Tattoos as a luxury product / the things we are willing to put effort into

[soraya]

Wow, What an interesting thread!

I guess for me, I would say tattoos are luxury items because I really could live without them. Sometimes I think that I couldn’t live without them, and they do have psychological benefits to me, and have helped me with self confidence and self-perception, but really, if my kids were starving, I would not have got them.

Also there seems to be a lot of “black and white” in the definitions of luxury.

Economist and dictionary definitions seem to tie consumption of luxury items to wealth or high income. But “average folks” - even people in lower income brackets - may have some luxury items. Is a cell phone a luxury? Is a flat screen TV a luxury? Maybe, maybe not. My view is that as long as you are feeding and educating your kids and family, and contributing to society in some way, and balancing your spending, it doesn’t matter.

Say you have aways wanted an antique breakfront because you think they are beautiful. You say “someday I’m going to have one of those,” and you save for it, and watch for one of the right style and price and then one day one shows up in a antiques shop and you buy it. You love the way it looks in your dining room. Maybe it is the one piece of really nice furniture that you own, a focal piece. Is that a luxury?

And while it is quite delightful to go into a house that is loaded with beautiful things everywhere you look, in some ways it is more meaningful and touching to go into the house where they have the one antique breakfront that they scrimped and saved to get.

I’m sure some here on LST are have high wealth, and have tattoos. But I sense that a lot are not wealthy, so they scrimp and save, and cut expenses in other areas to get good tattoos that look exactly like the ones that the wealthy folks have. Are both luxury items?

So maybe the key difference is “living a life of luxury” vs. having luxury items. Few of us live a life of luxury, but many of us can have some luxury items.

[Fala]

Every time I see certain family members and friends, I ALWAYS get asked about how much money I've spent on my tattoos. What I find ironic with this particular question, is not the question itself but the questioner who 9/10 times has some outrageous (in my mind) hobby, collection, or pet project they are dumping heaps of money into - yet, they don't give that a second thought and see it is as something they must do.

Luxury (opulent) items/experiences are individual. For one person it might be over the top to spend good money on a good tattoo, for another it might be over the top to spend good money on clothes that they'll wear infrequently (ie that $10k wedding dress) or to buy only local and organic groceries. It's about the energy involved - we get our kicks from tattoos, others from buying shoes or clothes, or dinners out, or jewelry, or property (house, car, etc.), etc, etc.

It seems to me that tattoos are still in the place where they are not considered "acceptable" in terms of money spent if one is in the middle class where wealth is seen as something to strive and save for. Thus, spending available funds on a non-necessity item/experience would prevent wealth from accruing and keep said person in the middle class indefinitely.

I do agree with @Graeme that they are akin to education (or even exercise or otherwise taking care of your body/soul) where no one but the wearer/student will glean benefit from said tattoo or education. I don't get tattooed nearly as much as I'd like, but when I do get tattooed I'm able to get the exact tattoo I want because it is something that I prioritize with my funds. I've also been one of those people whose life was transformed by getting tattooed. I know several people with tattoos who have not been impacted in the way I imagine many people here have been, and I suppose that's where the luxury/necessity line gets blurred a bit by emotion. Which, let's face it, luxury/opulence/etc is an emotionally charged area. Who needs to eat a burger or ice cream with gold leaf on it? No one.

[The Tig]

My recent tattoo and my previous tattoo were done 17 years apart. That's a pretty long time for us.

During that time a divorce (and child support) and then another marriage have kept my money away from most luxuries. Plenty of great times happened in between tattoos with my priorities and responsibilities being all over the place. The whole time I kept putting my next tattoo off, but it was still nagging me in the back of my mind... I finally gave in and am extremely happy with the new addition to my skin. I feel more alive. More confident. I want to keep "expressing myself" for lack of a better term.

- - - Updated - - -

Here's something to think about:

How many objects do you own that are relatively old, as in stuff you've had most of your life?

I'm 52 and only a very few objects I've had more than 30 years. I've seen so many things I once thought were important become distant memories. Cars, bikes, guitars, clothes, and even some art are all gone.

