Venus By Maria Tash

It seems simple enough but doing an accurate and balanced ear lobe piercing requires artistic skill. In addition to marking the front of the lobes, our professionals take the time to consider and mark the backside of the lobes too. Marking the backside of the lobes determines what angle the hoops will sit at and if your studs will point out to the sides or straight forward. Our trained professionals slip sample hoops on to your lobes to show you ahead of time what angle will be most flattering for each unique face (since each lobe attaches to the face differently/person) before we pierce you. We use the same technique to match up multiple lobe piercing angles as well. Getting your lobes done correctly will give the wearer a lifetime of pleasure, and that pleasure is invaluable!

Unfortunately for mass culture, jewelry stores like Claire’s and Piercing Pagoda still use ear-piercing guns, and many people are not aware that there are alternatives. Although ear-piercing guns are a cheaper alternative, as they say- you get what you pay for. Ear-piercing guns are prohibited by use by any member of the Association of Professional Piercers. You can definitely end up with an odd, unmatched ear piercing done by an untrained 16 year old.

Interestingly, piercing guns were developed as cattle taggers, and many of them are non-disposable. As an 18 year old, I bought one and forced my college friends to pierce my earlobe and cartilage multiple times. Of course, my holes are at multiple angles as a result. Guns are really only capable of piercing the tissue perpendicularly, and great placement usually involves transversing the skin a bit instead of just going through at a 90 degree angle, as they have a fixed strength (determined by the force of the spring) and a fixed length which is too short for many people with “meaty” earlobes. I have actually pierced people with a gun (very early in my career I must say) and not had the stud go all the way through the lobe. Not fun!

At my shops, we use single use, disposable needles for all piercings. I know it may sound scary, but this method is the way…the light… and the truth. My arm is way stronger then the gun’s spring, and I can control how I want the piercing angle to be, only with the needle.

I find that people who have “attached” earlobes (lobes that don’t stick out very much) need more transverse placement, and that unless this is done just so, hoops will stick out at funny angles.

If you have difficulty wearing hoop earrings, we can help! Firstly, we can change the angle of the post on your current pieces of jewelry to fix an odd piercing, or give you special earring backs that can hold hoops in place and make some minor corrections. When in NY, just stop by either of my shops for a consultation!

We also pierce many reconstructed earlobes at both of my shops as well. As someone who has gone through many a metamorphosis in earlobe styling, I know first hand about angling and reconstruction. In the mid to late 1990’s I had deliberately stretched earlobes, and wore gold eyelets or ancient Indian gold ear weights. (Earlobe stretching was the vogue in Navaho, Masaai (African), East Indian, Pre-Columbian, and other cultures throughout history). As a blast from the past, note my earlobes in the still from two piercings I did on “The View” in 2000.

Video of me piercing Lisa Ling’s Navel Video of me piercing John Dye’s Ear

As I did more TV interviews, acting in some independent films, and dating men out of the industry, I decided that I was fed up with hiding my stretched earlobes. I was tucking them behind my ear, and using a clip earring to keep them back there while sporting a pretty frontal earring on acting shoots. I consulted with two plastic surgeons that were deeply intrigued and somewhat mystified as to how to make my lobes what they were before I stretched them out. After the surgery, which took about 20 minutes per lobe, I was ready to be healed and get them re-pierced with standard earrings. I waited out the few months to let the inner tissue re-grow and strengthen. Unfortunately, reconstructed holes not only need time to mend, but if you re-pierce them in exactly the same place, the tissue is usually not as strong as it originally was. When I re-pierce reconstructions, I consider not only front placement and angling, but also the depth of the correction. For aesthetics, I usually choose a site where any former stitching will be covered up with jewelry. I am also hyper-aware (since I have been through it myself and do not want to go through it again), that earrings cannot be too heavy. Whenever I design new hoops or long studs, I make sure they are not more than 9 grams each – my personal earlobes weight limit!

I recently re-pierced, in a different spot, the lobe of a woman whose old hole had stretched down. She did not want to get reconstructed, and the placement was far enough away to negate the possibility of old hold and new hold merging. The wonderful thing about it was that she was the mother of a dermatologist, who stayed present in the room, and who was impressed by my technique used for the placement of the new ear piercing. I love it when doctors appreciate the art of piercing! Previous to piercing her mom, the dermatologist daughter had injected filler into the lobe to beef up its thickness and make it appear more youthful. I was amazed.

As a side note, I have been asked many times to pierce the lobes of infants, and I have done so in a few cases as I realize it is a cultural norm for some ethnicities. My stance is that one should be able to ask for the piercing before one gets it. Physiologically, baby’s earlobes are not developed. This means center placement at 1 year old, is not centered at 21 years old. I can usually tell if one has had their earlobes pierced as an infant, as the placement usually ends up looking “high” as an adult. This placement makes it difficult to wear large studs with frontals as they may bonk into the anti-tragus. Also, infants have a hard time sitting still for our front and back marking, making great placement difficult. If you can wait to have your child’s ear pierced, I suggest waiting till at least 5 years old. As I recall, I was a nervous 14 year old getting them done. Now the technology and the trained staffing exist to make this beauty ritual fun and exciting, the way it should be.

