So many women choose the hip as the place to get their first tattoo. (I did!)  Hip tattoos are beautiful and in my experience, not terribly painful.  They are a great place to get started if you are looking for that first tattoo experience. 

For a first tattoo, it is great to be able to see the piece.  Not necessarily while you are being tattooed, but to be able to enjoy seeing it afterward.  A hip tattoo is visible to the wearer.

Hip tattoos are discreet, and can be shown or hidden by the wearer whenever they choose.

A small tattoo design on the hip looks cute and feminine, and most people would like to start with a small tattoo rather than jumping in to a large piece.

When choosing a tattoo design for the hip, consider how big you would like to go.  Remember that small tattoos need to be simple so that they do not blur and lose detail over time.

A slightly larger tattoo design will allow for more detail, and can flow along the hip.

A small (quarter to half-dollar size piece), could be placed just over or inside the rise of the hip bone and look great.  A larger piece could center there and flow up and out toward the waist, and/or down and inward toward the center of your pelvis. This follows the flow of the body and will accentuate your curves rather than flatten them out.

As with chest tattoos, if you choose to get a tattoo on the stomach or across the waist from hip to hip, remember to follow a "V" shape.   On a woman, this accentuates hips and makes the tattoo design more feminine.  A man would probably follow more of a "U" shape on the stomach below the bellybutton to follow the curve of the stomach.

When women have their hip tattoo traverse in a straight line across the hips, it breaks the underlying muscle curves up such that you no longer follow the motion around the waist but instead notice the stomach.  If you gain weight there afterwards, it is likely that the straight line will turn into more of a "U", accentuating the weight gain.  A "V" shape will continue to draw your attention to the curve of the hips, which is womanly and not distracting.

For women concerned about weight gain or pregnancy with hip tattoos, a small design placed on the hip bone is less likely to distort than a tattoo placed to the inside of the hip bone, or on the waist/love handles.  While I have not experienced a great deal of weight gain or loss over the last decade, my waist tattoo on the love handles has experienced the most "spread" of any of my tattoos.  So my advice if you are concerned about weight gain or loss effecting your tattoo would be to keep the tattoo simple and on the more bony area of your hip, and if you do have a piece that flows to the waist, use organic lines and shapes that will make sense with minor distortions - flowers, vines, even calligraphy that flows.

With these pointers in mind, you should be on your way to an excellent tattoo in no time.  When in doubt, talk to your tattoo artist to flesh out your ideas and make sure your design will look perfect.  Happy tattooing!