Jun 27, 2008  |  By: ZACK ROSEN  | COMMENTS     

are tattoo removal and tattoo cover-up. Removal is painful and expensive and leaves a scar the size of the tattoo. The other option is tricky because the offensive piece is covered up with something twice as big.

Devin Toporek, who works at a mortgage banker’s association, has geometric half-sleeves on both his upper arms. One is a cover-up of a tattoo mistake (that ubiquitous bicep-circling barbed wire popular in the ’90s) from earlier in his life.

“I grew up in New Jersey and the tribal tattoo is your sign that you’re from New Jersey,” he says. “[Mine] was the typical cheesy Jersey tattoo. They usually get a tribal band, which usually consists of barbed wire. I spent 12 years having something on my body that I got on a whim … that I wasn’t happy with. The fact that I have something now that I designed myself, the fact that people appreciate that, is nice. I always tell people now to make sure you really want it before you do it and that it is personal to you. It shouldn’t be something you chose out of a book.”

Toporek says the “I’m-in-a-relationship” vibe he gives off prevents him from getting hit on as much as single tattooed peers. He does, however, get “more looks and more attention.”

“It’s a confidence builder,” he says. “Some people just stare and look at it, others come up and compliment me. I’ve had several people tell me I inspire them to get something similar. Some can’t believe how much ink it is, how much work and time I’ve put into it. Mostly it’s really good feedback, it’s good to hear that people like it.”

Bearers of unique or personalized tattoos seem to be the ones happiest with their choices. Toporek’s design includes his Hebrew name and a hand with an eye in the center, a Hebrew symbol of protection. One of Baker’s flowers is a daisy, in honor of a like-named, deceased dog. Bozick came from a family of Ohio steel workers and has two tattoos that are “distinctly about labor.” One is an abstract design of toiling factory workers, which he says keeps him connected to his roots.

“Upon entering the white collar world of Washington, D.C., these tattoos were a reminder to myself that my parents struggled quite a bit to make what I’m doing now a reality to me. [They’re] a celebration of pride from where I am from, and those experiences will always be embedded in me regardless of how my career and life now look.”