Well, hardly ever. I mean, they’re supposed to last for life, and I see so many young people sporting tattoos all up their arms/legs, even hands. It’s very common - but surely it follows logic that the older generation must have them too? Unless they get them lasered off…?
I’m on the bus right now and there’s a 50-something lady with a colourful tattoo of an anchor on her upper arm and some stars on her neck. It’s like the first time I’m seeing an older person with tattoos - she stands out. I wonder how old she was when got it done?
Re: How come you never see old people with tattoos?
I’ve seen a few older people with tattoos.. and it tends to look horrible (I thought about when I got older and made a point of having something small and in a place usually covered and private)..
Tattoos obviously used to be more of a niche thing, not as common as nowadays, so wouldn’t expect to see that many people with them anyway..
Re: How come you never see old people with tattoos?
it wasn’t a in-thing in the olden days i believe. it has prolly become more popular recently [like 2-3ack, prolly the Hell’s Angel culture].
one thing i’ve noticed in India that a lot of older Hindus [even in their 90’s] had religious tattoos … Devis’ and Devtas’ names, like Ram, and religious symbol like swastika…engraved on their upper or lower arms.
Re: How come you never see old people with tattoos?
In former tribal areas, it’s not uncommon to see older generations with tattoos. The tattoos might not be something flashy and obvious like they are now, but they did get them.
Re: How come you never see old people with tattoos?
We also have to take into account that tattoos have only become more accepted in recent years. In decades past, they were generally viewed negatively by society. It’s likely that older people who have tattoos, have them in places that are covered by clothing.
That said, I have a couple of older patients who have visible tattoos. One is an elderly gentleman in his 90s who was a RAF pilot during WW2. The other is a gentleman in his 60s who is rather into motocycles.
Re: How come you never see old people with tattoos?
one day 80 year old grandfather wanted tattoo of his 20 year old grand daughter.
When tattoo artist finished, old man said whattttt you made picture of my wife
In a white collar corporate environment, youd be lucky to see any tattoos.
When youre just out and about, you just dont notice it on old people. With your example on the bus, theres not much else that can catch ur eye at your location.
If you work in a labour intensive or blue collar environment, I can guarantee you’ll see a lot more tattoos on a lot of older people.
Furthermore, older people wouldnt wear clothes specifically to show off one’s body art, for many reasons.
I dont think the number of people getting tattoed in the past was significantly lower. I dont have any evidence but I would just imagine that people in the past actually had a lot more meaning stuff to tattoo about. Nowadays people arent even sure.
A good friend of mine is a tattoo artist and stated that a significant portion of her clients get tattoos just for the heck it and pick a random design from a flipbook.
I was in MAC the other day and this mua had shorts and a crop top on she was covered in tattos full sleeve designs on arms and legs, belly back side of her head.. Only her face was clear, only thing that came to my head is ‘will she regret them when shes old’
Re: How come you never see old people with tattoos?
“You will regret it when you get old” has to be one of the weakest arguments against getting a tattoo. You will be old and without a shirt on you will look gross anyway, a tattoo or two at that point would amount to pissing in the ocean. Having said that, there are plenty of good reasons not to get a tattoo.
