the most badass thing possibly of all time. But now the tables have turned and the fashion world has unceremoniously ushered in a newer more ‘hip’ version of the septum piercing.

A far cry from the large, unsightly steel barbells of the mid to late 90’s, today’s septum rings appeal to a much different audience than they ever have before. Gunge rockers and gothic Mohawk sporting rebels were historically the types of people we were used to seeing with such body manipulations, but now small, dainty septum piercings are appearing on the faces of young, thin, beautiful women all across the Tumblr-sphere.

Although septum piercing is in no way a ‘new’ thing (in many ancient tribes warriors pierced their septum with animal bones, teeth, or tusk as a sign of power and ferocity), the types of people we now seeing with them are decidedly new. The recent trend has become especially prevalent in young women just within the past three years or so. The piercing’s popularity can be defined in today’s terms as ‘just edgy enough’, all but replacing the belly button, nostril, or even second earlobe as the piercing of choice for girls who want to seem alternative, but not too alternative.

The septum piercings of today are normally small and underplayed, and can therefore appeal to a much wider range of women than they did previously. For example, in the 80’s and 90’s when punk rock and gothic became prevalent as a fashion subculture, but the images associated with the subculture appealed only to a niche audience. Women and men who saw themselves as part of that subculture had a very distinctive look, and the fashion styles, to say the least, weren’t for everyone. Septum piercings from just a couple decades ago were more likely to conjure images of people like this:

Or this:

Or sometimes even this:

There’s nothing wrong with 90’s punk metal emo gothic or whatever you might call that. Personal opinions aside, I think we can all agree that at first glance these styles are surprising. Before this recent trend of women in high fashion adorning themselves with dainty septum chains, the older assumptions of what types of people actually pierced their septum was much narrower. The piercing used to be associated with a certain brand of person—well, not anymore.

Facial piercings in general had a definite stigma attached to them well into the 21^st century and through the early 2000’s. It’s nearly impossible to determine when exactly this new, trendy, acceptable and ‘cute’ septum piercing came to be, but I do think it’s safe to say that the septum is to 2013-2015 as the belly button piercing was to the early 2000’s. The septum has become mainstreamed. By which I mean cute, predominantly straight edge girls, who just 5 or more years prior would never have dreamed of piercing the cartilage in their nose, have adopted the trend and are currently running with it.

Sarah Cunningham, a 22-year-old college student from Utah, pierced her septum back in 2012, just before the trend exploded in popularity.

“I loved my septum piercing; it became a part of me that I really connected to” said Cunningham, “I had a fair amount of haters, but I loved it.”

While her friends all gushed over the chicness and simplicity of her new piercing, not everyone appreciated it. Her grandmother (who she lived with at the time) berated her endlessly, claiming the small ring made her look like a pig and that she wouldn’t help Sarah pay off her new car unless she took it out. After months of dealing with her grandmothers relentless lectures Sarah decided her shiny new jewelry wasn’t worth her grandmother’s disapproval and took the little ring out. But even though she now has the option to have it re-pierced, she expresses her dissatisfaction with the jewelry’s’ newfound popularity amongst the young and trendy.

“Now [septum piercings] are a pretty common and trendy thing, which is unfortunate because they used to be such a unique thing to me. Now the septum piercing is attached to a style, a style that isn’t really me. So if I were to get it again I would feel like people thought I was trying to go for some serious trendy look and only making it half way. That’s not what I want. It’s crazy how fashion and society can take something as simple as a piercing and transform it into such a huge personal statement.”

Sarah is just one of the many women I’ve known from my time in college who have jumped aboard the bandwagon and gotten their septum done—most of the time it does look pretty cute. Still, you know something has truly hit its pinnacle of mainstreamity when glamorous A-listers sign on too. Take, for example, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga:

Johansson

Beil

Her majesty Rihanna

Lady Gaga

While these celebs gave into the hype of trend pressure, they weren’t the ones guiding this fad train. Images of dainty, ornate septum piercings began appearing on the young faces of up and coming models and musicians such as Cailin Russo and FKA Twigs. Victoria’s Secret model Candice Swanepoel even dawned a faux septum ring for her Russian Vogue spread in August 2013.

