For the longest time, I never really felt that I knew myself. I've always been shy, quiet and a bit of an outcast. I always stuck with my tiny group of friends, never really getting to know anyone else. It was like that up until a few weeks ago. I had been searching around on BME, and almost by accident slipped into the Play Piercing section. While looking through the pictures, I came across a Back Corset piercing. I had seen them before, but never really paid any attention to them. But that day, while I was looking at them, something dawned inside of me. I knew right away that it was something I had to get.
At A Glance Author Tara Gagnon Contact Immortal_wasteland_01@yahoo.com When It just happened Artist Tyler Studio Way Cool Tattoos Location Downtown Kitchener, Ontario That same day, I went looking through the phone book for places that would be willing to do this for me. The very first studio I got a hold of was Way Cool Tattoos in Downtown Kitchener. I had talked to one of the guys at the front desk, and he directed me to Tyler, the piercer. I carefully explained to him what I wanted done, and he was more than willing to do it for me. So I put down a deposit of $20, and made an appointment for August 30th.
Right away, I went to buy my ribbon for the lacing. At first, I just decided on black satin ribbon, about 3/8 of an inch thick. But then I thought, well maybe it would look nice if we double laced it. So I also bought bright pink satin ribbon to go along with the black. So for the next ten days, I waited patiently (yeah, right) for the 30th to finally arrive. And it did. Finally.
I decided to have two people there with me, my boyfriend Adam for moral support (He was more pale watching it than I was having it done...So much for moral support), and my best friend Matt,who would be taking pictures for me. But at 6:30pm, when I called Matt to pick him up, he wasn't there! So after about fifteen minutes of calling him with no luck, we quickly ran out to buy a disposable camera, some sugary snacks in case I needed them, and headed off to Way Cool.
After going in there about twenty times within the last few days, everybody pretty much knew what I was there for. Without having to say a word, the guy at the front desk went into the back room to get Tye for me. Within minutes, I was back there, and we were just going over exactly what I wanted. Because I was only 17, he told me that I would have to keep my bra on, and just keep it undone in the back. As soon as my shirt came off, a whole new wave of emotions swept through my body.
Because his regular piercing chair really wouldn't have worked out,he just had me sitting on a desk chair with wheels, one where the headrest bends back. We decided we were going to use 35 needles, eight of which were 20g, the rest being 25g. We decided to have 17 needles down each side of my back, and one at the top, just under my neck. He carefully marked me up, and he asked me if I was ready. "I'm here, and I'm as ready as I'll ever be." This was all I needed to say.
He slipped the first 20g needle into some lubricant, and told me to take a deep breath in. As I felt the needle break through the skin, I closed my eyes as tightly as I could, grabbed onto my boyfriend's hand expecting the worst, only to realize, Hey! This feels pretty good! So with a quick and steady hand, he did the same for the next three 20g needles and for the 13 25g needles on my right side. Tyler and my boyfriend decided that they needed to go out for a smoke, so I could have a little bit of a break. So I sat there for a few minutes, slowly dismembering my gummy bears and listened to the System of a Down song pumping out through the speakers. They came back in, and we were ready to start the left side.
Well, when I felt that needle break through the skin, I realized that it didn't feel as good as I thought it had with the first ones. The adrenaline from having the right side pierced was wearing off, so i felt every little thing as the needle went through my skin. But, I managed to sit through that one, and the next three. The 25g needles I had no problem with. When Tyler finally told me it was done, I turned around, looked in the mirror, and almost started to cry. And that was even before we had begun the lacing.
I needed to take a bit of a break before we did that, so Tye sat behind me and ran his fingers up and down my back. That was one of the greatest things I've ever felt. So, after a 5-minute break, he pulled out the ribbon. We decided to start with the black, and he would lace every other set of needles, as well as the pink, so it created sort of a shadow corset look. After taking a few pictures, I decided it was my turn for a smoke. We taped a dental bib over my front so that it covered my bra, and my boyfriend gave me his shirt to drape over my front because it was cold out. This was a hard thing to do, because by that time, the needles were starting to fall out. Tye decided it was time to go back in and get them out.
After taking a few more pictures, he cut the ribbon, and two by two, pulled the needles out of my back. We took some pictures of the blood trickling down my back, and he had me twist and bend to get all the blood out before he cleaned me up. I must say, as much as I loved having them in, it was so much better having them out.
This was probably the best experience of my life. It brought out a side of me that I didn't know I had. I feel so much more confident about myself, and many people have already told me they can see such a big change in my personality. I would recommend this to anyone, especially someone trying to find out who they really are. And I'm so proud of myself...I didn't cry once :)