Styled Out: Inked up with skin art

More people are getting tatoos these days then maybe 10 years ago. At least that's how I see it. I don't remember so many people having them when I was younger. But if they are done right, they can look really awesome. I just can't imagine grandpa with one of those sleeve tattoos. Kind of wierd to see that.

www.cheebras.com, Nice things for Naughty Kitties

It's not like people didn't get tattoos before. IMO it was more like, the general association of people with tats = criminal, trash, bad-ass, (gasp!) druggie or whatever negative you can think of.

I think it helped that a lot of celebrities --- and famous ones at that like Angelina --- got themselves inked (and with great designs too!) and didn't think it was THAT of a big deal. What was then taboo became the so-called trend. Visibility works everytime. ;)

Of my family on my mother's side, only the kids under 18 and my grandfather don't have ink.  My uncle was a tatoo artist, my cousin apprenticed at a shop before moving on to music and one of my very good friends owns a shop.  It was never a matter of if I'd get a tattoo but when so it's a good thing enough people have them that I won't be considered unemployable when  get more work done.

The article was absolutly right about waiting and planning.  Even though I've had ample opportunities for more, I'm perfecting a large piece but won't get it until I'm ready.

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"Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained" - William Blake

I am glad its becoming a little more of a societal norm. More people are accepting of tattoo and piercings in the workforce and I think thats great. Our generation brings a lot more open mindedness to the table, I am sure it only get better.

As for it being a fad, I agree and disagree. I think that having a tattoo will always be a 'cool' thing to do. What you put on yourself is the fad. Its like seeing a tribal armband, you know its from the 90's. In 5 years we will see a slew of girls with swallows on them because of the recent craze that went with this very classic looking tattoo. Same with writing on the wrist. I dont know who started it, but the amount of girls with that, myself included, has risen as well.

I say tattoo's will always be in style, its the design you get thats a fad.

To every feminist action, there is an equal and opposite beauty reaction- Naomi Wolf

i think tattoos have and will always be a personal expression of art. many people get tattoos where if someone else saw it they wouldnt understand what it means. i just think its a way of displaying ur own personal values,emotions,memories, that will stay on ur body forever to remind you of it.

i have 2, one on my wrist and one on my ribs, i plan on getting more on my forarm, but like you mentioned i do think its important to take the time to think about it before getting something ur going to have on ur body for the rest of your life. 

I'm the only one of my friends who doesn't have a tattoo lol.  My girlfriend has a small tattoo on her wrist.  I do want one, I'm just too much of a wimp to actually go and get one (though I do have multiple piercings).  

My Grandad had a couple of tattoos on his hand/arms that he got when he fought in WW2.  He often told me when I was younger that he only got them because he thought he wouldn't be coming home and wouldn't have to live with them much longer.  Everyone in his unit got them, which I always thought was a nice show of unity.  I'd never get a tattoo on impulse because of him.  You're dead right about thinking it through.

www.myspace.com/stopstartstall - acousticy music type stuff.

Excellent advice. I also recommend spell check.

Sitting with the design for a year is also very wise. I've seen more than my share of Skin Art Tragedy that ends up looking like graffitti on an alley wall, or a memorial of the DUI. (Isn't there a coffee table book out there somewhere with the same title?)

To the lass who can't imagine grandpa with a sleeve. (See above.) I submit to all those who are considering skin art to imagine what you and the tattoo may look like in 30 to 40 years...

im pretty sure tattoos have a LOT to do with fashion; but seriously, what's with all the negativity these days?

my friends and i always joke about lesbians being ridiculously self-righteous. much thanks for adding fuel to the fire.

Tattoos can be fashionable

Well original tattoos are fashionable

Not the over done tramp stamp or anything

Like Angelina Jolie's Tattoos R-O-C-K!

Angelina Jolie's tattoos have meaning and purpose(besides the Billy Bob tat SMH WHY LOL) and the one she got printed on by the Buddhist monk. Original with a capital O. How many people do you know can be considered a fashionista with holding down the tattoos inked on her? None.

well to me the ink in my skin marks the newest steps i'm taking in my life!!

i have 3 and i hope have the number 4 soon!!!

if you do it with a meaning good !! i don't believe in regret of something you decided to do! i understand that if you do think to do something you analise everyone of the pros and cont of that step you're goin to take.... so for me i like tattoos..... and respect the opinions of everyone if you like it? good. if you don't good too, i just know that i like the ink in my skin!i love the ink in my skin

I think she makes a great point about thinking before you ink yourself up. I want a tattoo and I've been considering what to get for about 2 years now. I haven't thought up anything meaningful or original yet so I'm gonna give it some more time.

Please don't let this happen to you:

People will laugh their asses off. It's guaranteed.