One of the main events happening out east that also marks the beginning of the end of summer is the Hampton Classic horse event. The Hampton Classic is the North East’s most prestigious equestrian event. It runs one week, with vendors and horse shows every day. The culmination of the show is on Sunday, the day of the Grand Prix - where folk eat and drink ( there is major mingling), and the award of a $250,000 prize. Most of the action on Sunday is in the main tent, where there are individually catered tables, amazing flower arrangements, and most importantly, a lot of business dealings/mingling in a very easy going context. I have been to many charity events, but this particular one had the highest amount of approachable, influential people by far. Even the press is restricted in the main tent so that folks can mingle without any paparazzi agenda. I checked out the event initially to see whether I should exhibit my jewelry there for next year, as it was booked up. It is amazing to see how many jewelers have ripped off the Gucci horsebit design, and have that bit as links in fingerrings, bracelets, and necklaces.

Me, David Yurman, Marjorie Myles

Artist Marjorie Myles, my buddy in crime, is a GREAT horse rider. In addition to helping me with my riding skills, she insisted we would have a blast going to the Classic. She rides every Sunday along with a man I DEEPLY admire, jewelry designer David Yurman. For those of ya that don’t know, David is a FIRST generation designer that is THE most successful jewelry designer of our time (we’re talking sales of 500 million/year). He is mainly known for popularizing the rope design, and it is his signature element in all of his work. Who knew a twisted wire could be signature defining? I like to think the MT oval and pear crown, and tiaras are my signature elements, embedded in most of my earring/necklace and of course navel/nostril designs. And the idea is, when you look at a piece of jewelry or clothing - you can immediately identify who designed it. Apparently, according to my FIT instructors, developing a signature style is one of the most important things you should do. When you think Donna Karan, for example, you think loose, comfortable women’s wear. When you think Hilfiger, you think preppy Americana. In the same way, in the jewelry biz, when you see rope elements in bracelet/finger rings, you know it came from Yurman. Now getting a defining element as a jeweler is tricky, as there have been thousands of years of design before you, and as my straight shootin’ mother likes to say, “there’s nothing new under the sun.” I think what we hope to do is just re-invent some of the best designs through our special filter and then apply it to the body differently. That’s part of the reason that I was so attracted to body jewelry and piercing - I really felt that I was creating something different and applying it to the body in a way that has NEVER been done in history. How many designers can say that? We are the first generation that have created beautiful navel jewelry (as far as I can tell Egyptian royalty never did it as the myth purports), applied diamonds suspended in titanium under the skin as dermal anchors, and created beautiful and functional jewelry to live in female genitals. It may be part of subculture now, but I believe some of the jewelry I created will be in the museums of the future. And the brilliant work of my staff imbedding this art in our clients insures that the jewelry will live in people for years, and have special meaning. Anyway, - back to Yurman…

As soon as I found out that Yurman rides and hangs out with my bud Marjorie every Sunday morning - I looked at her like “…hello, lets go riding!” Now I have to say, God bless Marjorie Myles. Every Sunday morning (and at every party and charity event this summer), regardless of who we were gonna meet - she insisted that she and I donn my elaborate navel pieces, necklaces and earrings. She always wants to introduce my style to people who don’t know, and eventually introduce it to Yurman. I got my chance one Sunday morning, and thankfully he is such a down to earth, cowboy hat wearin’, genuine horselovin’ American alpha male. He eventually started joking with me - as we were brushing our horses about how you could probably design bracelets from the horsehair. I would probably start by imbedding gemstones in the hoofs, but that’s another story. Marjorie and David Yurman are one the best riders out east, and spending time with both of them was one of the highlights of the summer. Of course, I would have loved to have tapped into his brain and suck all that design/marketing knowledge out of him, and find out how he did it all. But I have to say, I am STOKED to have spent time with him and Marjorie this summer. It was AWESOME.

Joking around with Rudy Giuliani at the 2008 Hamptons Classic

Another man I deeply admire is Rudy Giuliani. As some

Me, Rudy Giuliani, and wife Judy at the 2008 Hampton Classic

of you may know, I have an interest in politics and have worked for Rudy in the past. I think he is a great man and a great leader - tough and effective. He cleaned up Manhattan while he was mayor in a way that no one else has done. I was able to spent some time with him at the Classic talking politics before he had to rush off to the Republican Convention in Minneapolis the next day. Ah, the life of a politician.

