Denim has come a long way from being the workwear of choice for cowboys and miners! Now they’re an absolute fashion must-have and designers are changing the way we see denim on an almost daily basis. Whether it’s double denim, denim shirts, or mom jeans, we love keeping up with what this versatile material will be made into next.

The Next Big Thing

We’ve seen denim make quite a statement comeback over the years. Long gone are the plain skinny jeans, this material is being turned on its head. Some fashion experts are keen to bring back double denim (think Britney and Justin), others are praising the return of boyfriend jeans, and yet there are plenty who have got their eye on something else completely.

Double Yoke Denim

Double yoke looks like it’s going to be denim’s next trend, thanks to supermodel Elsa Hosk releasing this kind of style during her collab with J Brand jeans. In fact, she seems to have inspired several other well-known fashion houses to get on board with the double yoke! We’ve already seen Isabel Marant, RE/DONE, Closed, and Calvin Klein release their own versions of this new style – and we’re expecting many more.

What Is It?

Interestingly, the double yoke style was first made popular in the 19th century but it wasn’t something you’d see on denim. Instead, this pattern of stitching was more regularly seen on gathered skirts and prairie blouses. Now, it’s being added to the hips of jeans and skirts, to create an almost Western-style look.

The double yoke denim trend is likely to be a big hit this fall, as we once again get to play around with our jeans and skirts. We might even see the double yoke on shirts, too! It’s time to stock up…

Tattoos are a great way to express yourself and show off your personality or even represent stories on your skin. As tattooing reaches a spike in popularity, though, fads have come and gone just like in fashion and other industries. Whether from over-exposure, a lack of consideration, or just the passage of time, these tattoo trends aren’t as smiled upon as they once were although the important thing is that the wearer loves and is happy with their ink.

Luckily, this isn’t an overwhelmingly popular trend but it’s definitely a concept that’s on the rise: getting tattoos of memes.

The biggest problem here is rather obvious. There are plenty of memes online that age out – they’re fads themselves! This means that something you saw online and loved a year ago or even a few weeks ago can quickly get tired but, unlike a meme online, tattoo ink stays on forever, so you can’t just click away.

There are times when white ink looks amazing on your skin but it can fade fast, especially if you have a paler skin tone that it won’t stand out from as much once it heals.

Not only is this an investment that’s questionable for the person with the tattoo, but it’s also something that some tattoo artists aren’t happy about. After all, they want their work to look great for years to come, not reflect poorly on them when they get distorted over time.

Ankle bracelets or anklets were a trend that stood strong in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s. They were specifically seen on beaches and during the summer months.

Yet, as popular as they were, there’s nothing that seems quite as questionable as tattooing a fashion fad on forever – even if it is coming back into fashion a bit. On top of that, these often incorporate other tattoo fads into them such as feathers.

Tribal tattoos are still common and they were even more common back in the 1990s when they were almost everywhere. Yet, their declining popularity makes sense.

These tattoos are often aesthetically pleasing thanks to their clean lines and solid pigmentation. The problem lies in the fact that tribal tattoos have a rich history behind them and often a cultural meaning behind them that not everyone knows about, is a part of, or does their research on before getting a tribal tattoo.

Stick and poke tattoos can be a beautiful and unique addition to the art on anyone’s body. The problem starts when these tattoos are used as a home-done project by inexperienced artists.

Not only can an untrained artist create pieces that are less than aesthetically pleasing but there’s also a medical risk if you aren’t being careful. Talented tattoo artists spend a lot of time making sure their station and tools are sterile because if they don’t, it’s easy to introduce a problem like infection.

Not every tattoo has to have a deeper meaning. Sometimes, people get tattoos of art they like or simply a design they think fits them. There aren’t tragic stories in every inked artwork.

On the other hand, there are tattoo fads that cropped up just because they were a novelty and made people laugh. In the last couple of decades, one of the trends that were just for fun was a tattoo of a mustache on your finger. Yet, fleeting jokes aren’t the best permanent modification.

Generally speaking, if you’re looking around for tattoo ideas and you see something you fall in love with, you should never copy it exactly.

For one, it potentially detracts from the originality of the initial tattoo and it’s rather insulting to ask an artist to copy another artist rather than create something unique. There are plenty of artists out there who would turn someone away if they asked for a copy of another tattoo.

