How tattoo styles and trends have changed over the years
James Pasley
A woman watches a client get inked at a tattoo shop in 1984 in Rhode Island.Mary Murphy/AP
- From social security numbers to butterflies, tattoo designs have changed dramatically over the last 150 years.
- From 1960 to 1995, the number of tattoo artists working in the US skyrocketed from 500 to 10,000.
Over the years, tattoos have gone from the outskirts of society into the mainstream.
Tattoo designs have gone through all sorts of trends — from simplistic black-and-white drawings to body art and sleeves to micro tattoos.
According to a 2019 Ipsos poll, 30% of Americans now have a tattoo.
From traditional sailor tattoos to tribal tattoos of the 1990s, here's how tattoos have changed and developed over the last century.
New York City is considered the place where the trend of modern tattoos began. In the mid-19th century, a man named Martin Hildebrandt started tattooing soldiers to ensure they could be identified if they died in battle.
A soldier is tattooed while another looks on aboard a ship in 1890. The Print Collector/Heritage Images via Getty Images
Sources: Time, Grey Journal
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, tattoos became a regular sight at circuses and freak shows, with many performers often completely covered in body art.
A portrait of American circus performer Maud Stevens Wagner, one of the first American female tattoo artists, in 1907. Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Source: Grey Journal
In the early 20th century, black tattoos were the dominant trend. The tattoos were often of graphic images with bold lining.
Two women displaying their back tattoos in 1925. Bettman/Getty
Source: Inked Mag
In the 1930s, when the US first introduced social security numbers, some people decided it was easier to tattoo the number on themselves rather than trying to remember it.
An unemployed lumber worker with his social security number tattooed on his arm. Buyenlarge/Getty Images
Source: Custom Tattoo Design
While the butterfly tattoo would become iconic in the 1990s, they were already being done in England in the 1930s.
British tattooist George Burchett applies a beauty spot to the back of an unspecified woman, just below a tattoo of a butterfly, at his tattoo parlor in London, England, circa 1935. Peter R. Keen/European/FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images
During this period, women regularly dabbled with tattoos, though people often didn't realize it given its subtlety. The tattoos were cosmetic, often used as a way to replicate makeup.
These tattoos included beauty spots, tinted cheeks, and permanent eyebrows.
Source: Grey Journal
Sailors are the most well-known early tattoo converts. Their tattoos were often a way to tell their story or to show where they had travelled.
A sailor aboard the USS New Jersey inspects another sailor's tattoos in December 1944. CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Source: Refinery29
Certain symbols meant certain things. For instance, a turtle meant the sailor had passed across the equator, or a swallow meant they had sailed more than 5,000 miles.
Four men who work as cooks aboard the HMS Belfast show off their tattoos. Central Press/Getty Images
Source: Refinery29
After World War II, American and British tattooists developed their craft and drew from what they had seen inspired by their experience traveling to Asia and seeing how tattoos were done there.
British tattooist George Burchett applies a Chinese dragon tattoo to the arm of Private Keaney, at Burchett's tattoo parlor in London, England, circa 1940. George Konig/Keystone Features/FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Sources: Inked Mag, Refinery29
Thanks in part to Sailor Jerry's popularity, tattoos began to get more colourful in the 1950s.
A woman is tattooed in 1950. Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
Source: Inked Mag
During the 1950s, tattoos were linked to masculinity. The Marlboro man had tattoos and WWII veterans did too. Since veterans were celebrated for their sacrifices, their tattoos became somewhat normalized as well.
Merchant Navy veteran Jack Stapleton, a fireman during the Second World War points to one of many tattoos Pawel Dwulit/Toronto Star via Getty Images
Sources: Grey Journal, Custom Tattoo Design
But at this point, tattoos were still perceived as outside the mainstream.
A tattoo artist etches a design featuring a heart, flowers, and the name "Jenny" on a client's arm. Mary Murphy/AP
Sources: Grey Journal, Custom Tattoo Design
In the 1960s, tattoos started to become more acceptable. Singer Janis Joplin helped popularize tattoos when she got a tattoo of a Florentine bracelet on her wrist, which ended up on the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Rock singer Janis Joplin. Frank Russo/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Sources: Inked Mag, Refinery29
Not everyone condoned them, but for those who were joining the counterculture movement, they were a way to show their rebellion and individuality. And it helped that tattoos were permanent.
A woman smiles from a table as her husband shows how he applies tattoo. Ron Bull/Toronto Star via Getty Images
Sources: Inked Mag, Refinery29, Grey Journal
In the 1970s, more mystical tattoos began to appear — images of castles and fairies, alongside classic biker tattoos like skeletons and flames.
A tattoo of a unicorn in 1984. Mary Murphy/ AP
Sources: Inked Mag, Refinery29
In the 1980s, the punk scene embraced tattoos. Many punks got body art tattoos to complement their spiked hair and piercings.
Two tattooed punks in Amsterdam in 1990. Peter Dejong/AP
Source: Inked Mag
It was also a period where tattoos became more sophisticated due to technological improvements. Needles were made thinner, and better ink was available. People's bodies started to be treated more like canvases.
