If you have a piece of fabric that's meaningful to you -- maybe a part of your wedding dress or your grandmother's handkerchief -- bring it to your tattoo artist to serve as inspiration for a gorgeous piece like this one.

Photograph courtesy of Birds of a Feather

The movement, shading and placement of this realistic lace bow beautifully complement the subject's figure. Talk about a gorgeous female tattoo.

Photograph courtesy of Street Fashion

This diminutive, yet complex lace heart would make a stunning first tattoo.

Photograph courtesy of drInkbrly

Plenty of women in their 20s get ill-advised tattoos memorializing celebrities they'll soon dislike, pop culture events they'll soon forget and other youthful tributes to things that don't matter. But now that you're in your 40s, you know what you like and what's meaningful to you. So why not honor your home state or the date of your kid's birth with some commemorative ink?

We're not talking extravagant portraits (although those can be beautiful, too). These are a few first tattoo ideas for how to honor something, someone or someplace you love in an elegant way.

Nod to your roots with the outline of your home state or the coordinates of where you grew up.

Photograph courtesy of JMedeirosPhotography.com