 Nipple piercing may have been a sign of masculinity for the soldiers of Rome . Nipple piercing has also been connected to rites of passage for both British and American sailors who had traveled beyond a significant latitude and longitude . Western women of the 14th century sometimes sported pierced as well as <unk> nipples left visible by the low @-@ cut dresses fashionable in the day . It is widely reported that in the 1890s , nipple rings called " bosom rings " resurfaced as a fashion statement among women of the West , who would wear them on one or both sides , but if such a trend existed , it was short @-@ lived . 
