# wanting a tattoo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 19, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891 "2011-02-19T06:23:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891/41 "2011-02-21T21:53:04Z")
Yeah, tattoos fade - that’s why you get a touch-up. Tattoos need to be worked on periodically to keep them looking good, and anyone serious about them understands this. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891/42 "2011-02-21T21:57:39Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > When the tattoo -on-youth thing first started in the early 80’s, I saw more than a couple of [these](http://machetemfg.com/ProductImages/stray-cats/childrens-wear/stray-cats-toddler-tee_lg.jpg) on people. Does anyone under 40 even know who The Stray Cats were? They were an international sensation for a couple of years back then. The youngest person I know with a Stray Cats tattoo is 22. They’re still very well known, and not just in the Rockabilly scene. Also, it’s a great design. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891/43 "2011-02-22T03:18:56Z")
I waited until I was 25 to get my first tatt. I had always wanted one since I was a teen, but knew I would get something stupid, so waited until I was ready to make a lifelong commitment to a design. My first tatt was an anklet on my left ankle, my own design. I have since gotten three more, each bigger than the last. I am working on #5, but even with my artist giving a flat fee ( = discount), it will cost over $1,000 so it may be a couple more years before I can give up that amount of cash. I’m 40 now - and female. All of mine are coverable, in the summer of course the anklet is easily seen, and my sea dragon peeks out from under short sleeves. I think the quality and placement of the artwork says a lot about someone. Obvious amateur work always makes the wearer look like an idiot. Names and portraits should be verboten unless the person is dead, IMO. I’ve only seen a couple of tatts above the shoulder that seemed OK, and they definitely weren’t those stupid cursive names. If what’s on the neck is part of a larger, beautifully done piece, I would think more positively about it. Definitely don’t get a rose tattoo of any kind, IMO. They’re so common, even if it’s your own design it will look like flash. And flash is the LAST thing you want on your body! ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891/44 "2011-02-22T03:43:47Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > During that year, you can post a picture of what you want on your mirror or somewhere you will have to see it every day, and see if you don’t get sick of it. This is excellent advice. My friend’s husband is a tattoo artist, and when people are asking about getting their 1st tat, he’ll work out a design with them, and then prints several copies of it. He tells them to put them around in places where they’ll see it all the time; on the desk, taped to the bathroom mirror, on the fridge, on top of the TV and even in the car. Give it a couple of months and see if you still like it. Getting a temporary henna version is a good idea, too. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891/45 "2011-02-23T02:20:38Z")
[An excellent point/counterpoint from the Red vs. Blue guys](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2pSt2gACrc) Personally, I never thought I would get a tattoo, but I had something happen of deep personal significance which I thought it was important to remind myself of on a daily basis. Even then I waited for months to make sure I still felt the same way. I’m not saying your design doesn’t look cool, but if that’s your only reason for getting it then I’d advise against it. Your tastes and personal style may change, and there are a lot of other, non-permanent ways you can distinguish yourself. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891/46 "2011-02-23T02:26:31Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Yeah, tattoos fade - that’s why you get a touch-up. Tattoos need to be worked on periodically to keep them looking good, and anyone serious about them understands this. I believe that serious tattoo enthusiasts understand this. I was talking about people like those in that regrets show. I doubt that such people realize that they’re going to need to do maintenance on the tattoo to keep it looking nice. Anyone who was serious about tattoos would have enough sense not to tattoo the name of some guy they’d been dating for a few months, but it still happens. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891/47 "2011-02-24T12:43:32Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > Make sure that the tattoo you choose is something that you will still find meaningful or at least will have some value to you in 15, 20 or 30 years. So you’d suggest a tattoo of a fusion-powered bio-dome, or a pair of hover-slippers? ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891/48 "2011-02-24T16:37:23Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > I’d recommend that the next time you go to your goth clubs, that you take a look around and check the ages of the people there. Goth culture has been around a long time, and it seems to be solidly a youth movement. People in their teen and early twenties are really, really into it, but you don’t see nearly as many in their late twenties, and hardly any over 30. > . Heh. I get what you’re saying, **but** clubs/clubbing aren’t a requirement of “goth culture”\*. I’d say your age separations apply to any club at all (goth club, frat/sorority club, techno club, top 40 club, etc) and it’s due to having a full time job, possibly a family and other time commitments and interests that make going to a club not how they want to spend their diminished free time anymore. I know a lot of “elder goths” (have been around since the late 70s/early 80s, usually) in their 40s-50s. They don’t go to clubs, no, but they definitely exist. [sub]I apparently give off a Goth Vibe no matter what I do. Sure, in high school I had black eyeliner, tons of silver jewelry, velvet and so on. But pretty steadily, I have people tell me that when they first met me, they “thought you were one of them goths”, even though I’d be in, say, an office environment wearing standard business casual stuff. I don’t even stick to all or mostly black, either![/sub] - heh heh, I always find it funny when a subculture gets called a “culture”, “lifestyle”, or what have you. I mean, technically I guess it IS, but IME people who use the phrase are either 1- total outsiders who take it far too seriously (usually considering it dangerous or threatening) or 2- people in the subculture who take it waaaaaaay too seriously, where most other members roll their eyes at them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wanting-a-tattoo/571891.md?page=2)