But today top stars including David Beckham, Rihanna and Cheryl Cole, flaunt their expensive body art and a new generation of celebrity tattoo artists can name their price to create signature pieces. It has never been more popular to get a tattoo, with an estimated 20million people in the UK now sporting one. And there are nearly 1,200 parlours here, compared with just 700 back in 2001.
So how did the tattoo become so trendy? Top British tattooist Lal Hardy, 52 - whose work adorns the bodies of footballers Dimitar Berbatov and Aaron Lennon and pop stars Frankie Sandford and Aston Merrygold - has witnessed the revolution since he began working in 1979.
He said: "When I first started it was exclusively white males aged 18-35 coming in. There was a stigma attached to tattoos. "It was something wrongly associated with the working and criminal classes. Now all ages and ethnic backgrounds come in. I get businessmen wanting a discreet design. "I've even had an 80-year-old woman in recently who had Winnie The Pooh done on her hip to celebrate the birth of her granddaughter.
"The level of artistic achievement is higher than ever. Some of the work being done by the top practitioners is so beautiful, creative and skilled - up there with any other art form."One person who has done more than anyone else to popularise tattoos is David Beckham - and Lal is a big fan of his body art.
He said: "When David had his angel wings done in Manchester by Louis Molloy - who we all hugely respect - it was a major turning point. That is one of the most commonly imitated tattoos. "Cheryl Cole and Rihanna have made body art appeal to women - especially young women. "Hip-hop stars and NBA basketball players have popularised it in the black community."
Lal - who is a collector and historian of tattoos - also believes an explosion of body art on TV has helped the image of the industry, which is now worth £125million. At the moment, the film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has been inspiring a lot of people.
And US TV series Prison Break - featuring heavily inked main character Wentworth Miller - helped to put tattooing on the mainstream map in the Noughties. Before that, George Clooney's striking tribal tattoo in the film From Dusk Till Dawn stimulated a craze for replicas. More recently, there has been a huge rise in reality TV shows featuring famous parlours, such as LA Ink and Miami Ink, starring top US tattooist Kat Von D.
Lal said: "I first met Kat when she was starting out and now she is a global star. She, and Mario Barth in Las Vegas, who does Snoop Dogg's tattoos, can name their price. They are millionaires."
One of the ironies of tattooing is that it costs a fortune to have it done but often people will never properly see the results. If the design is on the back of the body, the wearer might never be able to gaze at their own design.
Lal, who runs a parlour in Muswell Hill, north London, said: "It's strange in a way that we choose to change our bodies but it dates back a long way. There is evidence of tattooing dating back to 2000BC on an Egyptian female mummy.
"And in 1991 two tourists in the Austrian Alps stumbled across an ice mummy, Otzi, from around 3300BC, who was covered in 57 tattoos. "I've spent a lot of cash having my back done. And although I've seen a photo of it I've never seen it with my own eyes."
Despite the increase in popularity of tattoos, Lal sticks to important principles. It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to have work done in the UK, even with parental consent. He added: "Even if you come in with a letter from Mum and Dad, it is illegal for me to tattoo a minor.
"I don't do facial work. I don't do political, racist or obscene work and I don't do genitals." With three decades in the business, Lal has developed a sensible approach and offers the following advice to anyone thinking of having a tattoo done. He said: "Really think about the design - especially if it's a band or a person you're into. You might not like them in five or ten years' time. "And think very carefully about where to put the tattoo because it can affect your work prospects.
"The police vet people for tattoos. If you have bulldogs, skulls, daggers or a flag of St George, anything that could be seen as offensive, even if hidden, you can't join. "So don't rush. My slogan is: You only have one hide so it pays to decide. Go to a reputable shop licensed by the local authorities."To mark the new wave of developments in the tattoo world Lal has written a book, out next month, called The Mammoth Book Of Tattoo Art, which looks at major artists making their mark now.
He said: "There is a new wave of young artists who are making waves all over the world with radically different styles. "Lots of new tattooists are developing their own styles. One woman, Amanda Wachob, almost paints like Picasso. "A Japanese artist called Horiyoshi III has been declared a national treasure by the government there because he is so talented.