Will tattoos go out of fashion?

[Esceptico]

When I was a child, very few people had tattoos. There was quite a negative view towards tattoos and they certainly weren’t fashionable.

Fast forward 50 years and they seem to be everywhere. So ubiquitous that any shock value has long since dissipated.

Is it just a fad and will tattoos again become unpopular or taboo? Or are they here to stay forever?

Using that horrid US phrase - I don’t have any skin in the game, not having any tattoos although I find it interesting as my older brother had some quite noticeable ones done 45 years ago and it was definitely something unusual and frowned upon at that time.

[GitsNovelties]

A lot of regret coming up for a lot of people!

Anyone with a betty Boo on their Calf, or a barbwire around their upper arm from 1990- they don't look so cool now they are 50, but there are not that many of them becasue it was a bit of a fad then
Same aging will happen and the next generation will see that times alot in their parents , that will put them off IMO

[LosingGrip]

They won’t go out of fashion but styles will change as always.

[shirt]

They’ve been around for 5000 years or more so doubt they’ll fizzle out soon.

Does anyone get a tattoo for shock value? I would say not.

Sure, plenty of people will regret one done in haste but plenty others won’t. I doubt a faded tat will be top of the worry list when you’re in a care home.

[Sheets Tabuer]

When I were a lad ( I know, I know) tattoos were everywhere they were just under shirts, I grew up in a pub and all the old servicemen after a few pints would start taking their shirts off and compare them.

[McGee_22]

They've undoubtedly become mainstream and despite protestations I do believe from taking to a lot of people that the initial tattoo was had for some kind of shock/look-at-me/aren't I cool/aren't I a rebel reason but that subsequent ones less so.

The shock value these days is finding someone without a tattoo - really rare and quite individual as a choice

I was in the Navy and most Tats were drunken run ashore things with subsequent amounts of sobering up regret - even for subsequent ones. These days I believe any inebriation will preclude you from getting one done.

[RichTT]

Body modification is becoming more and more extreme, not less.

[vikingaero]

Everywhere I go, there are more and more tattoo shops/parlours opening up, normally with an advertorial tag line of "I'm offering something different that the town doesn't have".

Where I work, I see many of the youngsters, who might earn £1.5k pm, but have already allocated £600-800 on a new tattoo. Fortunately they live at home, but as a consequence of the need to tattoo, never have any money. It seems to be a very InstaSnapFace thing of showing off your new tattoo to garner approval from your peers - "yeah, it's meant to be a monkey-snow-leopard-on-acid, cos my grandad went to Whipsnade once as a kid and really liked them".

[TwigtheWonderkid]

I think they are starting to become less popular as they become more common. My two sons (early mid 20s) think tattoos are "lame" and a waste of money. Hardly any of their friends have got any either.

Lots of people in our family have them (not me or the wife, but wife's sister, my brother, my nephew) but in our house, none.

[Gareth1974]

GitsNovelties said:

A lot of regret coming up for a lot of people!

Anyone with a betty Boo on their Calf, or a barbwire around their upper arm from 1990- they don't look so cool now they are 50, but there are not that many of them becasue it was a bit of a fad then
Same aging will happen and the next generation will see that times alot in their parents , that will put them off IMO

I don't think tattoos will go out of fashion, but certain styles of tattoos will become unfashionable like the examples above.

The difference now is the fashion for having facial tattoos. Not many people had a Betty Boo tattoo on their forehead in the 90s.

[oddman]

As a medic people have been taking their clothes off in front of me for almost forty years.

In the eighties 'professional' tattoos on men were usually

military & maritime - these were often recognisable as having been military insignia or some such but no detail could be discerned on old skin
hardcore gay (Muscle Mary types)
definitely not mainstream in working class men - very occasional football insignia

Self administered or amateur tattoos on men

prison
not very bright/disturbed

Tattoos on women

prostitutes
hardcore gay
disturbed - often other evidence of self mutilation
very very occasional 'artistic' tattoo - tiny rose or dolphin on posh girls.

