Biomechanical and cybernetic tattoos, very Japanese in style and straight out of steam punk culture, are hard to criticize as they look so cool. But they will still be my first example to show you that a tattoo can be both stylish and dangerously ephemeral. Because I unfortunately do not give very much to this cultural niche in the next twenty years..
Old school movement tattoos
We touch on more mainstream references: many oldschool tattoos refer to the world of rock’n’roll, whether it’s the pinup or the anchor.
TRADITIONAL TATTOOS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC
The word traditional evokes more cultural or religious movements millennia, or at least secular.
You already know the best known, made sadly famous by dubious tastes and choices without real conviction: tribal tattoos and Chinese tattoos (dragons and all its possible and imaginable variants).
It’s probably one of the worst possible choices to make, unless you’ve spent years in total immersion among the Maori.
As much as the first is sadly classic, the second is already more original. Still, there’s no point in doing it if you don’t have a real attachment to this Polynesian tribal culture.
CHINESE AND JAPANESE MEN TATTOO
Their aesthetics are very similar: often scenes of battles, samurai and dragons. They are also ultra worked with myriads of shadows and colors.
On the other hand, they are culturally more reserved for Chinese or Japanese gangs, and the dragon as we see so often does not therefore have much meaning