It might sound odd but there are actually a few instances of trends where people get a company logo tattooed on their body. For example, the brief trend of Monster Energy tattoos.

While these tattoos are necessarily offensive in concept, they were repetitive and made us wonder what about Monster Energy made people want to commemorate the brand forever. Not to mention, as with many of the trends on this list, it’s individuality was dampened by its repetition.

There’s nothing wrong with getting a tattoo that no one else will see. Sometimes, a tattoo has a meaning for you and that’s all that matters.

If there’s one place that became a fad for hidden tattoos, especially in the 2010s, it was the inner lip. This is not only a trend that’s dying out but one that comes with plenty of risks, particularly if you aren’t careful with your tattoo aftercare. They’re also an area that tends to fade quickly.

In the early 2000s, an interesting trend popped up. That trend was unique in how large of a tattoo it called for.

Inspired by the appearance of pin-up art and models, people started to get tattoos of bows on the back of their calves or thighs with a line extending straight down, similar to how a pair of stockings would look when you wear them. It was a cute idea at first but eventually worn out through repetition.

There are plenty of tattooed quotes that look amazing, even over time. However, there are some versions of tattoos of words and quotes that don’t have the best results.

Specifically, very small scripts don’t usually work out in the long run. Over time, they become hard to read plus if the ink bleeds and as your skin changes as you age, they become much harder to decipher and read. It’s often better, in the long run, to opt for a larger font.

Generally speaking, quotes aren’t a bad tattoo idea. Whether it’s from a book, a movie, or even a song, words can be powerful.

The problem starts to occur with long quotes. For one, the more content there is, the more people gravitate toward smaller text as we just discussed. On top of that, longer quotes are often harder to read which can be a problem if you want other people to easily read your tattoo rather than keeping it for yourself alone.

If you aren’t familiar, “tramp stamp” is a name for a certain type of lower back tattoo. These usually sit right above the waist and move outward horizontally from a central point on the spine.

Again, these tattoos aren’t necessarily all poorly done but they are a repetitive pattern and an example of a fad that has seen the majority of its popularity fall. On top of that, it was a trend among younger adults but tattoos stick around longer than youth.

Getting coordinates tattooed on you can have a deep meaning. For instance, commemorating a place that means a lot to you can be very powerful.

The unfortunate news for many people with tattoos of latitude and longitude coordinates is that the concept is getting increasingly popular and, in turn, less unique and personalized. The good news is that there’s a nearly unlimited number of combinations of coordinates to keep things a little more custom than a replicated piece of art.

With so many languages around the world, it makes sense that you might have a tattoo that represents your time in another country or a tattoo representative of your culture.

The problem comes in when people get tattoos in languages that they don’t know. This is usually done with languages that use a character alphabet as well. Another problem with this is that if you don’t know it already, you don’t necessarily know for sure what you’re getting either.

One of the more popular tattoo trends in the last couple of decades is actually an art piece that’s repeated rather than just a theme.

This is a theme that plenty of people have tried out in the past but now there are a lot of people with similar or even identical tattoos: a pocketwatch surrounded by roses. Again, this is a tattoo that’s not compositionally unappealing but it has suffered for its intense popularity compared to the first time it was done.

There are times when getting a name tattooed on you is sweet. For instance, getting your child’s name tattooed on you is a touching symbol.

However, one tattoo that artists dread is the name of someone’s current partner – especially if the happy couple hasn’t been together long. This isn’t particularly aimed at the individual chances of success a relationship has but the concept that a tattoo lasts forever and you never know what will happen.

There are certain times when a fairly obscure tattoo is interesting. After all, you don’t always need someone to know what every tattoo you have means on sight.

One way to get around this, though, was discovered with the idea to get a barcode tattooed on your body. As this trend grew, tattoo artists got more than a little sick of the repetition especially since people started getting random barcodes that they didn’t know what it meant.

There are a few different trends that have fallen out of popularity over the years that don’t have a deeper reason why they fell out of fashion. They’re just fads that have passed.

One example of this is barbed wire band tattoos. These can actually have a meaning behind them, such as a representation of the biblical Crown of Thorns, but in the 1990s they were everywhere. This gave them a reputation of being rather repetitive and it quickly became a trend that was made fun of.

There are certain tattoo trends that aren’t always bad but they have a poor connotation for the mistakes surrounding them. Finger tattoos are often included on this list.

