Ankle tattoos: the right size, shape, and design

At one time, when we would hear the word “tattoo” we would immediately think of gang thugs sporting malicious symbols  on rippling biceps. Tattoos all around the world were considered inconvenient in their permanence and tawdry in their content. We’ve all heard of the tramp stamp after all… These days, however, you hear “tattoo” and it’s probably coming out of some privileged tweens mouth with plans of embarking on a skin-prickling adventure.

Tattoos are growing very popular among your everyday girls-on-the-street. According to a 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center, 36% of people 18-25 and 40% of people 26-40 have tattoos! Makes you wonder what that means for work place dress codes. People often choose a less conspicuous place to paint themselves, and turns out the ankle is a very popular  spot with girls. Luckily for us, there are so many different shapes, sizes, and designs for ankle tattoos. And if they go horribly wrong, at least they can be covered up with pants or boots! To avoid such disaster, though, there are many things one should keep in mind when considering an ankle tattoo. Always think about three points while choosing an ankle tattoo:  color schemes, text, and size.

One of the most popular styles for an ankle tattoo, flower patterns come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. They are your multi-satisfaction ankle tattoo design, weaving intricate vines around your ankle and making your legs, especially if you’re unlucky enough to have cankles, appear more delicate and feminine. Flora ankle tattoos are usually made up of blossoms and vines. Fewer blossoms and more vines mold a more aesthetically pleasing design. They can wrap around the ankle, or simply crawl up the lower end of your calf. But beware: Designs that slither completely around the ankle have a cut-off effect, making your leg look like a part of Frankensteins bride. The thing to keep in mind about flora ankle tattoos is not to overwhelm your ankle. Too many gaudy flowers sprinkled across your skin may look like a rash from afar if it’s the right hue of rose. In the same line of thought, text does not belong with flora patterns. They overwhelm and distract from the natural beauty represented in the flower. These designs offer you a multitude of color choices. For those who want an ankle tattoo with more eye-catching pigment, a flora ankle tattoo is the way to go.

Another popular option for colorful ankle tattoos are visual illusion designs. Ankle tattoos that masquerade about as tangible ankle bracelets are very popular, but juvenile. Fit for a 13 year old. And makes us wonder a bit about a 13 year old getting a tattoo… The Frankenstein effect applies here as well: from afar, your foot may look cut off from the rest of your body, so forget those shorts, skirts, and summer sandals. Though not the worst of possible ankle tattoo designs, these cheesy attempts of visual illusion aren’t clever and aren’t even that illusory. Nobody is actually going to ask you, “Hey, is that an ankle bracelet or a tattoo, I cant tell?”

Wings on the feet are another colorful design found on ankle tattoo denizens. It’s a nice idea, a sigil of a famously swift Greek god on your feet to sweep you through life. The problem is, people tend to overdo it. Minimalism is better than extremism when it comes to many things, and this applies to Hermes ankle tattoos. Huge colorful wings that blanket the bottom of your calf do not complement the natural line and curvatures of your body. They visually interrupt your anatomy to create a disruptive image of gaudy shape and color. Thankfully, the Hermes ankle tattoo is pretty standard: usually it’s just a wing.

Ankle tattoos using foreign languages offer a lot of flexibility in architecture. They’re difficult to botch, because so many languages naturally have beautiful script. They also add an allure of mystery for people who dont know the language. People opt for proverbs or single words that hold special meaning for them. Because they are text tattoos, they can be painted on to perfectly align with the bone of your ankle for a smooth and harmonious effect. A very common ankle tattoo has been Chinese characters, of which there are thousands to choose from. These points aside, however, language ankle tattoos run the risk of seeming very cliche, especially if you don’t have some personal connection to the language. For example, it probably wouldn’t be very authentic for a girl to get a tattoo in Arabic if she’s never been to an Arab country, spoken Arabic, have some connection to the Arabic community, or even just taken classes and studied Arab countries. This applies to every language, of course. You don’t want to choose a foreign script as an ankle tattoo just because it looks cool. A personal connection will spare you labels of ignoramus.

Along the same line of thought, we’ve encountered several people in different parts of the world who thought it was a good idea to tattoo Chinese characters onto their bodies: anywhere on their bodies from arms to legs, to chest. We here at the Xaxii Creative Team find Mandarin characters to be a beautiful art form. However, it’s unwise to impulsively choose a character from a tattoo parlors wall and take the tattoo artists word on its meaning. Unless the tattoo artist has proficient knowledge of the language, we wouldn’t advice you to trust his or her definition. We’ve seen enough foul curse words and plain funny words tattooed permanently on people’s flesh to validly give this piece of advice: research your design ahead of time, then take it to the tattoo artist to craft for you. This applies to any other language that uses characters or script, such as Arabic, Japanese, Russian, Sanskrit, etc. A basic Internet search will save you a whole world of hurt and humiliation later. Better yet, find a native speaker or two and double check the meaning with them!

The size of your ankle tattoo is one of the most vital things to consider when shopping around for a design. You don’t want a huge blotch of ink that looks like a skin disease eating your foot. These giant crawlers are difficult to hide and difficult to match with anything else you wish to arrange with your look. They clash with almost any style, whether you’re going for the sassy look, the professional, the rocker chic or simple being cute. These tattoos often require more room, wrapping around your foot and cutting it off from the rest of your body. These giant crawlers also sometimes look like mini murals. They take on so much color and complexity that they may as well be a Jackson Pollock painting on your feet. It is chaos, and being fashionable requires more harmony. Huge and confusingly colorful ankle tattoos should probably be avoided if you want to keep a decent appearance and have more flexibility in future style options.

Ankle tattoos don’t have to be a complicated thing to choose, but neither should they be approached with a devil-may-care attitude. After all, you’ll have to live with it for life (unless you opt to get it removed, which can be a painful choice). The things to remember are: simplicity and harmony. Keep those in mind, and you can find an ankle tattoo that suits your style.