It's 2014, people, and it seems that the trend of putting ink (art, in some cases, and depending on your opinion!) on one's body is as in vogue as ever, even to the extent of seemingly very conservative (as in, old?!) types giving in to the urge or need to join the club. I find it a quite fascinating conundrum, and I can sort of understand how some older types apparently agonise over the big "Should I, or shouldn't I" - but I only said "sort of"!
Don't get me wrong. On the "right" person, it "works". In the good old days, the "right" person was a sailor, and seeing an anchor on the forearm of a crusty old salt still makes great sense today, even if they are senior citizens. In more recent times, tattoos have been more heavily associated with rock stars and other forms of rebel celebrities. In case it needs clarification, the term "rebel" simply means those who rebelled against or were simply lucky enough to have escaped the mind-numbing conservatism of a typical nine-to-five office-bound life. Society bound and ruled, like the most of us are.
The rules are different for those who get paid to be and look different, but for the rest of the world and certainly in the business world, well, there has always been a negative stigma associated with anyone who has a hulking great dragon showing through their designer shirt or blouse. There is a wildness inherently implied by a supposedly "normal" person sporting something so adventurous, and it can most definitely change how one is perceived by others in the workplace. You can just hear the stiffly starched CEO asking his secretary "Do you think she has a drug problem?"
Such issues are not an issue for those free of the barbed wire of societal mores, such as superstar tattoo artiste and all-round great gal, Kat Von D, pictured above. In many ways, tattoos are not that different from clothes, with the exception that clothes can get pulled off in an instant. But just like our clothes, they are a form of personal expression, and additionally, when it works it works, and when it doesn't, well, it simply doesn't. Kat somehow manages to make it all work and still come across as impossibly glamorous - the question is, why?! Or, how? It's a rather simple answer actually - because it is real, it is her, and it is a bold and clear statement of who she truly is.
I cannot help but feel that tattoos are like leather pants or bright Ferrari-red hair: they can look fantastic on the "right" person, and totally out of place on the "wrong" person. Don't get me wrong, dear friends, I am not in any way criticising any individual's right to choose, but you know what I mean. Seeing a 19-year-old tattooed gal heading out to a club or a 26-year-old musician strutting around town in tight leather pants apparently fits, but seeing your middle-aged dad wearing his old leather pants to go see geriatric rockers (e.g. The Rolling Stones ;) reunited once again, sort of doesn't!
That's why we have mirrors in changing rooms. We can try on all sorts of mini-adventures on ourselves, stare in horror at the sight reflecting back at us or even fall down laughing at the mere concept of being seen out in public like that. The point being that it's a very transient adventure; one that can be ripped off with lightning speed before someone we know shows up in the same store. Tattoos, however, are a lot more permanent. Notwithstanding of course the arrival of "cover-up" tattoos onto the scene; yet that burgeoning trend is in and of itself a sure sign of the regret that can build up and seep through the form of what was once a "tattoo for life!"
You see, Dad can still pull those leather pants off and throw them into the closet where they probably belong. But Mum can't do very much to hide that tramp stamp ( a hideously over-indulged tattoo trend that truly ages a generation of even rather young women today) other than cover it up! This is what most people don't consider when putting ink on themselves - a lot of the trends that are red-hot today, actually age you ten years down the line - the total opposite of the "cool" they (maybe) once gave you. Honestly, most of those people with an armband of some description or other around one entire upper arm look the total opposite of what the idea was; today it's more old and uncool as opposed to young and hip.
Kids should look at even their own parents, and see how they react to seeing old pics of themselves in high school, college, when first married, etc. The most striking thing is almost universally, how ridiculous the hair and pants look! And funnily enough, that's quite normal. Fashion changes quite drastically during a single lifetime, but the beauty of fashion is that we simply discard it and move on. Ditto the haircuts and styles. But you can't really do that with a tat, and if it's permanently exposed on you - well, you surely are branded with it! In many ways, the more the pair of pants or tattoo is directly linkable to a certain trend of period of time, the more it will age you if you are still wearing it 10-20 years later. Think!
