Photo: Donald Teel on Unsplash
This is your future, young people with tats.
By Christine Schoenwald — Updated on Jan 25, 2023
You wouldn't know it by looking at the number of people with tattoos today, but it used to be that only outlaws of a sort were inked. If you had tattoos, especially if you were a woman, society thought of you as hard, weird and strange.
Older people who have tattoos got them long before they became popular. They didn't get inked because it was trendy — they did it as a way of expressing themselves in a radical way.
With so much tailored to the young, older people are often invisible and are thought of as irrelevant, but when a senior citizen is heavily inked, you can't help but notice them.
What happens to tattoos when you get old?
There's no denying that tattoos change as you age. Factors such as loss of skin elasticity, sun exposure, weight gain or loss, and natural skin cell renewal may cause tattoos to fade, stretch, grow blurry. The extent of any such "damage" depends on your nutrition, hydration, the quality of the ink used, and the location on your body, among other things.
Some arguments against tattoos therefore revolve around the thinking that they will look "awful" on wrinkled and aging skin, when actually, older people with tattoos look fabulous. Their tattoos tell the stories of their lives and will continue to last as their memories start to fade.
If you're still on the fence about whether or not to get a tattoo because you're worried about what they'll look like when you get old, here are 13 photos of inked senior citizens who show that they're still as vibrant and colorful as the tattoos they so proudly wear.
11 pictures of old people with tattoos
1. An inked older couple
Photo by Jack Frog on Shutterstock
He's completely inked and completely still in love.
2. Older woman with an arm tattoo
Photo by Sabrina Bracher on Shutterstock
If you think she regrets it, just look at that smile.
3. Man with a face full of tats
Photo by Donald Teel on Unsplash
Anybody who's met this man will never forget him.
4. Tattooed old boxer
Photo by farinsia on Shutterstock
We're sure his tough exterior is covering up his heart of gold.
5. Older man with arm tattoos
Photo by ltummy on Shutterstock
If those tats could talk, I wonder what stories they'd tell.
6. Beautiful older woman with arm and chest tattoos
Photo by Krakenimages on Shutterstock
This woman is proof that a woman of a certain age can still be hot.
7. Fading hand tattoo on an older man
Photo by MariaNikiforova on Shutterstock
Tattoos do fade over time, but in many ways, that just makes them more beautiful.
8. Tattooed senior surfer
Photo by DisobeyArt on Shutterstock
Could this man get any hotter?
9. Grandpa with a "Mum" tattoo
Mom tattoos are forever.
10. Tattooed old rocker.
Photo by Hatim Belyamani on Unsplash
We're pretty sure he's still the life of every party.
11. Arm tattoo on an older man with his loving wife
Photo by Marisa Howenstine on Unsplash
Another couple proving that even though your tattoos may fade, your love doesn't have to.
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Christine Schoenwald is a writer and performer. She's had articles in The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Bustle, Medium, and Woman's Day.