1990s- the decade of bad ideas. (Patreon)

It's easy to remember the 1990s piercing scene as a decade that encouraged innovation in technique, materials, and acceptance of piercing as not only a subculture but as a marketable job skill, particularly if you weren't around to experience it for yourself. 

Nostalgia- which is pretty much my second language anymore- softens the edges of the reality of the 1990s- a decade where innovation came at a price, and that price was usually train wreck level piercing and modification work. 

In May of 1995, Leather Tiger opened on 7th Avenue in Tampa's historic Ybor City district. It was owned and operated by Doug Shelton, who from what I remember had never pierced professionally before opening a walk-in piercing studio in a highly busy area. (Highly busy for the time- in an October 1995 interview with Benjamin Harper of the Tampa Bay Times, Shelton had performed 600 piercings in the nearly six months since opening) 

Shelton was known for making clients wait, in the chair and often clamped, while he studied the Pierce with a Pro article associated with the piercing he was about to perform. Despite being an enthusiastic neophyte, Shelton offered basic piercings alongside advanced and experimental, as well as scarification and branding. While he was friendly, his reputation preceded him, with serious piercers/fans in the area giving him the nickname of Ice-Pick Doug. 

This is a piercing he performed in 1995- a navel orbital- that never stood a chance of healing. 

The enthusiasm was appreciated, but the follow through- not so much.