The ever-perfect Cailin Russo with septum jewelry on her Instagram

British singer/songwriter FKA Twigs

Candice Swanepoel in Russian Vogue 2013

The septum piercing’s newfound appeal, however, comes from its unspoken exclusivity—not just anyone can pull it off. While plenty of people, as they always do, have tried and will continue to try and rock a septum ring, it takes a certain type of person to truly pull off the desired look. If you go too big with the jewelry and it overwhelms your face, it’s a no go. If your nose is generally large, sorry, but it’s a no go. If you aren’t very cute, have terrible style, and never wash your hair, it’s probably also a no go. The septum piercing isn’t for you. The ability to adequately rock a septum ring lies within juxtaposition. Historically, the septum has been associated with hardassness and ferocity; it can look harsh if the person wearing it doesn’t have a soft enough style to balance it out.

Taylor Reifurth, 21, decided to get her septum pierced on a whim after she decided her single nostril stud wasn't enough.

Taylor with her nostril stud & septum ring

"My friend Steph was getting her ears pierced and I got my septum. I got it because of basically two reasons," Reifurth said "when I went to Vegas to model for American Apparel, they made me take my rose ring out and after that I couldn’t get the hoop in, only a stud. And that’s lame as fuck."

The way I see it, septum piercings are slowly but surely becoming the new nostril hoop or multiple cartilage piercing. While septum rings have heretofore been worn by those who walk to the beat of their own drum, they are now also being worn by sweet, basic girls, who have developed a sudden desire to dip a toe (or a nose) into the tantalizing pool of the hardcore.

Still, I feel it important to add, at least as a disclaimer to this piece, that I take no issue with cute girls who have septum piercings. I’d advise that any inherent snark that might make its way to the surface in all of this be taken with a grain of salt. I’m just bitter that my nose will never be small or button-y enough to cash in on this passing trend.

Maybe I’ll just go the Lil Wayne route and settle for a nice set of diamond teeth implants instead…carpe diem right? 

Link to travel story

https://beta.publet.com/nowhere-mag/14/2

Let’s Eat Some Raw Fish

Chunks of raw fish can enter the body either as something completely blissful, or as something morally corrupt. In my experience as a sushi eater (which spans a commendable +10 years), you either get beautiful, fresh, exceptional cuts of fish, or you get raging diarrhea. There is no middle ground.

That is why when you (the starry-eyed, fish hungry customer) walk the thin line between pain and happiness that comes with choosing a sushi restaurant, a couple things might be worth remembering. The first is to be open-minded; the second is to go forth with a thirst for adventure. Being open-minded will make you enjoy the food more, and, in the event you end up choosing the wrong restaurant, the adventure will make the diarrhea a little more bearable.

With that being said, I took my good-natured vegetarian friend to Sushi Bistro this weekend, and my stomach has never felt better. Luckily Sushi Bistro is on 6^th and Balboa, which is just a stone’s throw away from my apartment. Every time I’ve gone they never disappoint. Being just one of over thirty sushi restaurants in the Inner Richmond alone, Sushi Bistro goes above and beyond to prepare unique, delicious rolls that are literally fresh-to-death.

(Pun intended.)

Weekdays are usually pretty mild, but night times and weekends can get busy. My friend and I went on a Saturday around 6:30 and had no problem getting seats at the sushi bar. The two of us kicked things off with the house Miso soup ($2.50), a vegetable tempura appetizer ($7.95), and a bowl of cucumber sunomono ($4.95). The bistro, with it’s deadly atmospheric pairing of tasty and trendy, is a little on the pricey side compared to other small restaurants in the area, but SB gives you what you pay for with quality and creativity.

Our soups are brought out quickly, followed not long after by the cucumber sunomono, which is one of my all time favorite menu items. SB’s cucumbers are cold, fresh, thinly sliced, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and pickled in a sweet vinegar, similar to the pickled veggies on a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich.

“It’s tasty,” says Sarah the vegetarian with a bemused look on her face, “but it kind of just reminds me of sweet pickles…like, the only real difference is they threw on some sesame seeds…big whoop.” She means well. And I’ll be damned if she doesn’t just have a way with words. I explained to her later on how pickles are made.

Next came the veggie tempura appetizer:

For me, good tempura is all about consistency. The tempura flakes on their own aren’t very salty, and thus don’t over power the vegetables with grease and salt. The light battering on the veggies made them soft and chewable, while the tempura flakes added an element of soft crunchiness. The fried sweet potato and zucchini were the audience favorites, while a sad piece of tempura-fried cantaloupe came in last. Sarah muttered for a long time about how fried cantaloupe just didn’t seem right.

