Saturday, August 10, 2013

Trending Body Mods

So I've been talking to tattoo artists and piercers the last few weeks and I've been asking all of them, "What are the hot new tattoos (or piercings) that everyone is getting these days?" I'm not going to attribute these to anyone...so you'll have to just trust me here.

Top Tattoo: 
words on your ribs

This was pretty unanimous. Every artist or receptionist told me this is what all the kids are getting these days. Other notables: words on the side of the hand, feathers, owls, the infinity symbol (?)

Top Piercing:
Nipple


yep, sudden spike in nipple piercings. A few others said there's been a spike in navel piercings, but they said that happens in the summer. One piercer said he noticed a spike in older folks coming in for piercings... old like in their 40s-50s...odd

Thoughts? Those of you across the globe, what's trending in your neck of the woods?

8 comments:

  1. I've definitely seen both of those trends (unfortunately and quite by accident, in the case of nipple piercings), and I'm not even a body modder! I don't know if there's any real cause - maybe just one of those things?

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  2. I love my nipple piercings, had them for a few years, but I can't get into rib tats, it's so hard to show off, and that area tends to get mushy quite fast as you age lol. My aunt, who is 43, just got a small nose stud, so yeah I guess older folks getting work done is on the rise.

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  3. 40s is old? Seriously? Maybe for someone in their early 20s, but I can assure you that 40s (and 50s) in this day and age is not old and it's certainly not too old for piercings and tattoos ... says the 41 year old who will be getting more tattoos very soon. ;) MUAH!

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    1. ah jeez. i guess I did sound a bit agist up there. if it makes any difference, i'm not in my early 20s. i (and the piercer) was referring to the typical market demographic of folks who get piercings--which was traditionally people in their teens/20s. if the demographic's getting older, they're continuing to get more piercings. if the older folks are getting piercings (especially something more extreme like nipple piercings) for the first time, that still seems unusual to me.

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    2. Actually it's really not that odd because by the time you're 40 and 50 you have the money to do the things that you really want to do. Most people my age and older who start getting piercings and tattoos later in life are doing so because 1. these things represent a major milestone like a birth or death of a loved one, overcoming sickness, etc., 2. are representing who they are and where they've been and how hard they've worked to get there (it's just not a whim), and 3. are sometimes going through a midlife crisis. Tattoos and piercings are the new sports car for this generation, especially if done after a particularly messy divorce. This age bracket these days is a much younger, more vibrant age bracket than it used to be. A good bunch of us were punk rockers "back in the day" and still have that youth, spirit and sense of rebellion. Sometimes we get stuck in a situation that robs us of that and therefore we are trying to find ways to feel like our old self. Piercings and tattoos can be covered up (as long as they're in the right place) and can lend themselves to acts of self-expression.

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  4. Words on your ribs, own, triangles and all those tumblr shit tattoos make me so mad! if one is going to lack originality, tattooing a scorpion or a tiger would look much more original than all that conceptual crap. seriously i do believe that trend tattoos are such a sad thing. in 5 years from now they would look pathetic. strong words from a person who dislikes body mods in general XD

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    1. lol tumblr makes me hate everything I once loved or thought was cool. black milk, jeffrey campbell, pastel goth, crosses, and i'm even getting tired of nail art (well maybe not yet!). soft grunge. yeah, and i'm very, very glad I didn't get the finger tattoos... I saw them on tumblr, thought they were awesome... and now i'm very tired of seeing them.

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  5. I've definitely seen a lot of the first one. I don't think the second one applies to where I live though, then again, my area of The Netherlands is rather conservative, so not a lot of people have piercings (besides the navel or nose piercing) to begin with.

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