Part 1 - Tattoo Trends from the Early Days.
Hi! I’m Duncan Stone, owner of Area 51 studio – Basingstoke. I started tattooing professionally in 1997. Since then, I have watched tattoo trends come and go, celebrities influence entire generations and technology completely transform the way tattoos are designed, researched and shared.
Nearly thirty years is a long time in any industry. In tattooing, it feels like several different worlds.
When I began, customers did not arrive with a phone containing 200 saved images. There was no Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok. Most people chose their tattoo from flash displayed on the studio walls, brought in a picture from a magazine or attempted to explain an idea while I tried to work out what they could see inside their head.
Sometimes that worked better than others.
Looking back, certain designs immediately belong to a particular period. Dolphins ruled the 1990s. Tribal dominated studios for years. Chinese characters appeared everywhere. Then celebrities such as David Beckham made people think differently about the size, placement and visibility of their tattoos.
Eventually, Miami Ink came along and changed the public’s understanding of tattooing altogether.
This is Part 1 of the tattoo trends I have witnessed since 1997.
The key takeaway
Tattoo trends have always reflected the culture around them. Films, footballers, fashion and television have all influenced what people bring into the studio.
Some designs disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived. Others became established tattoo styles that are still requested today.
The biggest change, however, was not one particular design. It was the moment people stopped seeing tattoos as isolated symbols and began viewing them as personal artwork.
But before that happened, there were a lot of dolphins.
What was getting a tattoo like in 1997?
Tattoo studios worked very differently when I started.
Customers usually chose from sheets of tattoo flash displayed around the studio. Those designs were created to be easily understood, adapted and tattooed. You could point at a design, discuss the size and placement, and get started.
Reference material was much harder to find. If someone wanted a portrait, animal or unusual subject, they might bring in a photograph, a book, a magazine cutting or even a rough sketch.
There was no quick online search to check the spelling of a name, compare 50 different versions of a design or see how a tattoo might fit a particular part of the body.
That affected the trends we saw. When a particular image appeared in a film, music video or magazine, people often brought in the same reference. One celebrity tattoo could generate requests for months or even years.
And in the late 1990s, certain designs were practically part of the furniture.
The tail end of the dolphin tattoo era
When I started tattooing in 1997, dolphins were still everywhere.
People wanted them on their shoulders, ankles, hips and backs. Some jumped over waves. Others circled a sun, moon or tropical island. If there was room for a splash of blue water, all the better.
Dolphins reflected the softer, more decorative side of 1990s tattooing. They were recognisable, relatively discreet and easy to personalise. For many customers, especially first-timers, they felt less intimidating than a larger or heavier tattoo.
They were also easy to hide when necessary. Tattoos were becoming more socially accepted, but many customers still worried about employers or family members seeing them.
The dolphin trend was beginning to fade when I started, but we still tattooed plenty of them.
Dolphins had a very good decade. My stencil folders certainly knew about it.
Taz was everywhere too
The other unavoidable character was the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Tunes.
Taz appeared on arms, legs, shoulders and just about anywhere else he would fit. Sometimes he was spinning. Sometimes he was angry. Sometimes he was wearing a football shirt, carrying a pint or holding something connected to the customer’s job or hobby.
We tattooed hundreds of them.
Cartoon tattoos were extremely popular because they were familiar, expressive and easy to customise. Taz could be made funny, aggressive or personal without losing the character people recognised.
Today, customers might choose a character from a video game, anime series or internet culture. In the 1990s, Taz had that market fairly well covered.
No judgement. The 1990s happened to all of us.
Tribal tattooing had already started taking over
By the time I entered the industry, the style commonly called “tribal” in Western tattoo studios was building serious momentum.
George Clooney’s large black tattoo in From Dusk Till Dawn had an enormous influence. The film was released in 1996, and customers quickly began bringing images of the design into tattoo studios. They wanted something similar running over a shoulder, down an arm or across the chest.
