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Painted ladies

Photography by Grant Matthews. Styling by Amanda Moore.

Tara Moss and Clare Hampshire. Photography by Grant Matthews. Styling by Amanda Moore.

Once the sure sign of a wayward life, tattoos are now appearing on people from all walks of life. Ingrid Pyne discovers what inspired these women’s body art.

Gone are the days when tattoos were the preserve of sailors and soldiers, prisoners and prostitutes, or dockers and drug addicts. Body art has hit the mainstream. Celebrities from Angelina Jolie to Victoria Beckham and Australia’s Ruby Rose are the best-known of today’s tattooed women – and ordinary women of all ages are rushing to get inked. British acting great Helen Mirren even complains that a tiny tattoo on her thumb makes her feel conventional. “I decided to get a tattoo because it was the most shocking thing I could think of doing,” she says. “Now, I’m utterly disgusted because it’s completely mainstream, which is unacceptable to me.”

Tara Moss, 36, AUTHOR

I got my first tattoo – a black, three-clawed dragon – on my hip in 2004, after a long wait. I had loved tattoos on other people for so long that I’d literally started to feel “untattooed”. Since then, I’ve added a writing quill to my left arm and recently had amor eterno [eternal love] tattooed on the back of my neck, as a wedding present from my husband. My tattoos represent significant times and sentiments in my life.

I have never regretted my body art, so I’m not sure why Julia Gillard – whom I respect – felt compelled to comment on women and their tattoos. I don’t believe that women are likely to regret their tattoos more or less than men, or more or less than other decisions they make.

My tattoos are very much a part of me and I would feel naked without them. They are the art I carry with me everywhere I go.

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Clare Hampshire, 26, TATTOO ARTIST

Ever since I was 14, I knew I wanted to be tattooed. I had always been into alternative culture and body art was part of that. I got my first tattoo just after I turned 18. Some of my designs have personal meaning – I have tattoos for my parents, my grandparents, my fiancé and my dog. I also have a random assortment of images for no other reason than they make me happy.

Sometimes, my tattoos attract disapproving stares, like when I go to nice restaurants or hotels, but that doesn’t bother me. Tattoos will always draw a strong reaction and if you’re not prepared for this, you shouldn’t get inked. My parents were pretty unhappy when I got my first tattoos, but they’ve gotten used to them. They realise this is who I am, that I’m still the same person I always was.

Your say: Do you have a tattoo? What is the meaning behind it? Do you think people will regret getting body art when they get older? Share your opinions below…

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