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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have a tattoo done at 40?

111 replies

Ashantai · 18/08/2008 01:21

I promised myself that if managed to lose 3 and a half stone before i got to 40, i would finally get a tattoo. Nothing huge, but maybe a tiger or scorpion on my lower back.

Well i finally did it ! Yay!! Down to 8st 10 and gonna hit the big 40 in November (its the 14th if you all wanna get me pressies.

Anyhoo half of the people i have told have said yea go for it, whilst the other half are a bit "hmm dont you think you're a bit old for that?"

Not sure if i have the pain threshold for it tho, i havent even got my ears pierced, but its just something i have always wanted to do. To all you tattood peeps out there, does it really hurt as much as i am hearing? shudders

OP posts:
Original poster
Ashantai · 20/08/2008 19:14

Ok, if you hear someone screaming like a little girl sometime in November, dont worry its just me being tattooed

OP posts:
meglet · 20/08/2008 19:16

get one, but don't get something obvious, and not on your lower back. Some tattoo parlours do gorgeous floral designs. Get some magazines and do research.

I have a little one on my toe so I can see it, but it's easily hidden and neat so not a problem if anyone sees it at work.

They do sting (a bit like dragging your fingernail through your skin, hard), but a small one is quite bearable.

abbieslife · 20/08/2008 23:25

Hi, Just wanted to add to this. My mom wanted a tattoo from when she was a teenager, but was always told she'd regret it when she was older. On her 40th birthday, she had one done, saying that she was now old enough to make her own decisions!
I personally don't like hers, but she does, and is proud of it...good for her I say!
Sometimes, the way you look to others isn't actually that important.
And TBH, the snobbery on this thread is pissing me off. Tramp stamp? Get over yourselves!

squilly · 21/08/2008 12:07

A friend of mine has just had her second done.

The first is on her lower back and is the name of each of her kids with a flower next to each. The colours of the flowers were chosen by the kids. She is waiting for her youngest to be old enough to choose a colour before filling it in.

Last week she had one on her foot. Her husband's name in chinese letters.

Peronally I hate them, but she loves 'em and will probably have more. She says it's like an addiction. She's keeping them where they can be covered...on hip, on the side of her foot. But who knows where it'll end up??

I had another friend who covered the whole of her left thigh, knee to hip, with something that could only be called a work of art. That was 15 years ago. I often wonder what it looks like now!

Well done on the weight loss. Good luck with the tattoo, if you've decided to go for it. It's up to no-one but you...but sadly, judgey pants folks will judge you for it if it's in their line of vision. That's just a fact of life.

bluefox · 21/08/2008 12:18

Hate hate hate lower back tattoos.

daftpunk · 21/08/2008 12:21

go for it! and i'd be saying that if you were 50 or 60.

if you want it done, have it done. good luck

bluefox · 21/08/2008 12:25

There was a thread on MN a few months ago and the M'netter in question had just had the nicest tattoo I had ever seen. Hard to describe but it was stars of different sizes in a swirl from the neck down the back. Wish I could find the thread in question.

katierocket · 21/08/2008 12:32

What's that all about then? Why have the name of your child tattooed on you - is it in case you forget? And having it in Chinese/Sanskrit whatever doesn't make it any more classy!

ladytophamhatt · 21/08/2008 12:48

I have 6.

All the stuff about regretting them when I'm older is pants. Does anyone really think that at 70 it would bother me (us) that we had tattoos in our younger, (almost) carefree, youthful days??

It'll be a great reminder of those days not a regret.

My oldest on is 17 yrs old now and I barely rememebr its there.
My newest one is about 3 months old and I love it but again unless I'm wearing a swimsuit or particulary low back top I never think about it.

I do think the one I have with eth boys names is odd now though....I don't regret it at all but having their names does seem odd. Even if something awful happened I'd never forget them, would I??
Still its a nice tattoo regardless....

Buda · 21/08/2008 12:51

I have to admit that I don't like tattoos but can I please ask why anyone would have one on their back? You can't see it once it is done!

Honest question - I have been wondering this for a while now.

ladytophamhatt · 21/08/2008 12:51

Bluefox is this is??

Its fairyflys tattoo

bluefox · 21/08/2008 17:24

Yes - that is the one. If I ever get a tattoo it will be something like that.

donnie · 21/08/2008 17:26

ugh. Vile chav tats.

moondog · 21/08/2008 17:27

Why do people seem to think they are better in 'Chinese letters'??

donnie · 21/08/2008 17:37

everyone on jeremy kyle has tats. Funny that.

LongLiveCuckoo · 21/08/2008 17:43

lol at custardo's post. v.funny.

I agree with pp who suggested a nice pair of earrings!

cyteen · 21/08/2008 17:47

Buda - it's hard to explain. You can't see it (unless looking in mirror or whatever) but you still know it's there, enhancing and adorning you.

I can see a little bit of mine as the wings curl up over the tops of my shoulders, and it gives me real pleasure every time I see them, to remember what I'm wearing on my back

twoluvlykids · 21/08/2008 17:51

well done on the weight loss!!!! i don't have tats, but my bro had 2 done when he got to 42, and now regrets them (he's 48 now). i did have navel piercing, but it went smelly so i gave it up

Blandmum · 21/08/2008 17:55

My DBIL has a Chinese ideogram on his shoulder and we all tease him that it says 'Crispy prawn balls'

daftpunk · 21/08/2008 18:02

i personally wouldn't have one (more into piercings) because i know i'd get fed up looking at it after 6 months, but i'm all for freedom of expression. if a woman wants to cover herself in them, thats up to her. it wouldn't make me think any more/less of her.

JRocks · 21/08/2008 18:09

Well apparently I'm chavvy and a tramp. That's good news. Isn't chavvy quite a nasty thing to use as an insult?

I have no problem with my tattoo, had it done at 23, still appreciate it at 30. I don't flash it at people and it is not permanently on show. If you don't like them, fine, if you do, get one. I choose my choice!

daftpunk · 21/08/2008 18:15

a tramp because you have a tattoo?

thats nuts...take no notice of those comments jrocks.

squilly · 21/08/2008 18:33

It's true that a lot of chavvy types have tattoos (see Jeremy Kyle, apparently) BUT to suggest having a tattoo is chavvy is Soooooo wrong.

All sorts of people have tattoos. One of the most middle-class, ladylike peope I know has a tattoo. She is well educated, very refined and loves it.

I think it's very unpleasant for people to link something innocuous like this to a lifestyle. You may as well say high heels are trampy or you must be a slut if you wear g strings. It's bonkrers..

Spelling erors are expeted as my keboard is sticking nd I'm offto tea.

donnie · 21/08/2008 18:36

g strings? they really ARE slutty......esp. when deliberately poking over the top of your clothing and cutting into a roll of repulsive hip flab. Dear God I feel ill now.

yellowvan · 21/08/2008 19:06

lower back tat = "arse antlers". Don't do it to yourself.