There are plenty of well-done finger tattoos that look beautiful. However, to stay beautiful, they need proper care. This includes touch-ups that many people avoid since finger tattoos are more painful. They also require care that many people forget about like dutiful use of the proper sun protection to prevent fading.

Much like finger tattoos, tattoos on your feet are gorgeous at first but tend to struggle over time. A piece on your foot is more likely to show wear over time.

An additional struggle with tattoos on your feet compared to your hands is the number of risk factors for a tattoo on your feet. It’s an area of your body that sees a lot of friction, high in sweat, and high in moisture. This can mean that they fade fast, especially if they aren’t taken care of properly.

In a slightly newer trend, the fad of getting a concept like a feather that dissolves into a flock of birds is one that you can easily find hundreds of examples of online.

It’s this unoriginality that leaves some tattoo artists feeling uninspired when they’re asked to do another one. While there are a few different ways to do this concept, the main idea stays relatively the same. In the end, it doesn’t let the artist shine and doesn’t make for a one-of-a-kind tattoo.

A butterfly tattoo, as an independent concept, isn’t the worst idea in the world. It’s another concept that suffers from how frequently it was requested in tattoo parlors.

This trend was most heavily featured in the early 2000s alongside fads like lower back tattoos. These tattoos varied in style and exact design which is great considering the problems associated with copying another tattoo to the letter but the popularity of it did take away from how well it was liked as the fad aged.

As we’ve seen time and time again, there’s nothing that can kill a tattoo trend like overexposure. Once everyone has the tattoo, it’s not as unique and intriguing anymore.

This sometimes means that the simplest tattoos can spiral from a nice touch to anyone’s tattoo collection become a dread for tattoo artists and the people who see them alike. One victim of this overexposure is tattoos of simple arrows that artists have been asked to replicate again and again.

When the trend of getting infinity symbols started, it wasn’t an awful idea. In fact, it was just a symbol that meant limitless, often used to refer to the endless possibilities that there were.

What killed this tattoo trend, though, was that it became a trend at all. If only a few people thought of the idea, it would be a clever little tattoo but it’s become something commonplace. Plus, the tattoo design often incorporates other cliches like the aforementioned dissolving into birds.

Anchor tattoos have a long history. They are especially linked to the American Traditional style of tattoos and famous and groundbreaking tattoo artist Sailor Jerry.

In today’s world, though, the concept of anchor tattoos has become one that modern tattoo artists tend to vocally dread. That’s because they gravitated from everyone paying homage and falling in love with a master tattoo artist to a countless amount of people getting variants on the anchor design without knowing their significance.

Interestingly, one tattoo trend that artists tire of is one that isn’t widely known by everyone. That is, you should avoid asking your artist for a non-permanent tattoo.

The idea behind this is tattoo ink that will fade over a number of years rather than sticking around forever. For one, it probably isn’t going to actually leave your skin looking brand new after a time with all surety. In addition, it’s probably insulting to an artist to ask for a temporary tattoo.

This is a rather controversial opinion in the tattoo world because there are plenty of musicians that we see the style on every day.

In copying the trend, though, tattoo artists have said they’ve seen young people trying to get a face tattoo when they don’t have many others. As this is usually reserved for more heavily tattooed individuals who recognize the weight of visible tattoos, some artists are starting to turn away young people and those new to tattoos who ask for this trend.

This is another example of a tattoo trend that isn’t a specific tattoo but rather an overarching concept that people tend to overdo.

One of the biggest examples of this is the idea of getting a tattoo that’s simply overcomplicated. Since there’s only so much space on your body and an overcomplicated tattoo takes up space, it’s better to stick to a cohesive design. Plus, it’s difficult to fit a lot of concepts into a single image.

Just like face tattoos, there’s a limit to the concept of a large neck tattoo. Namely, it usually shouldn’t be your only tattoo.

On top of that, young clients who don’t have a lot of other tattoos may look past the potential repercussions of a neck tattoo. There are plenty of people, even though they shouldn’t, who would judge someone which is important to understand before undertaking. In addition, neck tattoos often continue full coverage but a large neck tattoo alone may look out of place.

If there’s one thing that sparked wild popularity when it was released and again when it was made into a movie franchise, it’s Harry Potter.

