INKED Inc. - a community for the counterculture

Years later, how do you feel about hiding a full sleeve ?

I know we've discussed this a lot already but thanks in advance for your input. The longing to continue my sleeve further down my arm is becoming less tolerable, though for years that longing has always been outweighed by the dislike of having to put a long-sleeved shirt on, getting all sweaty and trying to meet w/clients.

I'll probably have my tattoo artist design a full sleeve at our next consult, and stop adding 'hesitation ink' (you know, a small blossom on my wrist, grey clouds trailing around it, the leaves on the short-sleeve gradually extending a bit more each year...). But I might also have her just continue my back-work.

How has it been for those of you that have to cover up, long-term, especially when it's hot (no air-cond. here) ? It's still a big consideration for me.

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Permalink Reply by Soraya on June 7, 2008 at 4:51pm: This discussion sort of came to an end several months ago, but I just found it and wanted to add a comment. I didn't slowly creep up on heavy coverage. It was planned all at once in "middle age," and then implemented over some years.

During the planning phase, I was REEEEEALY apprehensive about my arms. Truthfully I wanted full or at least 3/4 sleeves, but had pretty much decided that I would keep them covered. As Jessica suggested, I "rehearsed" for over a year before my sleeves started. I dressed as if I had sleeves and would keep them covered. I was sort of hilariously analytical about it. I would put a few small dots around my arm with a brown washable felt tip, that sort of looked like freckles, and would check them in all sorts of clothing scenarios, and body positions in daily activities. When I would try on clothes, in the dressing room I would get into all kinds of convoluted poses to try to see what would show. If the dressing rooms were being monitored, I'm sure everyone got a good laugh!

From that, I concluded that going past the elbow was too much - too hard to cover, and requiring perpetual long sleeve clothing. If I got too warm, I really could only roll my sleeves up a few inches before reaching and raising my hand (as Marisa observed) would expose ink. So I started thinking half sleeves. But continued rehearsing showed me that they would still show in tee shirt sleeves, so I resigned myself to quarter sleeves. I felt that I could manage those with careful selection of short sleeve tops.

But as I worked with my artist to plan my arms, I couldn't get the flow I wanted in just a quarter sleeve - I wanted to take advantage of the whole upper arm for winding patterns and forms. I just love the look of that whole part of the arm being covered. So I swallowed hard, and decided to go to a half sleeve, stopping about 1.5 inches above my elbow. It ruled out most short sleeves, except for droopy, oversized ones with fairly long, banded short sleeves. But I could wear a 3/4 or long sleeve top and roll it or scrunch it up just above the elbow where the bunching up would hold it in place just below the "danger point."

So that has worked for me, but every so often I see someone with a full sleeve, and I think, "I WANT THAT!!!!!" Sigh...maybe after retirement.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tracy j. on June 7, 2008 at 8:26pm: Soraya - it's not really a closed conversation as I was JUST thinking about this again (as I do every summer). Whenever I see someone with full sleeves the longing comes back. I have a white (well, probably grey w/a touch of green) peony I want to add but it means coming down below my elbow, or else starting a 2nd sleeve. At my last (back work) session I also had 2 small images tattooed on my wrists, which I can't hide very well anyway. Maybe that was my baby-step towards more arm coverage...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Soraya on June 15, 2008 at 2:15pm: Tracy - If you already have wrist tattoos, then you have already "stepped off of the cliff" - i.e. you've "gone visible" ...can't turn back now! But there is a big difference between wrist tattoos, and a full sleeve. Just give a lot of thought about real world situations.

BTW, your tattoos are really beautiful - so graceful, so delicate. Very nice! I'm sure a whole arm treated that way would be very pretty. But I'm not trying to sway your decision!

Sorry for the long post earlier, but that seems to be a habit for me. I guess brevity is not one of my strengths!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tracy j. on June 15, 2008 at 11:30pm: Thank you, Soraya! I'm swayed... (^_^)

Agree, there's a big difference in wrist vs. full sleeve and I think I hoped my wrist tattoos would allude to more ink to those 'in the know', and to others they'd just look like the small tattoos they are.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by David on June 25, 2008 at 7:19pm: I've always wanted to go through with a full sleeve (or almost so). I've always worn long shirts anyway (I tend to be cold in most corporate A/C environments, not to mention computer data centers).

I just can't believe that I'm actually following through: I'm actually going to do it. I'm going to get a left arm sleeve with a medieval motif replete with references to King Arthur, the Lady of the Lake, and Merlin.

