To want a sleeve tattoo done on my arm?

[JellyDiamonds]

Ive been looking at getting another tattoo done for a while now but have been unsure on what to get done and where. Whilst looking online for inspiration I've seen some amazing sleeve tattoos and have decided that I want one of them, the designs and artistry are amazing. I think that if they are done properly by decent tattoo artists then they are like works of art.

The thing is that everyone I've told about it has looked at me like I'm going mad. My mum was absolutely horrified, said that they are "revolting" and that I'll look like a sailor. But I don't think I will, I saw a photo on Facebook of a friend of a friend and she had a floral sleeve on her arm and yet still managed to look feminine. Not that I'm particularly feminine and girly anyway, but the point I'm trying to make is that not all sleeve designs are for blokes who start fights in pubs which what my mum was clearly trying to get at.

Should I just bite the bullet and go for it?

I have worked in sales and marketing roles, including senior management level in household names in both cosmetics and the food industry.

I have never showed my tattoo at interviews however once I am in a job I will wear whatever I like including skirt suit with nude tights (tattoo is on my leg) with heels and I have never had any issues whatsoever.

Actually I tell a lie... I had one issue, at the start of my career as a consultant for chanel where my area manager asked me to stick a plaster over it. I said no and that it would irritate my skin (I have an allergy to them) and they could either let me wear black tights or trousers or send me home. They backed down and let me continue to work with it showing and it was never mentioned again.

I attended private school with a full scholarship and acquired 3 a levels and was accepted into Oxford. Due to family circumstances (terminal illness) I chose not to go to university.

My point is that you cannot judge anyone by them having a tattoo or not. My tattoo relates to my grandad who I loved more than anyone else in the world. I will never regret it because I can never regret loving my grandad.

"My point is that you cannot judge anyone by them having a tattoo or not."

But they are judged- that's the point.

Good point, I had tattoos which were visible when I applied for (and won) my scholarship to university.

There are LOADS of jobs I can't do with or without tattoos. Space Cowboy, Brain Surgeon, being the Queen, massage Therapist.....

Yes I realise that but my point is that they don't say anything about someone's background, class or intelligence. They cross all those boundaries now. Yet people still look at someone with them and think they can predict the type of person someone is, when you can't.

My point is pretty obvious from my post.

Fairy - that's interesting. In our place (NHS) not adhering to the dress code (which includes no visible tattoos) is a disciplinary matter. Something to bear in mind for anyone planning to apply for a job but not planning to cover up.

I'm one of the they.

Hand on heart having tattoos and piercings have not impeded my life in anyway (apart from having to give a bit of extra blood when donating ).

I realise this counts for nothing on mumsnet in a debate of course

But in real life where it counts and matters I'm fine thanks

Im guessing not being able to be a brain surgeon or the Queen has nothing to do with you having tattoos. However, if you were able to be a brain surgeon you would have to cover all visible tats.

Well yes your point is obvious. I can't get a job from someone who dislikes tattoos so much to decline me on that basis.

But I've yet to be in that position.

My point was I was only answering someone's question, and trying to be accommodating.

I'm nice like that.

But OP you have posted this on a thread entitled

" Am I Being Unreasonable "

If you didn't want everyone to give your their opinions, why are you arguing with them?

Their personal feelings regarding you or your tattoos might not even come into it - there may be a dress code which rules you out.

I can follow a dress code, same as anyone else.

Tiggy

I've already booked you in for one that says

TEACAKE FIBBER

in your Tramp Stamp zone.

Not if that dress code states no visible tattoos you can't (as I said earlier, I presume you mean visible as in head/face/neck?) Or somewhere else that can't be covered by clothes at all times

If we're taking about me specifically.

But they can be covered with makeup.

I can make all mine disappear, personally I won't have a hand tattoo because of the risk of infection and it ending up looking shit.

So the only issue would be my pierced nose, and pierced ears and whether they objected to empty holes.

In all fairness I have never worked for the nhs. I have however led (and designed) training courses for nhs managers whilst wearing a skirt suit with my tattoo clearly visible. That's besides the point but just saying. ...

Most of the more junior roles I have worked in had dress codes. Most said "no visible tattoos" and for the most part I would stick to that if I could. However if the job had a uniform that meant I had to wear a skirt with nude tights then I would go in wearing that (adhering to the uniform) and usually they would not mention my tattoo. I think quite often people are less bothered by them than they actually think they are, especially when faced with someone who is doing a very good job and being successful in whatever role it is.