By no surprise, this series created a whole set of fans that were ready to show their love for the books and movies in any way possible. This included a highly recognizable symbol from the books that an influx of fans got as a tattoo in no time at all, creating quite the fad.

The Misfits are a punk band that every fan of the genre loves – for good reason! They were innovative and quickly became iconic.

However, their logo – a black and white stylized skull – has become a tattoo all too common. While it may have once been a fun and unique way to commemorate one of your favorite bands, it’s since become more of a fashion statement at large, making it a risk for when it goes out of style.

Similarly to the point about the Misfits logo, they aren’t the only band that has seen a spike in how they’re remembered on people’s skin.

Black Flag is an absolutely iconic punk band that actually still has shows to this day, albeit not with its original lineup. It became a trend for people to get the band’s logo – four black bars – tattooed on them but it now looks like a passing fad rather than a lasting trend.

Swallows are another design that has a lot of history behind them. After all, this is another design popularized by Sailor Jerry.

The problem lied in the fact that they’re often used as a starter tattoo. So, even though they aren’t necessarily in the style that they were popularized in, swallows are becoming a trend all their own including plenty of people who choose them off a flash sheet without recognizing their significance.

We all want to have a way to keep our pets with us at all times even if they’re at home or we don’t have them anymore.

Many people have found an answer to this by adding a tattoo to keep them close and inked on their skin. One of the most common ways to do this is to tattoo paw prints but this is becoming more of a trend than its original concept of a new idea.

Once again, it’s important to emphasize that, oftentimes, quotes can be very meaningful tattoos. Once in a while, though, they become a common trend.

This time, the trend falls to quotes that are so short, it’s all said in a single word. Again, this alone isn’t a bad idea, but options like a tattoo that says “believe” has become a wildly popular trend. This popularity has started to steer this tattoo into the category of becoming a fad that’s bound to pass.

Just like when looking at tribal tattoos, there is a culture and set of beliefs surrounding the concept of dream catchers. They’re rooted in Native American history.

The problem is that not everyone who gets a dreamcatcher tattoo is a part of this culture or knows the history behind them. That being said, they also suffer for the fact that they’re so popular and they become a fad rather than an artwork valued for its rich meaning.

On the topic of pieces of art that shouldn’t be used for their aesthetic alone but often are, sugar skull tattoos make the list.

Sugar skulls are linked to the holiday the Day of the Dead. They traditionally represent departed souls but they’ve often been used in tattoo art for their aesthetic beauty alone. While some sugar skull tattoos are meaningful and linked to their history, fad-based designs for appearances alone are frowned upon.

Portraits, as a whole, aren’t bad tattoos. The problem becomes when those portraits are poorly done. This is especially true for hyper-realistic styles as these tattoos are hard.

Portraits are easy to make mistakes on and there are plenty of examples out there that can attest to the results of poorly done or questionable portraits that look more like horror character than who they’re supposed to look like. If you want to get a portrait tattoo, make sure to do your research!

There’s something to be said for commemorating your favorite place with a piece of art on your body. There are plenty of different ways that you can use it too.

You could get a landmark tattooed on you or even a stylistic rendition of your favorite photo there alongside countless other options. One of the most played out ways to do this for cities, especially New York, is to get the skyline tattooed in a single line like a heartbeat.

For some reason, people are so proud of the part of the country they hail from that they feel an incessant need to remind everyone through the power of body art. They truly believe that it is a sensible decision to put the three definitive numbers on their body, signifying where they call home.

People have the right to be proud of where they are from, but surely you could have thought of a more poignant tattoo to let us know where you live.

It must be said – Koi fish are a big deal in Chinese and Japanese culture. They can often be seen in a lot of classical art and literature and until this very day, the Koi is an important symbol in these parts of the world.

And while it is often a symbol for luck and success, many outsiders have turned the Koi fish into an overused tattoo. We get it, you got the tattoo to symbolize the obstacle you overcame through perseverance. But come on already!

Many people take a lot of meaning from parts of the Bible. So much so that they might even have chapters from the Holy book written on their bodies.

We aren’t criticizing Christians or the Bible or anything like that. We respect freedom of expression and to practice whatever religion you want. But at least give us some lines from the chapter! Why do we have to Google the title or ask you what it’s about?

