Every month, SLUG Style features a distinct and unique member of the community and asks them why they do what they do. Exploring more than just clothing, SLUG Style is an attempt to feature the people who give Salt Lake City flavor through personality and panache.
Courtney Marriott is the owner of Abyss Body Piercing, a local piercing studio which also sells jewelry and other goods. She is also heavily involved in the local motorcycle scene, helping to organize the Salty Bike Revival and maintaining an ongoing affiliation with Salt City Builds.
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“I really like dressing up,” says Marriott. “It’s funny, I probably own more dresses than I do anything else, but you would never know. And I don’t really dress up unless it is a really good occasion.”
“I kind of still combine a bunch of styles and just wear what is comfortable to me,” says Marriott. “A lot of people don’t find corsets comfortable, but I could rock it all day long. And I used to work at a very very girly clothing store called Bebe—where the whole eight hour shift you have to be in heels—a lot of people would never know that about me.”
“With the piercings on my face I have chosen just these ones,” says Marriott. “I don’t even wear jewelry in my lower lip anymore. They are still open though. I like the philtrum. That one is what I call my centerpiece, and that is where I spend the most money. A lot of people like really intricate septum pieces, but I just want the simple, extra little touch without being too crazy. No girl wants their nose exaggerated, you know what I mean?”
“When I had attended the piercing school that I went to in San Francisco, they taught about the holistic healing side of things,” says Marriott. “They are very spiritual with it and I really liked that. I like the idea of energy and working with it and things like that. That kind of got me hooked.”
“I like that Abyss has that beautiful, delicate and expensive look that people are wanting, but we are very very down to earth,” says Marriott. “I feel like the shop really represents me as a person—where it’s like it looks really simple but it is pretty dang complex.”
“I had been planning on opening my own shop since I was at the first shop, A Way of Life (which isn’t there anymore),” says Marriott. “So, for three years before I opened, I only really waited because I knew I needed more experience under my belt. I wanted to know what I was doing before I opened. Every day I am still learning. I’m still learning new things from different piercers and different schools.”
“I like that I have things that will completely turn heads,” says Marriott. “To a lot of people I have a lot of tattoos, and to me I don’t. To a lot of people I have very large stretched lobes, but to me I don’t—but I’m so little that it looks like a lot going on, and I will turn heads when I don’t mean to. So I like being subtle most of the time unless it’s something where I can be really flashy or I want to be flashy.”
“I like most of my tattoos to be delicate, and feminine, but I have two buildings on my arm which are not really delicate and feminine things, but CJ Fishburn made them look that way and I like that,” says Marriott. “So I have the Saltair and I did the sepia tone so that it blends more with the neutrals. On the other side I have what is called the Château de Chillon. It is a castle in Switzerland, where my great grandma came from and then [SLC] where my family is from.”
“I will wear more crazy, fun pieces that are actually the more expensive pieces when it is like a nice night out or something,” says Marriott. “Or if I’m going somewhere that it kind of looks acceptable. I kind of like the shock factor too, so I will wear something hanging—like big clunky hanging things—when I know it will catch people’s eye. I very rarely do that, but sometimes it’s fun.”
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