It is important to distinguish the 1990s commercial tattoo trend from the authentic tattooing traditions of Polynesian, Māori and other Indigenous cultures. What studios and customers generally called “tribal” at the time was often bold, decorative blackwork inspired by those visual styles, rather than a culturally meaningful traditional piece.
At its height, tribal was probably the most dominant tattoo trend I have witnessed.
We had five tattooists working in the studio, and there were days when almost every customer wanted some version of it.
Day after day.
Week after week.
If we were not tattooing tribal, there was a good chance we were tattooing stars.
The designs ranged from small armbands to large pieces covering shoulders, backs and chests. Some followed the natural shape of the body well. Others were chosen because the customer had seen something similar on a celebrity and wanted it immediately.
Tribal designs could look strong and dramatic, but they were not always planned with the future in mind. Over the years, I have also seen customers return wanting old pieces extended, reshaped, reworked or covered.
Trends pass. The tattoo generally stays put.
Lower-back tattoos defined an era
As bold black designs developed, lower-back tattoos became one of the defining looks of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Fashion played a major role. Low-rise jeans and shorter tops made the lower back highly visible, so the placement suited the clothes people were wearing.
The designs often used symmetry to follow the shape of the body. Tribal-style patterns were common, but we also tattooed flowers, butterflies, stars, hearts and decorative scrollwork.
Later, lower-back tattoos were given a rather unhelpful nickname and became the target of jokes. That tells you a great deal about how quickly public attitudes can change.
A placement can be considered fashionable one minute and embarrassing the next, even though there is nothing inherently wrong with it.
We now see some of those styles returning. Younger customers are rediscovering late-1990s and early-2000s fashion without carrying the same baggage attached to it.
Apparently, if you wait long enough, everything comes back. Even low-rise jeans, whether we asked for them or not.
Chinese characters became the meaningful choice
Chinese-character tattoos also became incredibly popular.
Customers wanted words such as “love”, “strength”, “family”, “peace” or “courage”. The appeal was easy to understand. The characters looked elegant, the tattoo could be kept small and the meaning felt personal without being obvious to everyone who saw it.
The difficulty was confirming that the translation was correct.
Reliable translation tools were not sitting in everyone’s pocket. People often arrived with a character copied from a book, magazine, necklace or another person’s tattoo. Sometimes they had been assured it meant one thing, but there was very little evidence to support that.
A professional tattooist can reproduce a reference accurately. That does not automatically make the translation accurate.
This is still relevant today. If you want a tattoo in a language you do not read fluently, have it checked by somebody who genuinely understands that language. Do not trust a decorative font website, an automated translation or a stranger in a comment section.
“Mysterious soup” probably was not the meaningful tribute you had in mind.
Stars appeared in every possible form
Stars were another enormous trend.
We tattooed single stars, nautical stars, groups of stars and trails of stars. They appeared on wrists, shoulders, hips, feet, stomachs, elbows, and behind ears. Some were simple outlines. Others were filled, shaded or combined with names and decorative patterns.
Stars worked because they were flexible. A single small star could be a first tattoo, while a larger collection could flow around the body or become part of a bigger piece.
They also carried whatever meaning the customer wanted to give them. Guidance, ambition, protection, remembrance or simply “I like stars” were all perfectly valid reasons.
Later celebrities would push the trend even further, but that belongs in the next stage of the story. Before social media accelerated everything, football, magazines and television were already demonstrating how quickly a famous person’s tattoo could influence requests inside the studio.
David Beckham made visible tattoos mainstream
David Beckham had a huge effect on British tattoo trends during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
He was successful, fashionable and constantly photographed. That mattered because he presented tattoos to an enormous mainstream audience.
His family-themed work, Gothic lettering and large guardian angel design encouraged customers to think beyond small, easily hidden tattoos. People began asking for names in Old English-style lettering and larger pieces across their backs, arms and shoulders.
We tattooed countless names in that style.