Facial tattoos on either - very disturbed - almost prama facie evidence of serious childhood abuse/personality disorder

After about the '90s they started turning up on young people; later on menopausal men and women. So they have completely lost any diagnostic value. FWIW I never found them to be frightening - probably because my older male cousins are inked (military and naughty boys).

I never got any not through any strong antipathy but I have never done anything significant enough to be worth commemorating and don't have the physique to display them.

My kids are 19 and 21. Lad thinks they are 'lame'. Daughter is gay, arty and 'edgy' so no doubt at some point she'll turn up with a selction of those sht monochrome, 'ironic' cartoons inked onto her

[TheJimi]

This thread is gonna be a wet dream for the anti-tattoo mob

[vikingaero]

TheJimi said:

This thread is gonna be a wet dream for the anti-tattoo mob

I don't care if anyone does have a tattoo. It's their body, and if it makes it happier then all power to them. Just do it for the right reasons rather than being a sheeple.

[ade73]

oddman said:

hardcore gay (Muscle Mary types)

That's getting used on the protein shake slurping knackers at work.

[duffy78]

vikingaero said:

I don't care if anyone does have a tattoo. It's their body, and if it makes it happier then all power to them. Just do it for the right reasons rather than being a sheeple.

Can you please tell me the right reasons just so I know next time I get a tattoo as obviously I wouldn't want to do it for the wrong ones.

[vikingaero]

duffy78 said:

vikingaero said:

I don't care if anyone does have a tattoo. It's their body, and if it makes it happier then all power to them. Just do it for the right reasons rather than being a sheeple.

Can you please tell me the right reasons just so I know next time I get a tattoo as obviously I wouldn't want to do it for the wrong ones.

I can understand people having a tattoo as a reminder of their Nan/Grandad. The wrong reason would be something like: "I'm going to have a tribal tattoo on my lower back to be different...."

[shirt]

vikingaero said:

I can understand people having a tattoo as a reminder of their Nan/Grandad. The wrong reason would be something like: "I'm going to have a tribal tattoo on my lower back to be different...."

No different to wanting anything for any reason. Do it, regret it later, or not.

There’s the kind of sneering starting to creep in that people use purely because they themselves wouldn’t do/own a certain thing, belittling it just because it isn’t their personal choice and marking it out as being somehow wrong.

[vikingaero]

shirt said:

vikingaero said:

I can understand people having a tattoo as a reminder of their Nan/Grandad. The wrong reason would be something like: "I'm going to have a tribal tattoo on my lower back to be different...."

No different to wanting anything for any reason. Do it, regret it later, or not.

There’s the kind of sneering starting to creep in that people use purely because they themselves wouldn’t do/own a certain thing, belittling it just because it isn’t their personal choice and marking it out as being somehow wrong.

It's much like modified cars. They may not be to my taste, but I appreciated the engineering and effort that has gone into it. And with some tattoos, some are fantastic works of art, and others less so.

[oddman]

ade73 said:

oddman said:

hardcore gay (Muscle Mary types)

That's getting used on the protein shake slurping knackers at work.

TBF tattooing is only one strand of a trend for hypermasculinity. Growth in size and muscularity of men is something else I've observed over the years - clue - protein shakes aren't entirely responsible.

I see tattoos and other features of hypermasculinisation as the counterpart to the lip filler, botox hyperfeminine trend in women.
Suspect, as others here, a communication system/culture which favours pictures over other values and ideas is somewhat to blame

[duffy78]

vikingaero said:

I can understand people having a tattoo as a reminder of their Nan/Grandad. The wrong reason would be something like: "I'm going to have a tribal tattoo on my lower back to be different...."

You dont need a reason to get a tattoo, it can just be because something looks nice and yes also if you just want to feel different to the mainstream or the same as a peer group (thinking rockers, emo, goths, hipsters etc)

It's up to the individual involved imo.

Edited by duffy78 on Thursday 24th February 10:39