Degenerate Decoration

[bluegargantua]

"But a modern man who tattooes himself is either a criminal or a degenerate. Why, there are prisons where eighty per cent of the convicts are tattooed, and tattooed men who are not in prison are either latent criminals or degenerate aristocrats. When a tattooed man dies at liberty, it simply means that he hasn’t had time to commit his crime."

-- Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime

Mr. Loos eventually goes on to propose that all decoration and ornament should be stripped away from objects leaving only smooth functionality in its place.

Me, I'll choose degenerate aristocrat, please.
Tom