Multi.Colored—tattooed people, tattoo dreams

My daughter and I were shopping yesterday, and she commented that “cropped” or capri pants seem to be
the in thing these days, and it’s not so easy to find regular pants. I’ve noticed that too, especially in larger sizes (I wear plus sizes, she doesn’t.)

I don’t happen to think the style is very flattering, but I do have to admit to owning one pair of capri pants. And I bought them specifically to show off the tattoo on my ankle. Which I think is a good reason to buy something like that, which I ordinarily wouldn’t be caught dead wearing.

I have also bought other clothing with showing off my ink in mind. I have one hot pink shirt with an asymmetrical neckline that showcases my swirl of stars perfectly. Showing off the dragon on my back is a bit trickier, because I don’t think I look good in spaghetti-strap tube tops… but I have a couple. They show off my stars too, of course.

Most of the time I’m too averse to showing off my fat arms (aka Old Lady Wings) so the back tat stays covered. But once in a while I’ll get covered up with sunscreen and let it all hang out. Especially if I’m going to a tattoo show, where nobody cares about fat arms and short pants.

My daughter buys short-sleeved shirts to show off her armband, but she rarely displays the knotwork on her leg. Although she does have this dynamite evening gown with a slit up the side. Too bad there are so few occasions to wear an evening gown when you’re a grad student.

I’m seeing more and more ink on more and more people as I wander around during the course of the day and it makes me wonder how much more is covered up (like mine). Do we as multicolored people dress more often to reveal or to conceal?

photo credit: leogetz

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Once you’ve decided on your design, and taken the various inks and colors into consideration (you did do that, right?) then it’s time to give some thought to the placement of the tattoo.

Many people figure they want it where they want it and if someone else objects, tough. I can understand that. And I’m as much an admirer of full sleeves and hand tattoos as anyone. But unfortunately the entire rest of the world isn’t like that.

Many employers still have dress code that forbids open display of body art. Yeah, stick in the mud, yadda yadda yadda… but they do.

Tattoos are permanent, or in the ideal world they should be. So why put limits on your future by putting something permanent in some area of your body that you can’t easily cover up? You’ve got plenty of skin that you can put clothing over if necessary, so why not start with those areas and think about the more visible places later?

I’ve even run into problems covering up the seven-star swoosh over my right collarbone. Most open-collared shirts reveal one or two stars, and a V-neck or scoop-neck shirt shows off most of the design. You can bet when I’ve gone on job interviews I’ve buttoned everything up just to be safe. It might well be that the interviewers would have liked the design, but I didn’t take any chances. Job interviews are stressful enough without worrying if you’re inflaming someone else’s prejudices.

Of course, once I was hired and had settled in and people had gotten used to me, then I felt a bit more at ease about letting a star or two show. Then I’ve been asked if the design was “real” (why no, I drew it on myself with colored markers just this morning) and people have asked to see the rest of it. Like most multicolored people I’m happy to show off my ink. But in any new situation involving employment and acceptance by one’s work environment it was better to start off slow.

So–think design. Think ink. Think placement. Getting a tattoo is something that requires more thinking than you think. Or words to that effect.

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