While we browsed the menu for our next courses, the wait staff rushed to and fro down the back hallway that led to the kitchen. The restaurant grew busier and livelier as the dinner rush reached its plateau, but each of our waiters was curt, professional, and friendly. Our water glasses were always filled before they were empty and the waiters were quite patient with us as we called them back time and time again to order more food.

Now, having been friends for over 10 years, I knew full well what I was getting myself into taking a picky vegetarian to a sushi dinner. But, in an effort to see the glass half full, I thought of it as an opportunity to try the veggie sushi she always raves about. Still, with 23 signature sushi rolls (some topped with lobster AND smoked salmon) tantalizing me on the inside menu, I couldn’t help but wish, at least a little bit, that she liked fish. Even just for an hour. Instead, the wishing was interrupted when I low-key choked on a sesame seed mid bite as Sarah points to “baby lobster” on the sashimi list and sighs, “um, that’s the saddest name ever.”

Since it looked like there was no righting the wrong the baby lobster had done, I allowed two of our 3 main course picks to be vegetarian…against my better judgment.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, Sarah had ordered the Fortune Roll with added cucumber ($7.95), along with a plain avocado cucumber roll ($4.95). I didn’t get a chance to read what was in the Fortune roll, as I was busy scouring the signature list for some much-needed protein. However, upon receiving the rolls it became clear that only two variables differentiated the two. Other than the extra light coting of tempura batter and a drizzle of eel sauce on the Fortune roll, the two were exactly the same: just brown rice, avocado, and cucumber. [Sigh.] If her taste in sushi reflected the way she decorated, her apartment would only fart throw pillows from Pottery Barn.

My selection, however, was exceptionally awesome. I’d always been curious about the house’s special Ahi Tuna Poke ($14.95) because A. specials are usually special for a reason, and B. because having tried the most perfect cubes of spicy ahi tuna on a trip to Hawaii some years back, I have been trying ever since to find something comparable to satisfy my cravings in the city. There seemed no better time to put Sushi Bistro’s ahi poke to the test.

            

It tasted just a beautiful as it looks. Though I was a little thrown when the tuna was served on a bed of mixed greens, instead of the white or brown rice I’d grown accustomed to seeing it paired with, the whole thing was stupid good. The thin, crispy wonton strings added a classic Asian flavor to the prime cuts of tuna, while the creaminess of the avocado slices perfectly balanced the hints of slight soy marinade that seeped out of each ahi piece. Even though there wasn’t much left of it by the end I still insisted on a to-go box, knowing I would be up in a couple of hours sleep-eating it in front of an open fridge. It still makes for some bomb.com leftovers if you don’t wait more than a day to eat it. After that, no matter how legit the sushi was, you start dancing with the devil.

To finish things off we filled in the cracks with mochi ice cream, tiny balls of chewy Japanese rice dough filled with flavored ice cream. The mochi are sold individually for $1.65 and come in flavors like green tea, mango, chocolate, strawberry, coffee, and red bean to name a few.

        

Sarah settled on chocolate at the last minute and I chose green tea. It’s difficult to describe the taste and texture of mochi just because there’s really nothing else like it in America that I can think to compare it to. I’ve always wanted to live in Japan anyway, but once I found out they were basically the mochi mecca of the Pacific Ocean it was a real game changer.

Even though my mind and stomach felt like we’d gotten a substantial amount of food, I was pleasantly surprised when the bill was only $52.80 altogether. Our waiter was happy to split the check down the middle for us, and my and Sarah’s totals came to a respectable $26.40 a person. We each left a $5 tip because our various waiters were nice and I hate to look cheap by not leaving enough. After the last waiter packaged my salad for me, Sarah and I rolled off our bar stools and waddled home, full to bursting with dank sushi and adventure. And we both lived happily ever after.

The End.

Prices:

Miso soup // 2.50

Cucumber sunomono // 4.95

Vegetable tempura appetizer // 7.95

Avocado cucumber roll // 4.95

Fortune roll + cucumber // 7.95

Ahi tuna poke special // 14.95

Mochi // 1.65

Sushi Bistro

431 Balboa St. (6^th& Balboa)

Open 7 days a week

5:00-10:30pm

(415) 933-7100

* Great for small groups, can get loud on nights and weekends, not the most kid friendly but definitely not kid unfriendly, full bar complete with sake, beer, wine, and other fancy drinks, you could find cheaper sushi, but I don’t know why you would.

**Editor’s note, I did, in fact, sleep-eat my leftovers that night.