So, I love the longevity of tattoos, even my 25 year old tribal bear paw print on the shoulder. The commitment runs deep when it becomes a part of you.

[sighthound]

Here's something to think about:

How many objects do you own that are relatively old, as in stuff you've had most of your life?

I'm 52 and only a very few objects I've had more than 30 years. I've seen so many things I once thought were important become distant memories. Cars, bikes, guitars, clothes, and even some art are all gone.

So, I love the longevity of tattoos, even my 25 year old tribal bear paw print on the shoulder. The commitment runs deep when it becomes a part of you.

That's a good point. Never looked at it from that angle. Everyone always goes on about their permanence, but few take the time to really think about what that means.

[AverageJer]

Interesting discussion. Sorry I missed it when it was more active.

I'd say tattoos are like are like a vacation with a really kick as souvenir, Or maybe like seeing your favorite band in concert. Anyway, they are pretty unique but the experience plays into it although it's also an identity thing. Maybe it's more like buying art. Fuck it, tattoos are like tattoos. Nothing else I spend money on compares. I guess it's time to start saving.

[pidjones]

Everyone spends and lives at their own desired pace. I go to a college basketball game maybe once every five years, I rarely see a theater movie and it has been decades since I've bought concert tickets. I don't have an expensive car, and have over 98k miles on my '06 motorcycle (admittedly a fairly expensive one). All of my computers still run XP because they can't handle anything newer. Our house was paid off in the '90s and our kids are grown. I don't have any expensive hobbies and we have not traveled extensively except for work and missions. We are two years from retirement. Yes, I consider my tattoos a luxury, but they bring me pleasure both getting and having them. Something that will not fail as fast as the rest of me at this stage in life!

[sourpussoctopus]

Fantastic thread. Lemme add my late-to-the-party contribution:

I feel a little resistant to classifying tattoos as a luxury product. And if I'm being honest, it's because "luxury" to me connotes wealth, which I do not possess. I'm ok with people asking me just about every silly questions about my tattoos (even the dreaded "what do they mean?" and "what are they gonna look like when you're old?"), but I can't stand it when I'm asked how much it cost. Partially because it feels like they're shopping for a bargain through me (which is insulting, and I'd rather not be a part of that), but mostly because it gives the asker an excuse to make some snap judgment about my socioeconomic standing. I shouldn't care, I know, but that stuff is a bit of a sore point for me. All I've done is made a value judgment, and traded certain trappings of modern living (TV, cable, blu-ray, microwave, newest/baddest phones, etc) so I could get good-quality tattoos by excellent artists. That's not say I don't have possessions I cherish, I do, but I think I spend much less on planned obsolescence than most. That to me is not a luxury purchase, it's just making a consumer choice.

But like @misterJ said earlier, if we're doing all this mental gymnastics to justify it, then it must be a luxury thing. I'm sure sneakerheads share our struggle.

[OutOfIdeas]

I think of tattoos more as a hobby than a luxury.

A luxury is something I treat myself to when I have time/money/cravings (I'd sell my mother for some chocolate ice cream at the moment.)

A hobby is something (IMO) that I find important enough to make time/money for. Yep, my car is a piece of shit. Yes, I'm pretty broke at the moment. But I wanted more tattoos, so I made the effort, cut back on frivolous spending, and got some tattoos.

Those tattoos will outlive the new clutch my car needs; I'll still be enjoying them 10 years from now, when I'm doing something totally unrelated to my goals at the moment.

Lets face it, life is super unpredictable. I'm gonna do what I enjoy, cause if I have a heart attack and die tomorrow, my tattoos will be in the box with me... my savings account won't.