INK IS SOMTHING THAT WILL ALWAYS BE IN STYLE. I KNOW PPL WHO JUST GET THEM

WITHOUT ANY KING OF SIGNIFICANCE. I PERSONALLY THINK THE TAT SHOULD MEAN

SOMETHING TO THE PERSON WHO'S GETTING IT B/C IT'S SOMETHING YOU KEEP WITH

YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. 

Tattoos are classic! They are not going anywhere anytime soon! I agree that what the tattoos consist of can be a fad but they will always be around and always be cool. I love self expression and tattoos are a perfect example. I do think that a person should think long and hard about what/where they want to get the ink but, it is a pet peeve of mine when I hear people say...Can you imagine what your tattoos will look like when you are old?.....really?!? I mean come on do you really think my old wrinkled skin would look good without it? Like when I am old some one is going to say...wow you have great old wrinkled, age-spotted skin, too bad you have that tattoo there. Who cares I'm gonna live life and I am going to enjoy it. I think of my tattoos kinda like a scrapbook =)

I have 4 tattoos of my own and who knows if I will get more, but each of my tattoos have a significant meaning, that's why I got them. Unlike one of my little sisters who is 16 and wants to get some random tattoos, because she and her friends think they look cool.

I think when you get a tattoo it should have some kind of meaning, not just getting it because that's what's cool to do, but that's just my opinion.

P.S.- My tattoos include: the Hindi symbol for mother on my neck, a symbol that means lesbian on my right wrist, a paw print symbol thingy on my left wrist that is for my cats, and a quote that says, "Let my lusts be my ruin." on the inside of my right arm. If you want to see my tattoos you can also go to my MySpace(the links on my profile).

I've been around tattoos my entire life. My uncle is a big Harley biker guy who has two full sleeves, 3 pieces on his back, 2 on his legs, and a bunch of stuff on his chest too. I love tattoos there just so amazing. I'm getting my first one sometime this year from my uncle's artist and I plan to get so many more. Tattoos just speak to/and about me so much. I could rant about them for hours honestly.

Sólo Dios puede juzgar de mí.

My friend's friend had a beloved aunt who had been in a concentration camp. When FF was a teenager, the aunt's experiences became a bonding point for them, and they would have these Holocaust tea parties where auntie would bring out the old photo album and tell stories. Auntie's optimism despite everything was amazing to young FF. Over time, they became almost like mother and daughter.

Then auntie died. FF was utterly grief-stricken and wanted to memorialize her with something more unique than a gravestone. She thought back to what had made the friendship so powerful, and she decided to have auntie's concentration camp serial number copied onto her wrist. 

As you should know, every concentration camp prisoner was tattooed with a serial number upon admission, the males on the outside of the left forearm and the females on the inside of the left wrist. This served the double purpose of enabling the Nazis to keep track of large numbers of people without learning anybody's name and dehumanizing the hell out of these poor people (hello, we are here to take your name. You are no longer an individual. You belong to us. That's what you get for being born Jewish, you little dust mite). After the war, each survivor developed their own attitude to their marking, whether it was shame, pride, indifference, horror, guilt, relief, or something else entirely. Auntie had been one of the proud ones. It was a badge of honor to her, reflecting her strength of spirit. Optimistic much?

FF wanted to be optimistic too, so she set out on a long journey of the soul that ended in her getting her own little blue number. First she had to find a body artist who didn't look at her like she had just bitten the head off a kitten when she showed them the picture of her aunt's tattoo. It was a year before she found an artist who was both talented and understanding. Then she had to find the perfect ink. The Nazis used this weird, cheap, blue-purple ink that had a tendency to bleed, and nobody manufactures it anymore. After months of fruitless searching, FF had to go to a chemist and ask him to just make some for her.   

When all was said and done, FF was happy with her decision. She is vividly reminded every day of auntie's high-spiritedness in the face of great adversity. And if she doesn't feel like explaining her tattoo to everyone she meets, she can easily cover it with a bangle. It's a classic great tattoo: well-researched, well-executed, and so deeply personal that it would be tacky on anyone else.

The last years I've been considering getting a 3/4 sleeve, but I think it's funny how most parents think it's dreadful, while many young people find it inspiring and neat.

Unfortunately a lot of people forget to look at the aesthetic part of tattoos thereby making them almost a trend instead of unique pieces of art.

I certainly don't consider my tattoos fashion accessory. They're part of me and my life.

