Everyone is different. Everyone has their unique characteristics, traits and isms that make them who they are. All these little things come together to cultivate our individual aesthetic, and it is through this that many of us strongly identify.
Fashion is an important element of personal aesthetic, serving as the first glance into who someone is when you first meet them, but sometimes tattoo art can be overlooked as an essential piece of the puzzle as well. Tattoos can be a direct window into who someone is, as it can represent what they value and how they want to present themselves. In this sense, fashion and tattoo art contain a lot of the same principles in what it is they try to accomplish.

Luis Morales, a UO sophomore studying economics, has two tattoos on his right leg above his knee. He got his first tattoo in May of last year, which was a very nerve-wracking experience for him. 

“The first time was scary — my mom wasn’t home that weekend, and my dad was working all day, so it was kind of a rebellious thing,” Morales said.

The first tattoo he got is a circular black brush stroke representing discipline, which comes from a book he studied during his time doing martial arts. The book, “The Art of Peace” by Japanese martial artist Morihei Ueshiba, centers around martial arts values such as discipline, peace and not using your fighting techniques for evil.

His second tattoo, which he got last August, is a sword from an anime series which, unlike his first, was very spontaneous, as he picked it out 20 minutes before going to the tattoo parlor.

“The brush stroke kind of relates to me doing martial arts, so it’s just a little symbol or memory I have from that,” Morales said. “The sword one was just more about having fun, and just putting something cool on my body.”

With his tattoos being very visible on his body in an exposed place, it allows Morales to dress in a certain way that will help accentuate his body art. Being able to show them to the world goes back to why he got them in the first place — to boost his self confidence and feel good about his look.

“I always in general enjoy wearing shorts more, and I’ve always been a lot more confident in my legs than in my upper body, so I like showing them off,” Morales said. “And I know adding something, a cool little design to my legs, just made me a lot more confident and just made me feel a lot cooler, especially if I’m showing them.”
UO sophomore and biology major Dimitri Rodriguez has been inking his skin since the moment he could at 18 years old. Since he crossed over into official adulthood, getting a tattoo was the only thing he wanted.

Today, Rodriguez flaunts several different tattoos across all parts of his body. His first tattoo resides on the upper left side of his chest, a Chinese virtue that means “fu,” which means good fortune, blessings and luck. On his left forearm is another Chinese symbol, “jiātíng,” which translates to “family.” On his ribs is a snake with the number one next to it, representing him being the year of the snake based on the Chinese zodiac, and the number one representing his birthdate being on the first and his birth year being in 2001.
On the back of his neck are the hands of God and Adam, depicted in Michelangelo’s famous painting “The Creation of Adam,” and the side of his right leg over his whole calf depicts an elaborate image of Zeus, the Greek god of lightning. He believes tattoo art should have personal significance if you want to express yourself in that way.
“I really like the aesthetics part of it, but also I think having a meaning behind your tattoos is somewhat important, because why would I get something that wouldn’t really have something that is meaningful to me?” Rodriguez said. “If I’m going to get it, it’s going to be there forever; I probably want it to mean something that is somewhat important to me or something that I choose to believe in.”

His personal fashion style primarily consists of streetwear with a hint of an alternative or grunge flavor, incorporating a lot of blacks and other neutrals such as whites, grays and tans. Having many tattoos across several parts of his body, he likes to emphasize his body art within this style and takes pride in how he expresses himself through it.

“I think that for the placing of my tattoos, like for the one on my forearm or my leg, maybe I’ll tend to wear short sleeves to show it off and then shorts, too,” Rodriguez said. “I got them to where I can hide them and they can be conspicuous, but at the same time if I really want to I can show them off. I can flaunt them and show them off in a way that’s like I’m not trying to boast what I have on my body, but at the same time I’m proud of what I have.”

Tattoo art pairs with fashion as an equally essential factor in self expression and showing people who you are and what you believe in. Getting that first tattoo can give you a sense of empowerment and confidence, which is truly the essence of what fashion and style is all about.