Beckham did not invent lettering tattoos or religious imagery, of course. Those had existed in tattooing for a very long time. What he did was place them in front of people who may never have stepped inside a tattoo studio before.
Tattoos were no longer being presented only as rebellious or alternative. They could represent family, faith, identity and personal history while still being worn by one of the most recognisable sportsmen in the country.
That shift helped make larger, more visible tattoos feel accessible to a much wider group of customers.
It also demonstrated something I have seen repeatedly throughout my career. When a celebrity gets a noticeable tattoo, tattooists should prepare themselves to reproduce some version of it for the next several years.
Celebrity tattoos drove the trends
Before social media, people generally discovered celebrity tattoos through magazines, music videos, football matches and television appearances.
A clear photograph could spread around the country remarkably quickly. Customers would tear it from a magazine, fold it into a pocket and bring it into the studio.
Often, they did not want an exact copy. They wanted the feeling of it: the lettering, placement, scale or attitude.
Celebrity influence was not necessarily a bad thing. Seeing tattoos on admired public figures helped many people feel more comfortable with the idea of being tattooed.
The problem came when someone chose a permanent design simply because it was fashionable that month.
Our job has always been to help customers think beyond the reference. What do you actually like about it? Does the placement work for your body? Can it be adapted into something more personal? Will the level of detail remain readable at the size you want?
Good tattooing is not simply copying what is currently popular. It is taking inspiration and turning it into something that works properly on the person wearing it.
Then Miami Ink changed the conversation
Until the mid-2000s, tattoo trends were largely driven by fashion, films, music and individual celebrities.
Then Miami Ink arrived.
First broadcast in 2005, the programme took viewers inside a working tattoo studio and focused on the artists, customers and stories behind the tattoos. For many people, it was their first sustained look at tattooing as a creative process rather than a mysterious service happening behind a closed door.
Suddenly, audiences saw consultations. They saw artists drawing. They watched large pieces developing over multiple sessions. They heard customers explain why a design mattered to them.
Most importantly, they learned the names and personalities of the tattooists.
The artist was becoming part of the decision.
Customers started thinking about style, portfolios and larger compositions. Tattoos could be planned as sleeves, back pieces and connected collections rather than individual images placed wherever there happened to be space.
Miami Ink did not create custom tattooing, but it brought that side of the industry into millions of homes. It helped change what customers expected when they entered a studio and what they believed a tattoo could be.
That was the beginning of a completely different era.
Tattooing was about to speed up
The arrival of tattoo television coincided with another major change: faster and more widely available internet access.
Customers were about to gain access to more tattoo imagery than any previous generation. Artists could share their work beyond their local area. New styles could travel around the world in days rather than years.
Then social media arrived and accelerated everything again.
Tattoo trends became faster, more fragmented and much more visual. Instead of one design dominating the studio for several years, dozens of micro-trends could appear at once.
The equipment changed too. Machines, needles, inks, design software and stencil technology all continued to develop. The way artists learned, communicated and built their careers changed with them.
But that is where Part 2 begins.
Nearly thirty years of tattoos and counting
When I look back at the dolphins, Taz tattoos, black tribal designs and Gothic names, I do not see a collection of mistakes.
I see snapshots of particular moments.
Tattoos record more than the customer’s personal story. They capture fashion, music, films, technology and the culture surrounding us when the decision was made.
Some customers still love the designs they chose in the 1990s. Others have returned to have them refreshed, extended, reworked or covered. Both responses are completely normal.
Tattooing keeps moving. Styles change, techniques improve and old trends are rediscovered by new generations.
The important part is choosing a tattoo because it works for you, not because everybody else currently has one.
In Part 2, I’ll look at how Miami Ink, broadband internet, social media and advances in tattoo technology transformed the industry, changed the relationship between artists and customers, and created the tattoo world we recognise today.
Speak to Our Team
If you have questions about tattoos, the healing process or aftercare, contact us, our team is always happy to help.
Area 51 Basingstoke can talk you through any tattoo trends, and customise your tattoo vision.