Watch 100 years of tattoo trends in under three minutes

Like all things in life, tattoos go through trends. Lucky for us, Allure managed to take a video of tattoo trends from the last 100 years, because they like to be informative. And who knows? Maybe you’ll be inspired to bring back a specific look from past decades.

This video is also really good to show your parents, in case they make it seem like millennials are the only age group getting inked. Never forget, tattoos have been around for thousands of years.

History even dates them back to 2000 BC, since markings were found on female mummies. Take that, mom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ4Doat2BWQ?feature=oembed

The video is pretty amazing. And we’ve learned so much!

For example, we had no idea that the 1930s brought  about the permanent eyebrow trend. And in the ’40s, women were all about supporting the military through tanning “tattoos.”

We also had no idea that birds and butterflies originated in the ’50s. Those two designs are pretty big today, so we’re guessing that while trendy, they’re also somewhat timeless.

The video credits tattoos becoming more mainstream in the ’80s, which makes a lot of sense. Since a lot of us were born in the ’80s and ’90s, it’s probably why we’re pretty lax about visible tattoos in comparison to other generations.

But of course, there’s also some intrigue in keeping them hidden, which is why the video credits the 2010 era for creative tattoo placement, like inside the inner lip.

We’re so curious as to what fun trends the future will hold!