If those tattoo's had meaningful sentiment for the owner, and you knew that sentiment, would you view that person different than a "fashionista tattoo seeker" ?
edit : I have a few tattoo's my first at 18, my best friend killed himself, so I took his scratch he made on his guitar and make a tattoo. it's not astetic by any means but now I build a collection of memories of the people important to me who are around and meld them all together.
I like this, means the most to me. Can look horrible to others. But tattoos are not all born equal.
You are right and my answer is yes. (I elaborated my thought in another reply under my parent comment; the essence being that tattoos with the function of fashion likely lead to regret, while other tattoos don't.)
It's just having the maturity to realize that you don't have to stop having fun just because you're getting older
It's also important to have the maturity to realize that there is a time and place for embracing your inner child
I have a tattoo of a sword buried in molten rock on my bicep. It was kind of inspired by the bonfire from Dark Souls. I don't tend to go around showing it off at work events or whatever.
I absolutely do not regret it even though it is admittedly kind of a childish tattoo. I think it's cool. I show it off to people that I think will also think it's cool
I tried to not make an all inclusive statement, thus formulating it as "Tattoos as fashion", as I do recognize there are people happy with their tattoos, thus not subject to regret.
What I tried to get at, but wasn't clear about, is that tattoos serve a functional purpose (in your case it seems to partly be an identifier).
Then, specifically, tattoos with the function of fashion, is what likely leads to regret by the general laws of fashion. To quote "Project Runaway": "one day you're in, the next day you're out."