_ _ _ _ _

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." (Dr. Seuss)

...as a heavily inked person (and i do mean heavily) i can agree with all the people saying to think about it, that said go for it! get anything you want no matter how silly, just put it someplace less visible (ie your shoulder, not your forehead) i certainly have a few tattoos that i wouldn't get now, but they will always be there and remind me of where i was at that point in my life, good or bad. i have tattoos to commemorate graduating high school/college, remembering those that i've lost and ones to mark some of the greatest happy and sad moments of my life, just because i wouldn't get them again doesn't mean i don't love them...

and to those who suggest spell check, i suggest a "heritage check" just because you google some shitty kanji that allegedly means true love or something doesn't mean it doesn't actually mean something horrid that will doom you to be laughed at for the rest of your life!!

also i gotta say i think this article is something like 5 years to late...i appreciate your having tattoos, but i'm fairly certain this horse has been beaten to death, zombiefied and then beaten again, oh and then set on fire. and tossed off a cliff!

I want this beautiful sparrow pic i found online and asked the artist if i could cus i don't want something which the artist didn't want me to have, she said yes.

but i'm waiting for a long while just to be sure. I want to incorporate those kinda magicy viney things lena heady has on her arm around the butterflies but different enough so its not copy and paste

Emily I've seen a photo of your back on your facebook I guess it must have been. please post a really clear version of it on here or twitpic it or something, its gorgeous but you can't see all of it in the photo and its not close enough!! Yours wouldn't suit me :( I guess I'll just get one or two smaller ones

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I don't have them myself but I think a strategically placed symbolic tattoo can be very sexy...I once dated a girl who had a tattoo-but I didn't know until we "furthered the relationship" :) and then there they were! :) two delicate tattoos in just the right spot. It was a nice surprise.

I think a tattoo changes the energy of a person...

...if they're done tastefully (of course that's subjective) and I agree with the idea of waiting on it. I'm a major film/tv geek and wanted a tat to symbolize my geek love, but the hardest thing was thinking of a design that expressed both my geek love (in this case Xena: Warrior Princess) and that would be tasteful and last throughout time. I ended up getting Xena's ying/yang chakram and Gabrielle's sai threaded through it on my bicep. It's actually gotten a few cool comments over the years with people mistaking it for a family crest since it's kinda in the shape of an S, which is the first letter of my last name.

Also, put your tat in a place that's appropriate. I don't wear tank tops often and my tats don't show at work, which can be discouraged in most professional work places, tattoo fads and the number of folks who have them be damned.

My second tat I thought about for almost a year, but it was almost eight years in between getting tats - admittedly since I go to a lot of geek cons instead of getting tats! ;D This one was in color and inspired by Imagine Me & You for my Lena Headey geekness - it ended up being a tiger lily with 'I dare you to love me' underneath. (Yes, I did spell check.) I joke that it'll help in getting me dates, but again, it's not screaming geekness yet it means something to me. It was lovely to show the tat to Lena herself a few months ago - she touched it and said how beautiful it was - and then she asked where I got it and the name of the tattoo place promptly few out of my head - it's those damn green eyes of hers! I asked Lena if she takes care of all her tats on a daily basis since my friend (who has 19 tats) drilled that into me and she laughed and said no - naughty Lena! ;pp

...on Lena Headey, one of the most amply inked women in the entertainment industry. :pp

I love how she loves getting tats and makes no apologies for them in this quote: "I personally love them. I find them charming and I feel that they're part of me. A lot of people don't like them, especially in the industry, but everybody has them now. I tell you, if you could find the perfect chemistry for covering up a tattoo, you'd be a billionaire."

They say it's not kosher but I've seen so many Jews with them so I think that 'taboo' in the Jewish community may be sort of ignored really.

In terms of whether it's a trend or not, I think that maybe the whole 'Let's get a tattoo!' for your FIRST tattoo may be sort of a trend/fad or whatever but in terms of getting tattoos after that...what I've heard from so many people with lots of tattoos is that for them it's kinda addictive like, I have one, so why not get 12? In the end. So I think only the first tattoo could be called part of the 'trend' if we can call it that. 

Ok here cometh another impromptu, unasked for, lecture :) As pretty as she is, tats have not been invented by Angelina nor by criminals or pirates from Victorian times. Tats have always been a vital part of human culture, at least since the Stone Age or even earlier. Most probably ever since humans learned how to make dyes and how to mix colours and apply them onto skin. Numerous mummies have been found all over the world with tats still intact. All tribes you can think of, from Maori to Scythes to Inuits to Thracians to Vikings to Egyptian ladies with ther scarab beetle tats had ink done. Tattoos were an important part of our human identity, not just some tramp stamp.

now the tats are finally getting outta the shade and getting a renessaince in the Western world. Good!

Fad? What fad? Like drawing, painting, rites of passage or the art of making yourself pretty and important looking is a fad?

// those harper seals are biaaatchesss - Bridget McManus //