by Emily Fritz | a&e editor
If your body is a temple, you may as well decorate it. Whether you’re adding to your canvas, or looking for first-time ink, Friday the 13th is an industry holiday for tattoo artists, piercers and other body modification professionals.
Although the occasion is thought to have started earlier, sailors in the 18th century believed that the unlucky number 13 could be tattooed on the body to ward off misfortune, according to USA Today.
Now, that the event has morphed into a fully developed celebration, some shops going as far as to offer flash piercings, acoustic sets, food and movie showings.
“We always want people to feel like they’re at a safe place. We want them to kind of feel like they’re coming home,” said Tara Woods, tattoo artist at Kindred Spirits Tattoo Co. “We just want everyone to feel so comfortable [throughout] the entire process.”
Woods is approaching her third Friday the 13th event since her apprenticeship. During a flash sale like this one, clients looking for tattoos are known to line up outside of studios hours before opening and encounter wait times several hours long.
“When [Friday the 13th] was kicking, we would tattoo probably 500 to 600 people a day,” said co-owner of Pittsburgh Tattoo Company Diane McQuade. Now, with price adjustments for inflation, McQuade is expecting to see between 200 and 300 people later this week.
The Duke reached out to five different tattoo and piercing studios to help readers determine what to look for if they choose to pursue flash sales this Friday.
Ashley Karpa, tattoo artist at Sanctuary Tattoo Studio, said that she values self advocacy in new clients, starting with placement.
“I will re-stencil 1,000 times. That can be moved,” Karpa said. “Don’t ever feel that you don’t have that voice to move it, because [that tattoo] is the thing that you’re going home with. It is the thing that you’re paying for. And you know, personally, if you don’t feel seen or heard by [your] artist, honestly, like it’s acceptable to walk out that door.”
Once the needle touches skin, the tattooee experiences adrenaline and endorphins. For clients who have been waiting around for extended periods of time or stepped away from the studio to grab drinks with friends, this can increase the likelihood of fainting.
“That happens way more frequently with piercings than it does with tattoos,” explained co-owner and piercer of Black Horizon Tattoo and Piercing, Liss Dershaw. “We always try to make sure that somebody’s eaten. We obviously have, like, bottled water on hand. I have fruit snacks and glucose tabs in my station, so if anybody starts feeling lightheaded, or if they do pass out.”
Each of the studios stated separately that they would not perform any kind of body modifications on inebriated persons.
Most importantly, Dershaw stressed the safety component involved, specifically in piercing. If a piercer is offering implant grade steel, externally threaded jewelry or utilizing a piercing gun, leave immediately.
“You know, just trust your gut,” owner and tattoo artist of Queen of Swords Tattoo Haley Gibson. “If you think that you’re not being treated nicely, that’s a red flag, … and you should go somewhere else.”
Every location has its own price range, most advertising piercings at $20 each – eyebrows, nostrils and ears being the most common – and tattoo prices as low as $40 and others as high as $200. Still, these flash prices are significantly cheaper than the typical day at the shop.
Additionally, higher foot traffic often comes with a cutoff time. As a location nears its closing time, some may close their lines or wait lists while others will remain open into the early hours of Saturday morning to appease all of their clients.
While the number 13 is often incorporated into flash designs, artists will often take inspiration from Halloween or spooky-themed elements of pop culture.
Standard rules apply across the majority of locations: tattoo placement is limited to arms and legs, which must be easily accessible, and the designs must be selected from the shop’s flash sheet. More specific or extravagant designs are better saved for a scheduled appointment on another date.
“It’s great because you can kind of go into any shop and spend a little bit of time with an artist and get the vibe of the place without having to commit to a huge piece,” Woods said. “It’s a good try on for both the client and the tattooer. … We can see if we vibe and do art all day.”