Credit: Kara Pound (writer),   Chloe Aftel (photographer)  

When Zoe Jakes was starting out as a belly dancer, she made her living by dancing for Arabic and Persian groups—cultures that traditionally don’t approve of tattoos. “I had the girl on my back, but the rest of my body stayed untattooed because I needed to be able to work at restaurants, private parties, and weddings,” she says. “The minute I started getting successful in more alternative stuff, that’s when I just went for broke, because I love adornment. I love the way it makes the body look and changes when I dance.”

Read the complete article online at Inked