Tattoo artist Lannie Glover at work. Andrew Stawicki/Toronto Star via Getty Images
Sources: Refinery29, Custom Tattoo Design
This was also when tattoo sleeves and bodysuits started to get popular.
Contestants compare body art at a tattoo show in Australia. Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images
Sources: Refinery29, Custom Tattoo Design
The 1990s were a major period for tattoos globally. In 1995, there were 10,000 tattoo artists working in the US. Thirty-five years earlier, there were only about 500.
A woman named Rose Pulda showed off her tattoos in 1995. Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Source: Refinery29
For the first time, women were getting tattoos as much as men. This led to a surge in more feminine tattoos, such as the iconic butterfly tattoo.
A butterfly tattoo on a client's shoulder. KY Cheng/South China Morning Post via Getty Images
Sources: Inked Mag, Grey Journal
Celebrities had a big impact on the tattoo industry. Tattoos like barbed-wire armbands were popular thanks to Pamela Anderson.
Pamela Anderson with her barbed-wire armband tattoo. Chris Bergman/Fotos International/Getty Images
Sources: Inked Mag, Grey Journal
Rappers like Tupac, Eminem, and 50 Cent all had tattoos and further introduced the trend into a celebrity space.
Tupac Shakur performs in 1994. Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Source: BBC
But it was also during this decade that cultural appropriation had its day as the popularity of tribal tattoos and Chinese letters increased.
A tattoo design on a person's upper bicep with Chinese characters. Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Images
Source: Custom Tattoo Design
In the early 2000s, a trend known as New School was popular. These cartoonish tattoos were a mixture of neon-colours meeting more traditional forms.
A man shows off the tattoos on his back at the annual New York Tattoo Convention on May 17, 2003 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Source: Refinery29
It wasn't just the type of tattoo in the early 2000s that mattered, but also where they were located. This was the era when lower back tattoos became more prevalent.
A lower back tattoo from 1998. Fryderyk Gabowicz/picture alliance via Getty Images
Source: Allure
Along with the iconic butterfly, yin-and-yang became a popular tattoo design.
A man has the Chinese yin-and-yang symbol tattooed on his foot. Peter Endig/picture alliance via Getty Images
Source: Custom Tattoo Design
It was a period where some tattoos would probably be regretted later — especially given their permanent nature.
Eric Hartsburg, an Indiana-based wrestler and one-time fan of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who tattooed the Romney campaign logo on his face, is seen at the office of a doctor who specializes in removing tattoos, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012. Nick Ut/AP
Luckily in 2012, the FDA approved the Picosure laser, which made tattoo removal the easiest it had ever been.
A man undergoes treatment for removal of his tattoo with laser method in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 23, 2022. Dwi Ari Prastyanto/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Source: Allure
Throughout the 2010s, celebrity culture — with the help of social media — made tattoos even more popular. Popular figures like Lady Gaga and Rihanna broadened the appeal to their millions of fans.
Rihanna poses with her tattoos in 2009. Ray Tamarra/Getty Images
By 2012, 21% of Americans had a tattoo.
Darryl Veer, owner of tattoo shop "Tradtoo," looks at pictures of previous tattoos made in Lelystad, Netherlands, on January 10, 2023. Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP
Source: Ipsos
Alongside celebrities, tattoo artists gained their own fair share of stardom, like celebrity tattoo artist Dr. Woo.
Tattoo artist Dr Woo in 2017. JB Lacroix/WireImage via Getty Images
Source: Vice
Micro tattoos were one of the defining trends, according to Ink Mag.
A woman with a tiny hanger tattoo on her neck on Feb 25, 2016. Giorgos Georgiou/NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Source: Inked Mag
Finger placement tattoos became popular, with quirky small designs like moustaches, hearts, or smiley faces.
A love heart finger tattoo. Gisela Schober/Getty Images for Roomers Munich
Source: Custom Tattoo Design
Another trend was geometrical shapes. This tattoo is designed to represent a soldier's three tours of the Middle East.
Soldier Farley Fergerson points to a tattoo symbolizing his three deployments in the Middle East. Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Source: Allure
Stick-and-poke tattoos — a form of non-electric tattooing — were also on trend. By 2019, about 30% of Americans had tattoos.
A tattoo artist works on a man’s back with the stick-and-poke method in 2016. Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images
Sources: Refinery29, Ipsos
As for the current moment, tattooists told Insider in January that micro tattoos, full color pieces, and bold subtle line tattoos were popular.
A stock image of a heavily tattooed male. Mike Harrington/Getty Images
Meanwhile, tribal designs, white-ink tattoos, and pre-drawn tattoos were becoming less common.
Source: Insider
With technology making everything from getting the tattoo to removing it easier and less painful, little stands in the way of the permanent body art continuing to grow in popularity in the future.
A participant gets a tattoo by a tattoo artist at the Land of ink Bangkok Tattoo Convention 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand, 03 December 2022. Anusak Laowilas/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Source: WKYC
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