Kids should look at even their own parents, and see how they react to seeing old pics of themselves in high school, college, when first married, etc. The most striking thing is almost universally, how ridiculous the hair and pants look! And funnily enough, that's quite normal. Fashion changes quite drastically during a single lifetime, but the beauty of fashion is that we simply discard it and move on. Ditto the haircuts and styles. But you can't really do that with a tat, and if it's permanently exposed on you - well, you surely are branded with it! In many ways, the more the pair of pants or tattoo is directly linkable to a certain trend of period of time, the more it will age you if you are still wearing it 10-20 years later. Think!
Now don't get me wrong, again - if you are very creative and insist on not only having very original artsy designs done (i.e. not potentially dating yourself by following trends), but are also smart enough to locate them where they may only show, say, in a swimsuit or sportswear setting, but can't be seen in business attire - that's very savvy. Like it or not, while the business world has shifted to more casual attire, I am not sure that tattoos (especially multiples thereof) are seen the same way.
For younger kids, I think it's important to find out what and who they are going to be, before they start to define their image simply by being adorned in ink. And lest we forget - it does appear to be quite addictive, like piercing. Once you start, feel the sting, get the endorphin rush, you just wanna go back for more, more, more! It's maybe a bit like smoking or any other drug - as long as you don't start, you can't get addicted. But if you dive in, well, you're in and may end up in the deep end. If people could just settle for having one killer defining and distinctive tattoo there would be no discussion, but it seems one is rarely enough.
The ideal age for tattoos might be somewhere between 20 and 30, if people have to do it. Old enough where no one can stop you, and you have begun to figure out who you are going to be in life, perhaps. As to the new trend of those who are already 40-ish suddenly waking up into an inkwell of mid-life crisis, and going out and getting something wild put onto their forearm or the small of their back - I guess I just don't get it. It's as if they don't feel unique enough or differentiated enough, and see young people doing it, and it''s maybe the cheaper version of going out at 55 and buying the Porsche and racing around town in it with the top down?!
But while it's one thing to see a 19-year-old strutting around with their new tattoo, it's quite another to see it on someone considerably older. Rarely does it look that good, and even more rarely does it seem to "work" or fit. It's some form of identity mid-life crisis, requiring a form of expression not previously deemed acceptable, or as if one finally realised that haircut and clothes and car (and, God forbid, mere personality!) are simply not enough to let the world know who you are. Even if one shouldn't really care about that, if one is all grown up. However, there's something a lot more "attention-seeking" in a clear-skinned 40-something suddenly showing up at work with the proverbial skull and crossbones.
As conversation-inducing as tattoos are, the one thing most seem to agree on is how not-so-good they look on old, sagging skin. You can't help but feel that some of these people are going to look truly weird, at 65 or 70, covered in ink and designs, but with the wrinkles distorting the supposed message, and them dressed in their Walgreen's ad pants and unable to remember where they got that tattoo done or why. Or, ironically, it setting them apart socially even at that age, and their peers not wanting to hang out with that guy. He's weird!
I suppose it all comes down to those who live in and for the moment, and never think of ever being that age - "hope I die before I get old" - and those who see a bigger picture and worry more about what they will look like or who they will appear to be - even some twenty years hence. It's not that different from smoking, for example. Some refuse to do it or quit because they want to be healthy and alive later in life, while others shrug and say "Who cares if I am sick in thirty years time, I will be old anyway!" - but of course, at some point or another, we almost all begin to look at that classic hope-I-die-before-I-get-old line in a new light. That includes Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey, I am pretty sure!
I don't mean to be sanctimonious because maybe it's me who is an old conservative fuddy-duddy, after all. The bottom line is - those who love tattoo art and use it as a form of self-expression will do so and good luck to them! But, for those who really are scared of it or worry about how it will impact their lives, but feel peer pressure to do it - I say, look inside of yourself and see everything that you have and are, which, combined with your personal sense of style and your various passions in life can make way more of an imprint on other people's lives than some imprint on your arm will make on yours! If tattoos are not your thing, find another way of expressing your uniqueness and your brand message!
Now then, I feel my very own mini-identity crisis coming on, and I am off to the back of the closet to see if that black Smith's T-shirt with the blue logo and the sideways face in grey is still in there and if it still fits me - that's my idea of one killer body tattoo! That comes from the Meat is Murder tour at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and even if that ages me a bit, like some ancient tattoo, well I guess it's still so cool that I simply don't care! Maybe that's the point, and I have more in common with the tattoo gang after all?! Oh my God, I am off out to get "This Charming Man" writ large across my chest, y'all! ;) - Kevin Mc
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