If you want to read a great book on leadership, check out Rudy’s: Leadership

I have volunteered in the past in Manhattan at Red Cross events - (a great cause if you’re looking to support one) and Jackie from Blue Star Jets wanted to wear some on my jewelry for their charity event this summer out in East Hampton. Initially, I was a bit frantic, cause she told me she was wearing a brown gown with a gold chiffon overlay, about 10 days before the event. I know that Jackie loves bold goddess chokers and bracelets, and I quickly envisioned an 18k gold MT crown segmented necklace - and debated which stones I could get quickly assembled and set for her in a few days. I really wanted to use champagne diamond ovals flanked with white diamonds to accent the brown in her dress, and have the high karet yellow gold complement the gold flecks in the chiffon overlay. The problem was getting and matching 20 champagne ovals together, and then whipping the setters to get it done in time! Never mind having to get jewelry together for myself and another friend in attendance, and deciding what to wear. Because of the tight timetable, I ended up bringing three necklaces I already had made. She picked the first one I presented to her - a 22k gold and cabochon ruby goddess necklace.

All night Jackie told me how beautiful she felt wearing the necklace and all of the positive commentary she received. I was pleased, because I was in good company, as Russell Simmons was there promoting his own jewelry line. Apparently Jackie got a lot of positive commentary about the necklace and my other jewelry did as well. And Hamptons.com wrote up a great review and sandwiched commentary about me in between that of Tory Burch and Russell Simmons. Yea! (click here to see the review - note: you have to scroll down a bit). I was THRILLED to be there—as I love an event where I get to dress up and help others dress up. The icing on the proverbial cake was winning a raffle for a cruise for me and 5 others around Manhattan in a 50 foot yacht - good for one year courtesy of marine max yachts. I immediately thought how great it would be to take the staff out, and film the antics of course!!

The after party at Kobe bar was fun (Russell Simmons was there as well with his new, very young model girlfriend). Then a few friends and I attended the after-after party at the Talkhouse. I wish every Saturday night could be like that one….

*To donate or find out more about red cross ball events click Red Cross link above.

**for all events happening out east visit Hamptons.com

The next morning, Marjorie and I continued our Sunday morning routine, of getting up early to visit, feed, clean, and ride her horses at the Big Sky Ranch at Nova’s Ark Project in Watermill.

This ranch transforms every summer into the location for Donna Karan’s Super Saturday. This is a spectacular event open to the public every July and a great event to attend. This year, I had to be torn away by my friends who also wanted to attend polo. All sales from super Saturday go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, and you will find spectacular deals on designer clothing, bedding, underwear… all of which I bought!

I ended up buying silk Jersey dresses from Issy, undies from Elle Macpherson’s line, and bedding from Marlo Lorentz. I do love excellent quality pillows and bedding as I treasure the time I spend horizontal. If you wait till the last hours of the event, you can get even more amazing deals on whatever items are remaining. The entrance fee is $650, but you will save way more than that with the great prices and it goes towards a good cause, as all vendors donate their goods. I really think this event gets better every year!

I was determined to enjoy this summer, getting away from Manhattan, the city I love, and enjoy some time on the east end of Long Island. Growing up in Suffolk county, I always appreciated the clean air, and living on the water. But as a teen I could not wait to get out of suburbia and experience Manhattan, and eventually make my own mark on the city. This summer was a great time to head out to the Hamptons, where many Manhattanites go to get out of the city. From the farms in Riverhead to the shopping, parties, and equestrian delights of the Hamptons - there was a different, exciting event happening every day out east!

With artist Marjorie Myles

Fortunately I have a great friend/client, Marjorie Myles, an artist who resides out in the Hamptons. She is an amazing equestrian and helped me hone my horse riding skills. Thanks Marjorie!

Together this summer, we were partners’ in crime, donating at charity events, dancing at balls, and meeting great new people.

Help for Orphans International

Bud/artist Marjorie Myles is on the committee for Orphans International, and asked me to donate a piece for the silent auction. Since it was mid summer and colors were popping, I decided to create a 14k pink gold and amethyst necklace, with my signature MT crown in VS quality diamonds and amethyst. I love the combination of pink gold and amethyst, it is always pretty, and I feel the white diamonds are always the perfect sparkly color spacer between big colored statements. I also accented the briolette with a necklace of its own - a tiny diamond solitaire, which created the effect of a necklace within a necklace. The event was filmed for The Real Housewives of NY, (I love the Bravo network) and all the housewives were in attendance.

Hanging will Jill Zarin

I was thrilled when I got to meet Jill Zarin (at right) who loved and then bought my necklace in a few seconds. I wish all sales were that easy! Of course all the money went to charity. This event was the first of many that we both attended - and I am happy to say that I look forward to creating pieces for her in the future.

the 14krose gold/amethyst necklace

Mercedes-Benz polo events [six Saturdays from 4-7 pm in July and August]

For six weeks starting in the summer from 4-7pm fans of polo and socializing coalesce on the Blue Star Jets field in Bridgehampton. Thanks to Daniel and Jackie of Blue Star Jets, I was able to watch the beautiful Argentinean polo players and horses play matches in the catered tents. Sweet! If you’re looking to rent a private plane - check out Blue Star Jets - they have a plane for every size party!

Weekly vendors in attendance include Ralph Lauren, Piaget, and jeweler Catherine Zadeh – If you’re looking for cool cuff links check out her site.