Heavily tattooed in Poland

[daisyjgrey]

I'm going to Poland for two weeks later this year for a residency as part of my PhD. I am heavily tattooed and hadn't really thought about it until someone asked if there were any issues about people - especially women - being visibly tattooed there.
I googled but there's just one man on trip advisor saying the world will end if you so much as roll a sleeve up...
Does anybody have any experience/knowledge?

Lived there for 6 years in Krakow and you will not have a problem.

I also very much doubt the time of year you’re going you will be in short sleeves

The person was probably referring to the grandmothers thinking you must be cold

If you’re talking Warsaw or Krakow you’ll be absolutely fine. By ‘later this year’ I’m assuming Autumn/winter, you won’t be wearing short sleeves.

Funnily enough, having been recently to both Krakow and Warsaw and having been before in the last few years, I noticed that hardly anybody (men or women) had tattoos. That is not to say that there is any issue with it in Poland but it is something I noticed.

It's two weeks mid September and one in mid December. I'm working in/from a gallery in Bytom and there's a conference in Katowice.
I'm visibly tattooed even in long sleeves, although nothing that could be considered offensive or controversial.
It genuinely hadn't dawned on me as being something to even consider, until someone mentioned it

Not an issue, but (if you want 100% honesty) you might not be taken too seriously initially. In 99% of cases (stats made up from personal experience) heavily tattooed women there are ex-criminals or neo-nazis, so some people may exercise some caution first.

Thanks @silvercuckoo , hopefully because it’s an arts based community it will be less traditional..? Will stick with the (male, non tattooed) person accompanying me and be as nice and smiley as possible!

If you’re worried you can buy excellent tattoo cover-up make up (Kat Von D’s range is great) so you can cover the areas that still show when dressed.

Maybe take some with you? You don’t have to use it when you get there.

@daisyjgrey
Ah yes, I don't think that you will have any issues in the art circles. For some reason I thought about traditional academia when you mentioned PhD, and they can still be a little bit conservative. In any case, it won't be an issue of personal safety, quite likely the opposite - people actively avoiding contact with you .
Now that I think again about the safety, lower back tattoos, worn, err... visibly over low cut jeans, could lead to some unwanted male attention. But I think this is more or less international.

My lower back stays very much hidden at the best of times @silvercuckoo
The thought of being avoided in public sounds really quite pleasant if I’m honest...!

It genuinely hadn't dawned on me as being something to even consider, until someone mentioned it

You must know that there are a lot of countries where tattoos, especially on women, aren't mainstream. And some countries where it's quite dodgy. I'm not anti-tattoo necessarily but I do think people maybe need to think about consequences before doing something permanent.

@MrsTerryPratchett Yes, shockingly I’m not completely dense. I was aware of cultural differences in places like Japan etc, I hadn’t thought about it in a European situation particularly and don’t have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the nuances of every countries opinions on tattoos.
This is not a holiday, it’s work/uni.

You’ve also in no way answered my question and telling someone who is visibly/heavily tattooed that they “maybe should think about the consequences before doing something so permanent” is entirely pointless, and more than a little condescending.
Children are also permanent, I don’t go around telling people they should have “thought about the consequences” when they’re having parenting issues

Children are also permanent, I don’t go around telling people they should have “thought about the consequences” when they’re having parenting issues

@daisyjgrey

DW is Polish and quite heavily tattooed. We go there quite often and never had any comments or trouble.

We have quite a lot Polish friends who definitely fall into the 'alternative' camp (pagan, arty) who are also tattooed and they've never mentioned any problem.

@Maldives2006 I'm in Krakow as well 😁 only 3 years though. Are you originally from the UK?

OP, husband says you shouldn't have too much of a problem. I'm guessing you are early 20s if it's for uni? Tolerated more on younger people!

I go to Slovakia a lot and when we go to water parks etc there there's always lots of tattooed Slovaks/Poles around, so it's quite common.

In fact I noticed the quality of tatts in that part of the world is better than the UK, I'm not sure I've seen anyone with ones that aren't really well rendered!

@CustardCreamLover I’m 31, not sure if that makes me a younger person or not, depressingly probably not!

@Mordred @Echobelly Ahh that’s great, and a lot less concerning I’ll have to wear gloves and a smock for a fortnight!

@Nesssie People never fail to astound me!

The area I live in has a massive polish community. A lot of dc classmates are polish. It’s funny because a lot of the dads are heavily tattooed and some of the mums also have tattoos. I never realised it was frowned upon for women over there. One of dc school friends mums has many visible tattoos and they go back home several times a year

Hi
my partner is from Poland and we have lots of friend who are tattooed head to toe chest legs arms you name it. The only people that would frown on it are the grandmothers we went to Poland in February I have a few tattoos the only person who told me off for having them were his 98 year old grandmother as in her words wasn’t a done thing in her era

@tiar I can cope with being tutted at by old ladies, that happens here too!