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As tattoos have gained mass popularity there have been a lot of different tattoos that have gone out of style. Sometimes it’s due to general taste change and sometimes it’s due to things becoming outdated. One major contributing factor must be that as tattoos have gained traction the styles and possibilities have expanded massively. There are options in abundance now.
So let’s take a look at 11 tattoos that have gone out of style over the years.
11. Clocks
Out of all the tattoos that have gone out of style clocks are unique. Why? Well, the tattoo of a lone clock has dropped drastically in popularity, but clocks haven’t dropped as much. These days you find clocks integrated beautifully into other pieces. We still like this one.
10. Dedications
Whether it’s a child’s birthdate, an anniversary, or a memorial tattoo for a loved one, dedications used to be big. We aren’t sure why these are among the tattoos that have gone out of style. Maybe, hopefully, fewer people are dying. Yet when we see these, although pretty faded, it still warms our hearts.
That is unless it’s the type of tattoo that we call “The Cringe”
9. Celtic Knots
Honestly, we aren’t sure why the Celtic knot has gone out of style. The intricacies and varieties of the Celtic knot are stunning. Yet most of the time when you see one it’s usually noticeably old and faded. This is majorly unfortunate as all the variations of the Celtic knot are pretty fucking cool.
So to find out why this has happened we decided to ask some artists that used to do a lot of these. The general consensus was that not only was getting a Celtic knot right was hard to get right, but also with the rise of the geometrical tattoo style Celtic knots seemed to diminish. Is correlation causation in this case?
8. A Compass
The compass is a pretty cool tattoo. In fact, it was one of the ideas I had for one of my first tattoos. Yet before I was old enough to get any a good friend of mine ended up getting a beautiful version first. I was jealous at first, but it looks great on him.
Honestly, we don’t know why these are among the tattoos that have gone out of style. They are really nice.
7. Nautical Stars
Nautical stars were really big back when tattoos were primarily for sailors. Yet they remained popular as tattoos gained traction with the layfolk. Hell, one of my ex-girlfriends had one on the back of each leg. Nowadays you don’t see many, if any, new ones, but seeing an old one reminds us of what it took tattoos to get the acceptance they now have.
6. Pin-up Girls
It’s not overly surprising that the pin-up girl is among the tattoos that have gone out of style over the years. Another popular tattoo from the days of sailors and Sailor Jerry tattoos. Just looking at the one above I’m sure it’s apparent why someone wouldn’t want to sport one of these anymore.
5. The Compass Rose
If it wasn’t a compass it was some variation of the compass rose. Definitely not as cool as a compass, the compass rose is still a cool tattoo with the right execution. Yet that execution was rare. This led to a lot of Compass Roses that looked very similar. Hence it going out of style.
4. Anchors Away!
From the late ’90s to the late 2000s the anchor was petty prevalent. I still remember my best friend’s sisters’ boyfriend showing off his new anchor tattoo when I was in middle school. It was a mass phenomenon for years. To a point that it almost made our list of overdone tattoos. In fact, it probably should have.
After all, how can we ignore the cringe that was the anchor paired with “I refuse to sink”? We’ll be happy if that variation stay among the tattoos that have gone out of style. Anchors themselves are welcome back.
3. Western “Tribal”
One of our most despised tattoos. We are elated these are among the many tattoos that have gone out of style. Western “tribal” tattoos were almost always poorly done. In our opinion, they are also a horrible mimicry of traditional tribal tattoos.
One could assume that they are based on either the Hawaiian or Iban tribal styles. Alas, they come short. Amounting only to weird squiggly lines with sharp points that mean next to nothing. Luckily with the fall of the western “tribal” tattoo, the traditional tribal styles have increased astronomically. As they deserve.
2. The Mom Tatt
Almost everyone loves their mom. Some love them so much that they get a tattoo for them. Chances are you’ve seen the memes and jokes about it. The big heart with mom in the middle planted squarely on the shoulder of a momma’s boy. A classic from a time before tattoo popularity if nothing else.
These days most people would cringe if they saw someone getting it. It wouldn’t be surprising if tattoo artists tried talking people out of them. Yet we’ve seen a couple in our time. Needless to say, it’s not surprising that these have gone out of style.
1. The Tramp Stamp
Oh, man. The good ole tamp stamp. Everyone born before the year 2000 knows about the tramp stamp. Almost forgotten until How I met your mother brought it back to the forefront of people’s minds.
Tramp stamps usually consisted of one of three things. There was the butterfly, the heart, or some sort of western “tribal” something or other. Often it would be some combination of two or three. Although those are a tad cringe I never really understood why getting a tattoo here was so stigmatized. It’s just the bottom of your back. At the time the world stigmatized tattoos in general. So getting a tattoo here, where it’s easily covered up, seems like a pretty good idea to me.
They are the most famous of the tattoos that have gone out of style. Yet we wouldn’t mind seeing them come back. As long as people are more creative with what they put there cause the old ideas are pretty yikes.
After all, people are calling the underboob tattoo the new tramp stamp. Some are pretty cringey, but others are really fucking cool. Yet that pertains to anywhere someone gets a tattoo. So you do you and be proud!
Let’s Clean It and Wrap It Up
As time goes on more and more tattoos will join the tattoos that have gone out of style. It’s inevitable. Many already have. Chances are that as you read this there is a tattoo going out of style somewhere in the world. As tattoo popularity continues to grow so will the list of tattoos that have gone out of style.
For now, here are 11 of the most prominent tattoos that have gone out of style.
Are there any of these that you think should make a comeback? Do you have any yourself? Let us know!
As always you can submit any tattoos you’ve gotten or done (for the artists out there) to tattoos@nomadicinscriptions.com. Feel free to also send artist recommendations there or to our Instagram, @nomadicinscriptions.
Stay authentic, stay nomadic, and let the world inscribe itself on you as you do on it.
