Teen hearthrobs like Adam Levine and Justin Beiber have recently been seen covered in tattoos, thus now making them uncool with the rest of us.
Houston Tattoo Arts Convention promoter Troy Timpel, who has been tattooing for 25 years in Philadelphia, said he disagrees, that tattooing has never been as popular as it is today.
"It's something that's just been growing, too. It's not something that's just one little thing that created one little fad. It's been here for a while and it's been growing in popularity consistently for the last, almost 10 years," said Timpel.
He said the most culturally influential people are tattooed—like musicians, athletes and actors and it's permeated into unexpected subcultures.
"I think there's a broader demo of people that are getting tattooed today than ever before," said Timpel.
He said Houston is a good tattoo town with the talented tattoo artists and a long history of tattoos with the Shaw family here, which is America's oldest tattoo dynasty.
The Patriarch, Bob Shaw, settled down in Houston and Larry Shaw still has a shop here.
Timpel will be here in June for a tattoo convention in June at the NRG Center with tattoo artists from all over the country.