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 a tattoo that was original, unusual and tasteful when I got it 26 years ago.

Now it is a common date stamp on people my age.

I don't want people to know my age at first in case it affects my chances of work (I'm freelance).

At least I can cover my date stamp up.

A sleeve tattoo will scream (2013/14) for EVER.
They are so hugely popular know that fashion will find something new very soon (see: Peak Beard).

Try wearing exactly the same haircut and colour for three years. Then you'll know if you are ready to stick with the same look for the rest of your life.

I don't like them, and I would quite probably instinctively discriminate against someone who had a lot of them, tbh. I suppose objectively, I can look at a tattoo and admire the picture, colour, technical ability of the tattooist, but on the skin, to me, it somehow ceases to be beautiful. Small discrete ones don't bother me.

If I were employing a staff member, and it was a toss up between someone with and someone without lots of tattoos, I would choose one without the tattoo (or facial piercings). For me to even NOTICE one during an interview would make me question their common sense.

I would also ask for it to remain covered up so that it wouldn't be visible (which means a fabric which is thick enough to prevent the tattoo being visible through it), so any employee with a sleeve tattoo would find themselves pretty uncomfortable in summer.

Good job I work for people with the ability to assess others on the quality of their workload, then. Also, I might be covered in tattoos, but I also know the difference between 'discreet', and 'discrete'. I suggest you learn it too? I think managers should have a basic grasp of spelling.

Oh do it! In my line or work nobody looks twice at a tattoo (specialist hair dresser) unless they are facial, ehich im not too keen on

What you'd need to do is go on pinterest. Do you want flowers? what flowers? elbow? forearm? do you want butterflies? how big? thats what they want to know, you don't have to sketch, just go into a parlour and say "I would like a full arm piece and I have a few ideas, is it okay to talk it through with you?" and they'll say yes. You don't have to draw anything, just get it in your mind what you want and where.
Tattoo artists are subborn, mine are anyway. I asked if it was possible to put a frame round mine and he said it will ruin the piece and he won't do them as they're too common. Don't argue with an artist over design or price, they're the artist and they know best.
Don't go into it lightly. Have fun with it, put a collage of things together on paint and say here look at my mood board! or something like that
Good art never, ever dates. Good art will still look good when you're 80. I won't regret mine.

Seeing as you're asking YABU ! It's such a personal thing but I hate tattoos and think they look ugly. And tattoo sleeves are fashionable now, just like those butterfly tattoos that everyone was having on their lower backs in the 90s, they will look naff in time. My best friend wanted to have one and I talked her out of it and she still thanks me now some twenty odd years later!

A sleeve tattoo will scream (2013/14) for EVER.

Eh no it wont.I started mine 7 years ago and have been getting tattooed since i was 17 im now 41.
And i dont know anybody who wont wear a certain colour in case it clashes wiht their tattoos.What utter tripe.

As my DB says "I have a favourite pair of jeans but I don't glue them to my legs" regarding Tattoo fashions.

FindoGask - Oh here we go, the spelling police! I type 'teh' a lot too, do you think I can't spell that either?! At least I can change the spelling of discrete to discreet in a document, you can't change a tattoo.

And funnily enough, there's a limit to how much choice you get as to who your boss is..... So good luck with that.

The fact is there ARE lots of people who don't like an abundance of tattoos, and like it or not, it will affect how you are perceived. First impressions matter. There is NO WAY a heavily tattooed person would get a client facing position in lots of major companies.

Will perceptions change? Probably. But it will take a very long time.

I don't give one tiny shiny crap what my kids teachers think of my tattoos.

I like to think that once they get to know me they can tell that my tattoos have no bearing on my parenting skills or my personality. If they are small minded enough not to realise I am a decent person then fuck em. I have no respect for people who make negative judgments based on tattoos so it works both ways.

One of them pointed out my owl tattoo on my forearm and said how much she loved it. So many parents have them I doubt it even crosses their minds to be honest.

Sleeves have been around for years. My dad had one over 15 years ago, they are not a new thing.

I have came to the conclusion that people who judge those with tats are small minded people and I wouldn't want them to think good of me anyway, and of course the old saying... what is the difference between someone with tattoos and someone without them? the person with them doesn't care that you don't have them.

And if they date? I don't care. I honestly can't think of anything I care less about than my tattoos dating me.

