As if tattoos don’t generate enough debate as it is! Throwing in colourful leg tattoos would surely be a step too far for the well kept gent… or is it?
GQ’s fashionista Nick Carvell, did much to sway my opinion on leg tattoos. Before, I thought they were very metrosexual, and only for the Beta- male.
I was wrong.
Leg tattoos are cool. But the question is whether you suit them.
As a genetically (so I claim) chicken legged, amateur bodybuilder, I try to keep the attention away from my legs. So creating a piece of art for people to stair at on my pegs, is not a good idea. However, this does not mean I cannot appreciate the appeal of, and class of a leg tattoo on the right gentleman.
Ideally, the best suited customers are those with complete slim anthropometrics. Tattoo adorned Demi- God Alex Turner shows this to be true.
Now, the rise in the number of animals engraved on people’s legs has caught my attention, particularly when I was in Barcelona last summer. The Catalonian youths seemed fond of such pictures, with Jaguars being a popular choice. When I questioned Enrique, a 18 y/o resident of La Rambla, on his choice of a bear on his left lower quadricep, he said: ‘the bear is strong and feared, I like to be the same.’ It should probably be mentioned that my Spanish is horrendous, so the poor young chap had to splutter this out to me in his broken English.
To be perfectly frank, the best suited Enrique’s rather reinforced frame, and got me wondering what animal I would chose… hypothetically of course- I should have probably mentioned that I’m an aichmophobe- and have no intention of letting something as sharp as a needle touching me.
I digress. In this dreampt up world, where the tattoo artist was not Satan and the needle his trident, I thought about having a snake. The simple reason being that it would look cool. This was a mistake, as I soon realised; a snake slithering down ones quadriceps will likely get you kicked out of a family restaurant, for reasons a gentleman should not divulge.
My second thought was a wolf.
This seemed relatively safe; they are strong, attractive to look at, raise no sexual concern when visible out the bottom of a pair of shorts.
Despite looking nice- certainly some designs I have seen are very aesthetically pleasing- I circled back to the earlier issue of: whether it would suit me.
Comfortably this can be answered… nope.
Despite having a slightly rugged appearance, my personality couldn’t be any less wolffish. Perhaps something more resembling a budgie would suit me, but who the heck wants one of those on their body?
Anyway, less able my own misgivings, and more about leg tattoos.
Ignoring the unforgivable act of wearing visable Nike socks with smart attire, this gent has got the leg tattoo look spot on.
As aforementioned, the sleekness of the tattoos compliment the slenderness of his leg, and creates the desired effect of a clean, yet artistic look.
Evidently I am going to have to address the Gucci’s. Topping off this chaps style, the low cut of the shoe allows more of the tattoo to be seen, thus projects the full extent of his artwork to the world.
I do sometimes find myself wishing I could pull off such a look. However, some were meant to be desired, some were meant to admire. I am comfortable with that fact.
Gucci shoes in this style are available from flannels.com. Prices start from £365. My person favourite ones are the Noel Gg (I hope this doesn’t stand for Noel Gallagher) web leather loafers, which are on the cheaper side, but are still awesome!
gentstitbits 