Rockabilly Tatoos

Followers of the rockabilly trend tended to be rebellious in many different ways. Their style of dress broke away from the standard, hair styles were different than what was popularly acceptable, and the music was a brand new creation like nothing that had ever been heard before. Rockabilly tattoos were also a form of rebellion. Body art was not the popular trend that it is today when rockabilly began back in the 1950’s. Rockabilly tattoos were some of the first in a trend that would explode through the decades. Other cultures across the world had been decorating their bodies with ink for centuries, but as an American art tradition, this was practically unheard of and looked down upon severely. However, this did not stop rockabilly tattoos from becoming a fashion statement among these rebels.

Girls, cars, and musical symbols and instruments tended to dominate the subject matter of a rockabilly tattoo. Women, for whom it was much less acceptable to have a tattoo, often wore necklaces with pendants referred to as “rockabilly tattoo necklaces”. The pendants on these pieces of jewelry often sported the same artwork as men’s rockabilly tattoos, like cars and pinup girls, as well as sayings like “faith” or “rock” written with an artistic fashion and surrounded by decoration.

Rockabilly tattoos began a trend that turned into a phenomenon. Today, many rockers, country artists, and rockabilly lovers alike have body art, some of them covering large areas of their body with body art. Some have even gone to the extreme of covering their entire body with tattoos. It’s gone far beyond the pretty heart with a woman’s name worn on a man’s arm. Whatever the favored subject matter, rockabilly tattoos were some of the first body art to be worn in visible places, and the showy artwork inflamed society into a world of tattoos.