Piercings in the 2010s: Instagram and the Curated Ear
Every previous decade changed what people pierced. The 2010s changed something harder to see: how piercing was discovered, who did it, what it cost, and what the jewelry was made of.
The trigger wasn't a subculture or a celebrity. It was a photo-sharing app launched in October 2010.
Why Instagram Mattered
Piercing had always been hard to discover. You saw what your friends had, what a studio's laminated poster showed, and whatever turned up in a magazine. Placements like the rook or the conch had existed for decades without most people knowing the words for them.
Instagram changed that in a very specific way: the close-up ear photograph turned out to be an almost perfect post. Square crop, shallow depth of field, small bright objects catching light against skin. Piercing photographs beautifully, and suddenly the audience for it was global rather than local.
Two things followed quickly.
Placements got names. Daith, rook, conch, flat, forward helix — vocabulary that had lived quietly inside the profession moved into everyday use, because people needed words for what they were pointing at on their screens.
Piercers became findable. Before, you mostly went to whoever was nearby. After, you could look at an individual piercer's work before booking, and travel for it if you wanted to. That shifted power toward skilled practitioners and away from simple convenience.
The "Curated Ear"
The defining idea of the decade was treating multiple piercings as a single composition rather than collecting them one at a time.
The phrase is closely tied to Maria Tash, the New York jeweller and piercer whose business began in 1993 and opened its first boutique in 2004. Her work with high-profile clients through the mid-2010s made the look widely visible.
Who actually coined the term is less settled than it first appears. Wikipedia credits Tash with coining "curated ear." At least one publication states plainly that she didn't. And Tash's own account, given to an interviewer in 2018, is that "the phrase itself first emerged in late 2015, early 2016" — described as something that appeared rather than something she named.
What's not in dispute is the timing. The idea took hold in the middle of the decade, and the hashtag grew from roughly 20,000 tagged posts to around 60,000 across 2019–2020.
In practice it meant a consultation, jewelry chosen for your anatomy rather than off a tray, and pieces selected to work together. Our guide to curating your ear covers the styling side, and constellation piercings looks at the scattered-cluster version of the same idea.
Fine Jewelry Enters the Studio
Underneath the aesthetic shift sat a quieter economic one.
Until the 2010s, body jewelry and fine jewelry were largely separate industries. Piercing studios sold titanium and steel; jewellers sold gold and stones; the two worlds didn't overlap much.
The curated-ear model brought them together. Studios began stocking solid gold with real stones, at fine-jewelry prices, fitted by piercers rather than sold over a counter. A single cartilage piece could cost more than an entire piercing appointment had a decade earlier.
That changed the customer as well. Piercing gained a market segment that treated permanent jewelry as an ongoing purchase rather than a one-off decision.
The Quality Shift
Less visible than the aesthetics, and arguably more lasting.
Materials became consumer knowledge. "Implant-grade titanium" and "ASTM F136" moved from trade vocabulary into things ordinary customers started asking about. The standards themselves had existed since 1991 — see our history of the piercing industry — but the 2010s is when buyers began checking.
Threadless became the default for small-gauge jewelry, even though the design had been patented back in 1997. That story is in who invented threadless jewelry.
Needle over gun became something people knew to ask for. Guns didn't disappear, but the argument was settled in public rather than only inside the profession — see the history of the piercing gun.
The pattern is clear: a decade of professional standards work from the 1990s finally reached ordinary buyers, because social media gave piercers a direct channel to explain it.
The Septum Crossed Over
One placement moved further than any other during the decade.
The septum had been a marker of counterculture since the 1970s — punk, then the modern primitive scene of the 1990s. Through the mid-2010s it appeared on runways, on musicians, and then on people with no subcultural affiliation at all.
The flip-up retainer helped. A septum can be concealed in a way a nostril piercing can't, which made it practical for people who couldn't wear it visibly at work. Our septum piercing guide covers the practical side.
One Claim Worth Correcting
The daith rose sharply in the 2010s, and part of that rise came from a claim that circulated widely: that a daith piercing relieves migraines.
The evidence doesn't support it. The idea drew on acupuncture reasoning, but there's no good clinical evidence that piercing the daith treats migraine, and reviews of the available research have not found it effective.
The daith is a perfectly good piercing chosen for how it looks. If you have migraines, that's a conversation for a doctor.
What the 2010s Left Behind
Piercing as an ongoing project. Before, you got pierced. After, you built something over time and added to it. That's a different relationship with the jewelry, and it's the model the industry now runs on.
Anatomy-first placement. The curated approach normalized the idea that not every ear suits every placement — that a piercer should assess before marking.
Quality as a selling point. Material specifications became something worth advertising, which is a direct result of buyers learning to ask.
Visual discovery. However people find piercings now, they find them by looking at photographs. That habit started here.
The longer arc is in our 100 years of piercing trends, with the decades either side covered in the 1970s and the 1920s.
What to Wear
The material standards the decade popularized are still the standards: implant-grade titanium, solid 14K or 18K gold, or niobium for anything healing.
Browse our implant-grade titanium, threadless jewelry, or 14K gold ranges.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a curated ear?
Multiple ear piercings styled together as a single composition rather than collected one at a time — jewelry chosen for your anatomy and selected to work as a set. The idea took hold in the middle of the 2010s.
Who coined the term "curated ear"?
Sources disagree. It's closely associated with the New York jeweller and piercer Maria Tash, and Wikipedia credits her with coining it; at least one publication says she didn't. Tash's own account is that the phrase "first emerged in late 2015, early 2016," which describes it appearing rather than being named by her.
Why did piercing change so much in the 2010s?
Largely because of visual social media. Close-up ear photography suited the format, which made placements discoverable, gave piercers a direct audience, and moved trade vocabulary like "rook" and "conch" into general use.
When did septum piercings become mainstream?
Through the mid-2010s. It had been a counterculture marker since the 1970s, and crossed into general fashion during this decade — helped by the fact that a septum can be flipped up and concealed.
Does a daith piercing help migraines?
The evidence doesn't support it. The claim circulated widely in the 2010s, drawing on acupuncture reasoning, but there's no good clinical evidence that it treats migraine. It's a piercing worth getting for how it looks. Migraines are a question for a doctor.
Why did jewelry get more expensive in the 2010s?
Because fine jewelry entered the piercing studio. Solid gold and real stones, fitted by piercers rather than sold over a counter, created a price tier that hadn't existed in body jewelry before.
What did the 2010s change about safety?
Mostly awareness rather than practice. Implant-grade materials and needle piercing had been professional standards since the 1990s; the 2010s is when ordinary customers learned to ask for them, because piercers finally had a channel to explain it.
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Piercings are not treatments for medical conditions. If you have migraines or any other health concern, consult a qualified healthcare provider.