Well my DS's teacher had tattoos on his arm - not a full sleeve, but a significant number, and had to keep them covered.

It didn't stop him being a brilliant teacher, I agree.

But he absolutely roasted on sports day with his long sleeved top as he wasn't permitted to have them on display.

If someone doesn't like them than that is surely their problem? Judging a person on their tattoos is no different to judging someone on the way they dress, talk or have their hair. It's a form of discrimination.

I think sleeves look lovely but must cost a bomb.

Of course its discrimination, but it's a permitted form of discrimination, that's the point! What you do to yourself WILLINGLY is allowed to be discriminated against. What is a part of you UNWILLINGLY - eg scars or injuries from an accident - cannot be discriminated against.

You can't have a city job unless you want to dress in suits, you can't just 'wear what you like'. But you can change clothes, so for work you wear work wear, at home you wear what reflects your personality. You can't do that with tattoos. You can cover them up, but then that severely limits your clothing choices, moreso for women than for men, I think. Its easier for men to wear long sleeved shirts a lot.

Judging someone on things they can CHOOSE (ie dress or hair) is not 'discrimination', at least not in the modern sense of 'taking against someone unfairly because of characteristics such as gender or race that they can't actually change'.

You can't choose your ethnicity, your sexual orientation, your ability level. You absolutely can choose whether you get a tattoo or not. If you want one, fine; but don't bleat about other people drawing conclusions about you based on something you chose to do to your skin.

I think you might find this interesting to read.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/10/sleeve-tattoos-hipster-habit-unartistic-art

"Judging a person on their tattoos is no different to judging someone on the way they dress, talk or have their hair. It's a form of discrimination."

It's not discrimination it's human nature. If you saw me you would think I was really dull and boring (and you would be right )

"And funnily enough, there's a limit to how much choice you get as to who your boss is..... So good luck with that."

I don't need your good luck. I work, and have always worked, in places where my contribution is appreciated; in twenty years I have never had a problem being taken seriously in my sector because of my tattoos. And if you're going to be snitty about what other people put on their bodies, I get to be snitty about what you're putting out on the internet. Badly spelled ignorance offends me. Sorry! Just my opinion!

I now think of my sleeve as a form of socially legitimised self-harm from that article - I have to say I do tend to look at people with absolutely loads of tattoos and wonder if they have emotional issues of some kind. One or two tattoos just seems unfortunately to be fashion but absolutely loads always looks like Ishoos to me.

Only once have I seen tattoos that made me wince. Absolutely beautiful girl, really stunning. But she had half her face tattooed and her whole arm covered in black ink. That's it...black ink with a small section of her elbow left out which contained a swastika (nor am I daft, it was the Nazi way round before everyone tells me not to assume that's what it was because it has other meanings). It looked like she got bored with a sleeve and just got the whole thing inked over with a block of...black ink. Apparently she's a tattoo model. Understandably with her looks but if it's the actual tatts she's modelling then hmmm...but obviously this is an extreme example. If she'd laid off the facial tattoos and just had an artful sleeve she'd stop you in your tracks for the right reasons.

I'm afraid when I see tattoos on routinely visible skin I tend to assume the person involved is (a) lacking in judgement (b) rather dim or (c) has severe self esteem issues. Or a combination of all three.

But Apacalypse, that's not the tattooed person's problem. And I bet they don't care either.

Alpacalypse - you say that all puffed up like, as though your opinion holds some weight. It doesn't, and that would be your failing.

I think people who make assumptions about my intelligence, judgment and self esteem are (a) Dim themselves (B) Have low self-esteem themselves which is why they make these judgments and (C) are really crap judges of people

The ones who truly don't care wouldn't ask for someone's opinion. If they are asking then they do care, and they need to realise that actually, yes, there can be a negative response from a significant proportion of the population.

Those with the confidence to carry it off, and the intelligence, ability and passion to find work in their chosen field to give them the ability to work without anyone questioning their ability - brilliant. Go and get it done. The effect will probably be positive for them because of their strength and ability.

But not everyone truly has the confidence to carry it off, nor do they necessarily have the ability to pick and choose where they work and who they work for. THESE people are likely to suffer some negative consequences as a result of the tattoos.

Also, those who get them when their older and have grown up are getting them for different reasons than those who have barely left their teens. They are less likely to regret them.