Illawarra tattoos: At 39 years old, Rachael finally took the plunge

Rachael Hutchinson had her heart set on a tattoo from a young age but her heavily inked dad made her wait.

“He said because it’s such a permanent thing, wait 10 years, see if you still want one,” she said. 

“So 26 came along and I still wanted a tattoo but I was absolutely terrified of needles so that stopped me from getting one.

“Then I waited many years, until I had my children and I thought after that everyone was getting tattooed and I thought it can’t be as bad as childbirth.”

The last straw was when Rachael’s mum, aged in her 50s at the time, beat her to it. So at 39 years old Rachael finally took the plunge.

”I think tattoos are a really individual thing because we get what we love tattooed on us and what means something to us,” said Rachael, now 44.

“I also think they’re kind of a public thing because we get them tattooed all over our body for other people to see. I kind of think they are a bit of both.”

Rachael, who loves art, has a few favourites. Her classic 1937 Snow White from the Disney movie is among them.

“She’s modeled directly off that, cause Snow White has changed over the years, and I wanted to get a specific style and look,” Rachel said. “But I do have seven tattoos of my children’s drawings through the years and I just can’t beat my kids drawings.”