Monday 22 July 2013

Tattoo Trends: Birds of a Feather


Paloma Faith's Birds Tattoo - Image via Pinterest
Bird tattoos have been popular for years. They were originated, as most tattoos seem to have been, by sailors. They got swallow tattoos to symbolise how many nautical miles they had travelled; one swallow meant 5,000 miles, two swallows 10,000 etc.

Image via Pinterest

Image via sailorjunkers.com
Nowadays there has been a resurgence in the popularity of swallow tattoos, especially the vintage Sailor Jerry's kind.

Image via We Heart It

Image via We Heart It

I wonder if these girls know the meaning behind these designs or of they just got them because they look 'retro.'

Even though these bird tattoos are growing in popularity, the most common type still seems to be the small flock design below.

Image via Pinterest
Like most tattoo trends, this style has been grossly overused. The problem with this style, apart from the fact that every girl who wants to show she's a 'free spirit' gets it etched on herself, is that they more often than not end up looking like blurred blobs.

Image via Pinterest

There are, however some lovely and, more importantly, original bird tattoos out there. Here are a few of my favourites.

Image via itattooz

Image via Flikr

Image via bringlighttotheworld.tumblr.com





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