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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want a sleeve tattoo done on my arm?

310 replies

JellyDiamonds · 12/10/2014 13:00

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?

OP posts:
Original poster
JellyDiamonds · 14/10/2014 08:45

They are pieces of artwork, I look at some of them and think of how talented the artist who designed and then drew the piece must be.

combat there are graffiti artists who make a fortune selling their work you know? ;)

I would like to stress this is only something I'm considering by the way. I'm not planning on going out tomorrow and getting one done.

OP posts:
JapaneseMargaret · 14/10/2014 08:55

Yes, a sleeve can be made up of any design, but as a concept, i.e. a 'sleeve' of tattoo designs, it is very much having a moment.

Besides, I think you need to explain this to the OP - she's the one that doesn't want a design per se; she wants a 'sleeve'. Wink

JapaneseMargaret · 14/10/2014 08:58

And to add, I don't think any two people have exactly the same set of arse antlers on their lower back - each one is probably unique.

That doesn't detract from the fact that it's still a cringey, dated look, and to the causal observer, they all just look the same.

Stupidhead · 14/10/2014 09:16

Laughing at the Tasmanian Devils comment! When I had my first there was a group of lads sitting in the shop choosing flash 'Taz' images out of a book. You can probably work out my age now!

I do love tattoos but I also love the history of them. The nautical stars that so many people get were initially small and on the wrist and were a lesbian sign. Small so covered by a watch during the day and shown at night in gay bars in the 40s/50s. The biohazard symbol was a tattoo used by HIV+ males in the 80s. I find it fascinating so do despair at people just wanting a flash from the shop book.

FindoGask · 14/10/2014 09:21

I don't have a pair of "arse antlers" so I wouldn't know. I do have a whole backpiece: a large traditional Japanese design I got in day-long sittings over two years, which extends from my neck to the backs of my thighs, and while there's elements it shares with many other designs, there's none exactly like it. That said, I don't get tattooed to be different. I get tattooed because I love tattoos.

There's a bit more to the craft than arse antlers and barbed wire: it has been thriving for a few thousand years before Pamela Anderson was born.

dustarr73 · 14/10/2014 09:30

I will admit to the dolphin and chinese writing but so what.It is easily covered up and will be getting them covered over soon.I dont have a tramp stamp but it if makes the people on this thread think they are higher up on the evolutionary ladder just because they dont have tattoos then so be it.I obviously walk with my knuckles scraping the ground.

Fairylea · 14/10/2014 09:34

I find all these negative comments about "looking different" really Hmm.

I've never met any tattooed person who did it from a point of view of wanting to look different.

JapaneseMargaret · 14/10/2014 09:53

Yes, there is more to it than antlers and arm bands, which is surely the crux of this thread.

People are offering opinions on a very specific type of tattoo, which is pretty much guaranteed to date.

Speaking of tattoos having a long history, the most eye-catching (in a positive way) tattoos I've ever seen were on a colleague (not one of those mentioned above, but in the same organisation). A strikingly beautiful 30-something M?ori woman with a series of sort of circular Victorian lace patterns on her arm. Definitely not generic Polynesian/M?ori design, but something unique and totally unexpected. I can't image her designs ever looking dated. Unlike a sleeve.

These were very visible, and she is a well-respected manager. Again, not a big deal. Then again, I am in NZ and tattooing does go back a long, long way here. Wink

McGlashan · 14/10/2014 10:35

I don't mind tattoos. Some of them are lovely. I'm not so keen on sleeve ones but realise that other people like them. However people will judge you and make assumptions about you.
People judge on less than a sleeve tattoo. Yes it makes them narrowminded but it's human nature. Depends if you mind or not.

AlphaBravoHenryFoxtons · 14/10/2014 10:42

Low IQ
Promiscuous
Low self-esteem
A self harmer
Has poor personal relationships
Lacking confidence
Low standards of personal hygiene

Those are the things I associate with having a tattoo. I'm sure they aren't always true (if ever) but that IS what I think.

BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 14/10/2014 10:55

This reply has been deleted

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BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability · 14/10/2014 10:56

I think a lot of it boils down to class and snobbishness.

catsrus · 14/10/2014 11:00

Surely it's about observing the conventions of the sector you either belong to or aspire to? I am more comfortable in jeans than a suit - and a lot of the time wear jeans at work - but today i am en route to a big meeting with senior management and later will be interviewing an external candidate for a job. I have chosen what I consider to be more appropriate clothes. I also had a hair cut at the weekend because I thought it was looking a mess and had reached that 'hard to manage ' stage. I think the advice to "dress for the job you want, not the job you have" is good advice. If you aspire to any job where having a full sleeve would be viewed negatively then you need to either rethink the career or the tattoo - depends which you think is most important to you.

I once worked for a company where a male employee was sent home without pay for not keeping to the dress code - he wore brown shoes with a black suit. I now work in a sector where most people don't have tattoos - a few do - I have to agree with those who don't think they are art - most of them look like the kind of doodles I used to cover my school exercise books in. I tend to think that they represent a lapse of judgement rather than any kind of positive personal statement - so yes I do make judgements about people who have them - just as I do about everyone based on their choice of appearance - they have chosen to send a message - it seems clear that the message being sent is interpreted differently by people receiving it.

Numanoid · 14/10/2014 13:06

Low standards of personal hygiene? Gotta love that one!

I did find those assumptions very Hmm I can't think of any tattooed person I know who conforms to that.

Fairylea · 14/10/2014 14:01

Why would anyone with tattoos have lower standards of personal hygiene than someone who doesn't? After all, the whole point is that they don't wash off.....ConfusedGrin

Stupidhead · 14/10/2014 14:06

DP has shitloads of bad tattoos, long hair, shaves possibly twice a week and looks like he smells but he doesn't. He wears Amarni under crackers and has the qualifications of only about 25 people in the country. He only self harms if he nips his balls when grooming.

Davsmum · 14/10/2014 14:09

You should go ahead and do whatever you want but seeing as you are not confident enough to do that without asking people what they think,....Then NO - don't do it - tattoos are stupid.
They may be 'artwork' but you may go off the bloody thing after a couple of years - I know I go off pictures and paintings I once thought were lovely.

Every person I know who had a tattoo years ago wished they had not had it done.
I can't understand why anyone would deface their body with so called 'artwork' - Use transfers or buy a picture.

Stupidhead · 14/10/2014 14:10

I think that's the crux Davsmum. If you have to ask then you aren't sure.

combust22 · 14/10/2014 14:13

"and has the qualifications of only about 25 people in the country."

What are those?

Stupidhead · 14/10/2014 14:14

Nuclear type carry ons! He's got the set like Pokemon cards.

combust22 · 14/10/2014 14:30

"Nuclear type carry ons!"

Not sure what that means. Can you explain?

Stupidhead · 14/10/2014 15:19

Nope!

Numanoid · 14/10/2014 15:35

Similar situation here with DP Stupidhead, not as many tattoos as me but he has some, gets paid almost twice what I get, was headhunted for his job and has been promoted twice since. Lost count of his qualifications. Hmm

FindoGask · 14/10/2014 16:36

Stupidhead is my new favourite.

Fairenuff · 14/10/2014 16:50

So, ofdod.

Is this a way of trying to tell a poster to fuck off without getting deleted? Mix up the words and it doesn't count, hey? Grin