[jeff collins]

i understand the theme here but in my opinion if your that sheltered of person where you feel like someone with tattoos has money then you might be stupid enough to think a guy at a bar drinking j.w. blue label is a big spender.....maybe because your having a corona or something less than.....my intentions are not to insult anyone posting on here but remeber this if you dont know them dont judge luxury item no......wiping your ass with gold infused toilet paper or eating a $2000 burger w truffle butter on it....thats luxury

i mean unless your covered in tattoos by kat von d and roman abrego lol

[polliwog]

One thing I've been thinking about recently is how "having good taste" is so often bound to spending money (knowing how to decorate your house, what books to have on your shelf, what to wear) even if you don't have a lot of money. I don't want getting tattooed to be another exercise in buying stuff in an attempt to define myself--I mean, I used to buy a ton of music, and what I got out of it felt like it had nothing to do with the exchange of money. But, at the same time, I'm sure I would've been happy if my collection got approval from the "right" people. This thread ties into http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/general-tattoo-discussion/5978-fueling-culture-getting-tattooed-big-names.html in certain ways.

[RoryQ]

I think it depends, Jeff.

Someone can be drinking in a bar, day in, day out, and you're right - that's not an indicator that they have money. It could be a dive bar, and they could be spending their pay cheque drip by drip until it next comes in.

Same principle could apply with tattooing. Someone could have a lot of coverage but it could be work that they built up incrementally, piece by piece, paying just a little at a time. If they're going to some guy who tattoos in his kitchen then maybe they'll fill up even quicker.

But if someone is getting large scale work done, especially by anyone in a busy and in-demand shop (I'm not even talking about Kat Von D here, I just mean someone in a city like London who is charging the going rate) then I think it does indicate certain resources.

Typically I'd stand by the idea that if you're looking at someone who has a lot of good tattoos then they're probably people with a job or access to a decent amount of money.

If you are living on a welfare payment here you definitely can go to a bar and drink every day. You could also go to a scratcher and accumulate a lot of small tattoos and be covered over time. But I don't think you could afford to lay down enough for a deposit and large work in a reputable shop - the outlay is too big.

i understand the theme here but in my opinion if your that sheltered of person where you feel like someone with tattoos has money then you might be stupid enough to think a guy at a bar drinking j.w. blue label is a big spender.....maybe because your having a corona or something less than.....my intentions are not to insult anyone posting on here but remeber this if you dont know them dont judge luxury item no......wiping your ass with gold infused toilet paper or eating a $2000 burger w truffle butter on it....thats luxury

i mean unless your covered in tattoos by kat von d and roman abrego lol

[Guerillaneedles]

One thing that has always remained very important to me about tattoos...is that NOBODY can take them away from you..(with the exception of maybe a mad man with a belt sander /jk). Once that tattoo is in your skin, it's all yours. Your parents can't undo it. The bank and the tax man can't take it away from you. The government can't take them away from you. Rich or poor that tattoo is in there! Your life can go to shit in an instant but your tattoos and the stories they tell remain.

I love this. It's so true. Sometimes my mum has commented that if I'm worried about money (I do tend to worry a lot being self employed) maybe I shouldn't have got that last tattoo. I can't take it back to the shop though! I also had to explain to her that even though I was a bit strapped there was no way I could cancel my appointments with Sneaky Mitch or guen Douglas because I'd waited so long for them! (I'd saved enough anyway). Sometimes I do wonder how I afford it, but I guess you just do! I save every month, own my own house and always make sure my mortgage and bills are paid before I buy any luxuries. I do ok but am in no way 'rolling in it' yet I've been able to afford a lot of high quality tattooing. Go figure.

[DJDeepFried]

I love this. It's so true. Sometimes my mum has commented that if I'm worried about money (I do tend to worry a lot being self employed) maybe I shouldn't have got that last tattoo. I can't take it back to the shop though! I also had to explain to her that even though I was a bit strapped there was no way I could cancel my appointments with Sneaky Mitch or guen Douglas because I'd waited so long for them! (I'd saved enough anyway). Sometimes I do wonder how I afford it, but I guess you just do! I save every month, own my own house and always make sure my mortgage and bills are paid before I buy any luxuries. I do ok but am in no way 'rolling in it' yet I've been able to afford a lot of high quality tattooing. Go figure.

Sounds like you got your priorities in order!

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