You will have been an outside contractor and therefore not subject to the same dress code as NHS staff. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view things) there isn't one rule for one member of staff and another for others. We are all expected to do a very good job - we are all expected to adhere to the dress code which includes no visible tattoos. Covering with thick make up wouldn't cut it and would simply be washed off in many cases through scrubbing etc.

I'm another tattooed and pierced person with no job. That'd be the tattoos and piercings though, not the fact that I've been massively ill and am now quite disabled through ill health. Nope, its the tattoos.

LOL at all the people saying they haven't had negative feedback in real life. Well people are polite. It's good to exchange our honest opinions behind the cloak of anonymity.

I would think it in real life, but of course I would keep my thoughts to myself.

I would imagine there are far more people who dislike tattoos than like them.

I would imagine there are far more people who dislike tattoos than like them.

Or perhaps far more people who just don't care one way or another and that it is a minority who get het up about it?

DH worked for a major IT company in business to business sales. Never had a problem with his visible tattoo. I have worked my whole career in a relationship management role and at a senior level for some years. People know about my tattoos and it has never hindered me professionally. I cover them up when I need to which is not very often and tends to be when I go to see a client of a certain generation. Yes for work I have to be mindful but it is infrequent that I have to take this precaution.

Completely agree with you living.

Personally I don't care at all if people dislike tattoos. I do care that they think they can pigeonhole people and their beliefs however because they choose to have a piece of artwork on their skin. Anyone who thinks they can do that is just very ignorant.

I work in the public sector, in quite an academic setting, and I can think of a couple of women in my immediate vicinity with visible tattoos.

Both lovely women, incredibly good at what they do.

I think the job thing is a bit redundant. Increasingly, visible tattoos don't matter, because they're so ubiquitous.

I don't think tattoos mark people out as anything, other than they like tattoos. However, I stand by my comment that fashion tattoos that date badly are just so cringeworthy for the wearer. And a sleeve well and truly falls into that category.

I actually briefly toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo in my 20s and I knew exactly what I would get. To this day (two decades on), it's still the design I would get, but the thing that stops me is that no matter how unique it was, how meaningful, how beautifully done ... it would still look like a tattoo.

"a piece of artwork on their skin"

That's a subjective view. tattoos are no more than body graffitti.

I agree with japanesemargaret- they are actually quite cringeworthy. I see a variety of tattoos at my gym class- dolphins, Japanese and Chinese symbols- these horrible neck ones that make the wearer look factory produced, ex partner's names that have been inked over, stars, roses, Twilight images, all hideous stuff.

That's not artwork that just random scribbling that a bored teenager might do on the cover of a jotter.

Laser removal is a booming business remember.

Combust it's very clear exactly what you think about tattoos. That's fine. However as seen by this thread and in my own experience most people are either fairly neutral about tattoos, love them or dislike them but not enough to voice their dislike as strongly as you have.

Yes the term "artwork" is subjective. As is your own view about them being "graffiti".

I don't see the fact laser removal is popular as a sign of anything other than the fact technology is getting better and giving people more choices with regards to what they do with their own body. Lots of people actually use laser removal to get rid of one tattoo and then get another - my dh is heavily involved with a tattoo studio (they use him as a model) and sometimes people run out of skin on themselves and want something else or they want an upgrade on the work they have or an extension. It's not always people regretting getting a tattoo in the first place.

For what it's worth neither dh nor I have any of the tattoos mentioned in your post. Not that it makes it any better for you because you hate them all anyway .

"I would imagine there are far more people who dislike tattoos than like them."

I think that's likely true. However! If you do think that, you can't also claim that people who get tattoos are just mindlessly following the herd, which is the sort of thing that folk who say stuff like that go on to say in their very next breath.

Although I cover up at work, in other settings I have had positive comments about my tattoos from the most unexpected people; being approached by someone who you thought had been casting you a disapproving glance, only for them to ask you where you got your work done, has been a really eye-opening experience. (by the way, they're not "tats" or "body art" or "ink" - I call them tattoos, because that's what they are). And in the industry itself I've made some lifelong friends. It's a real hobby for me, as it is for many people - and I can't see anything wrong with that.

Someone asked what tattooed people do: I run a centre for people with learning disabilities. Generally I've been in administrative roles in the non-profit sector for 15 odd years now.

"And a sleeve well and truly falls into that category."

A sleeve is just an arm of tattoos. It's not a style, or a design in itself - some of which definitely do date badly, like Tasmanian devils or dolphins. Think of it like a unit of tattoo coverage, like a kilogram is a unit of weight.