TATTOOS have come a long way from the inked Tall Ship designs on sailors' forearms. Once taboo for respectable women, pop stars and actresses have led the way to making the needle art fashionable.

It's now become so acceptable that swanky London store Selfridges has opened its own tattoo parlour.

Anastacia, Mel C and Angelina Jolie are among those who have had their bodies decorated.

Delicate roses and hearts have given way to more exotic designs and some women, such as 18-year-old Anna Cook, opt for something which is very meaningful to them. A-level student Anna has two drama masks - the famous tragedy and comedy symbols of the theatre - neatly positioned just above her left hip.

"I had it done because I get restless. I change my hair all the time but I wanted to do something different," explained Anna, of Hubert Road, St Julians, Newport. "I love my drama and that's what I am going to do at university so it is something to always remind me of the time when it was so important to me."

She took the design with her to the tattooist and was delighted with way it turned out. It was important to her to have the tattoo in a place which she could either show off or conceal if it was appropriate.

"I know there are people who might look down on it," said Anna. "But it isn't as much of a stigma now - I know loads of people in school who have got them."

Bryn Jones has been a tattoo artist for 12 years and has been at Living Colour in Cwmbran for more than six years.

He said there had been a huge increase in the number of women wanting a tattoo over the last ten years. "We are now talking about almost 50/50 men and women. Some days I work on women all day."

Mr Jones said they were split into two main age groups - the 19 to 22-year-olds and, more surprisingly perhaps, women aged between 35 and 45. "A lot of people have settled down and raised their families then start feeling a bit boring. They may have a little bit more spare cash and like to do things they never did in their youth.

The stigma has now gone for women." He did not approve, however, of Selfridges deciding to open its own parlour. He said it could affect smaller studios where tattooists struggled to make a living for many years when the art was not so fashionable.

PICTURED: Bryn Jones, of Living Colour, Cwmbran, and his wife, Sarah.