I think I'm half crazy but I'm still excited...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Inktman on June 26, 2008 at 7:56am: Hi Tracy,
As a shopkeeper I've put off having sleeves to the wrist until 8 years ago. I carefully hid all my ink for parents (sometimes) and customers. Then I just did it and I haven't looked back. My ink shows whenever it suits me and I don't care what others think! Well in Europe you don't get as many comments from nosy people as in the US. And my customers? They know they're dealing with an eccentric which probably makes it more fun to spend their money here.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tracy j. on June 26, 2008 at 11:42am: Words of encouragement, Inktman. I am dealing with mostly young brides/grooms and sometimes their parents. Awkward. I'm just not there yet, but know I will be one day. Especially as I'm shipping goods back and forth and seeing actual clients face-to-face less these days.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Inktman on June 26, 2008 at 12:03pm: Yes, we love the internet! Many of my customers are a continent away, or at least a country. And I even had a picture with sleeves showing on my website, so they may know as well. Maybe your brides have ink themselves that they don't want to cover on their Day. So a well decorated sales person may encourage them to show off their tattoos.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by tracy j. on June 26, 2008 at 6:54pm: That's funny, I Photoshopped out my ink on my website!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Janice on July 5, 2008 at 7:19am: Good question, and I really appreciate seeing someone actually taking the time to think this through VERY carefully before just jumping right in. I work in a corporate environment, and have done so for over 23 years. I made the decision to go 'below the elbow' in 1999. The job I was working at the time did have a relaxed atmosphere (think trading floor environment) and had already seen some of my ink, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem - at THAT job. I did realize that at some point down the road, I could very well wind up someplace else that might not be so tolerant. After a lot of careful thinking, I decided that I was prepared to wear long sleeves at work all the time if it turned out to be necessary. As luck would have it, I was laid off from that job in May '03. For job interviewing, I (of course) wore suits (which I would have done anyhow) and covered the tattoos on the backs of my hands with either large band-aids or Dermablend.

I've been lucky in that the job I have now - which is at a very large, international financial services company, working for a C-level executive - couldn't care less about the ink. I did the whole 'dermablend on the hands and first couple inches of my wrists' think for the first 3 months, until I got a sense of what the atmosphere and corporate culture were like (and a sense of what my own boss was like as well). After that time, I did a tiny experiment and left off the makeup - and absolutely no comments at all, except for the odd compliment on the tiny little bits that people could see. And all of the people who I interact with - including some very senior executives within the company - had the same reaction. Either they didn't care, or they'd compliment things. I'm certain that if they DID have an issue, word would have gotten to my boss and since he's a straight shooter (like me), he'd have said something a long time ago.

So, to sum it up (sorry, this turned out a lot more long-winded than I intended) - 1) if you're good at what you do (and not to brag but I am) and FIRST prove yourself, your employers will most likely be more accepting. 2) Don't push the envelope too far or too hard. Even though my ink isn't an issue, I still NEVER show up at work in short sleeves or skirts. It's a suit (fairly conservative one, at that) EVERY day. It not only conceals almost all the ink, it projects a more professional image and gives me a bit more of an advantage in counter-acting the ink. It also sends the very clear message that my first priority is to look (and be extension) behave profesionally. 3) if you're depending on dermablend or one of the other makeup brands designed for that purpose, do a bit of experimenting with it on a less-visible part of your area BEFORE you get visible ink, to see how it works for you. It does take a fair amount of skill to apply it in such a way that it does actually cover the tattoo and does so without looking obvious. There's a good deal of blending involved, and you may have to buy more than one shade and combine them to get the closest possible match to your underlying skin tone. Plus the stuff is expensive - last time I bought it, it was $18 for a fairly small tube (plus $18 for the setting powder, which you really do need for it to work properly).

If I had to do it again, I would. Of course, one factor in my decision is the fact that my line of work (executive assistant, aka secretary) is carried out entirely indoors, i.e. air conditioning in the summer. Again, sorry for writing 'War and Peace' but hey, I haven't had my coffee yet this morning.....; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rowan on July 6, 2008 at 12:37am: Oh, I don't know, I'll take thoughtful posts about tattoos over Tolstoy any day. ;)

I'm finally (as of two days ago) about 3/4 of the way done with a half sleeve, with plans of turning it into a full sleeve. I already have tattoos on both wrists, but they're dainty enough to hide with a wristwatch or wider cuff bracelet. While I've taken the visibility plunge, a full sleeve is a lot more in-your-face and it's nice to read about other people's experiences, especially those of other women since there is still that unfortunate double standard when it comes to heavily tattooed men vs heavily tattooed women.; ▶ Reply to This