Now, this one totally depends on who is wearing it. When it comes to chefs and cooks, we’ll give them a pass as cooking is like an art form for them. If someone in the kitchen sports a garlic clove on their arm, then we’ll give them a pass.

But if you are planning on putting a cheeseburger tattoo on your back anytime soon, consider us as enemies from this point onward. “I like cheeseburgers, but I don’t…tattoo a cheeseburger on myself,” one tattoo artist said.

We understand that this pretty much qualifies as another brand tattoo, rendering it as automatically tacky. But it seems like so many people have Hello Kitty tattoos and we really don’t understand what all the fuss is about.

Maybe it’s something to do with how innocent the kitty looks and that it’s relatively easy on the eye. But we say “no way” to that. You’re better off just getting a full-blown tiger tattooed all over your back. If you’re going to go feline, you might as well go with the king of the jungle, not this.

Look, superheroes exist for a reason. They are there to inspire us and show that we are capable of doing amazing things, even if the odds are stacked up against us. But how many men need to get a logo of Superman tattooed to their chest before they all realize they have made a grave mistake?

It is iconic, that’s for sure. But people aren’t going to see it unless you are topless and by the time that comes around, those people are just going to cringe at you.

Here is another example of something that is inherently beautiful but has ultimately been done to death by too many people. The Mandala is a perfectly symmetrical shape made out of many smaller symbols. It can appear in many different forms and is attributed to Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

And yet, there are many people out there who simply get a tattoo of a mandala because it looks cool. This doesn’t apply to everyone who does this, but it’s a crime nonetheless.

We’re not entirely sure how this began, but someone decided to make a fox out of triangles and soon, this trend became way too popular for its own good. And it’s not just foxes now. It seems like this trick has been done with all animals.

“Geometric animals. They drive me crazy, they are the tribal tattoo of our generation,” a tattoo artist wrote on Reddit. “Oh wow, another fox that is made of triangles…How original.”

Once again, this isn’t us criticizing Christianity or any other religion, for that matter. All we are saying is, if you are going to have a religious symbol as a tattoo, make sure that the design is perfect.

“Unattractive, straight-up ugly crosses. To me it’s a shame when people have bad taste in crosses,” a tattoo artist wrote on Reddit. “It’s such a simple thing that’s supposed to be meaningful yet some people can’t seem to get past the second page of Google images.”

This is the only form of body art on this list that isn’t performed on the skin. That’s right folks, people are now tattooing their eyes! Also known as scleral tattooing, this is becoming more and more popular with each year and more often than not, it just looks scary!

The dye is not actually injected into the eye tissue, rather between two layers of the eyeball, then it spreads. If you are planning on doing this, seek medical consultation first. Procedures have caused vision loss and severe pain.

We talked earlier about the concept of feather tattoos. We specifically touched on feathers that dissolve into birds.

Now, it’s worth looking at another trend related to feathers. Peacock feather tattoos are seen everywhere and they were even more popular in the 2000s and 2010s. Now, they’re often seen as a trend – one fad that time has passed its prime. Yet, it seems that the trend has stuck around long enough to keep this design fairly popular.

We’ve talked at length about designs that dissolve into a flock of birds being a passing fad that has been incorporated into a variety of different designs.

That being said, there’s something about even the use of bird silhouettes on their own that has become a fad by itself. Whether they’re a part of a bigger design or not, these birds have become a dread to some tattoo artists and don’t have the same originality they once did.

There are people all around the world that have different animal tattoos. Plus, since there are so many animals in the world, these can be wildly unique.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t certain animals that have soaring popularity compared to how often other species are used in art. As for tattoos, owls became this overused animal for a while, turning the concept into a fad that plenty of people jumped on board on.

Once again, compasses are popular for good reason. They are another design that harkens back to the nautical theme Sailor Jerry drew from.

On top of that, compasses have a strong core meaning. They represent the infinite possibilities and direction, beyond the plain, directional interpretation. Yet, as the trend continued to rise over the decades, the compass started to get overused and, in many opinions, played out. As such, it’s starting to be recognized as more of a fad.

Black bands are usually placed to wrap around the arms. They, like many other tattoos on this list, have a meaningful core message even if it’s been diluted slightly by popularity.

There are a few different interpretations of them. On one hand, they can stand for the passing of a loved one but they can also symbolize luck or strength as well. Unfortunately, they’ve been taken on as fashion statements as well, which is less than ideal.