Where’s The Best Place For A Tattoo?
If you work a corporate job and want something that can be displayed when appropriate and hidden when necessary, where do you ink? The Fashion Mailbag is here to help.
If you have a question for Amy or want to banter with her about anything fashion- or style-related, write her at amy.odell@buzzfeed.com.
I’m a woman in my mid-twenties. I have a somewhat serious job where I can’t look too edgy, but I have wanted a tattoo for a long time and I’m finally ready to go for it. There’s no way it’s going on my lower back or other cliché area. So where is the best place to get it?
Side boob. Well, side boob once removed — that area just to the side of your boob. (Like under the armpit, kinda.) Think about it: it’s the one area of a woman’s body that is probably always concealed at the office, business casual or otherwise. But when you’re out on the weekend you can wear the shirt with the big armholes and let it loose!
You’re probably thinking this is a terrible idea. But I believe I can present a compelling case for the side boob tat (appropriately, one letter away from, well, you know). So first: what kind of tattoo-getter are you? In analyzing your issue, I have identified two primary kinds of tattoo people, which are easily illustrated with celebrities.
1. The non-committal type. These are the people who seem like they want a tattoo for the sake of having a tattoo, more than for the sake of permanently wearing a symbol that means something to them, or because they want to make tattoos a big part of their look, stylistically. The non-committal tattoo-getters go for innocuous generic shapes in places no one cares about. These are the people who get itsy bitsy tiny stars on, like, the top of their feet or behind their ear — a speck that may as well not be there.
Models often go for this kind of tattoo. I assume it’s because they have to be blank slates for the people who hire them, and therefore can’t usually get away with a unicorn jumping over a rainbow across their entire backs. Gisele is one example:
She has two tattoos — one on her left wrist of a star, and one on her inner right ankle of a crescent moon and stars.
Victoria’s Secret hottie Alessandra Ambrosio also has a very tiny crescent moon-and-star tattoo on her lower back.
Apparently there might be a creature in the crescent moon — a teddy bear or cow that fell into it, or something — but no one seems to know, the Huffington Post has reported.
2. The very committed type. These are the people who get tattoos they don’t regret and don’t get removed. Maybe they go with their significant other to the tattoo parlor and get each other’s names inked on them in a fit of romance! And then they stay together forever and are always happy they did it. Or maybe these are the people who just love turning themselves into walking illustrations and totally rock it. Like fashion designer Marc Jacobs.
Or, Rihanna! Who is not as inked as Marc, who delightfully resembles a page out of a children’s book, but is well on her way.
She tattooed below her collar bone, on her side neck (pictured above) and back of her neck and back (pictured below):
She also has tats on her hip, behind her ear, in her ear, on her hands, on her ankles…
And most importantly, side boob!
Assuming you are the more committed type of tattoo-er, I’d say go for something in that area. You obviously don’t have to go for Riri’s guns, which give this body art a certain vibe, but I think you’ll find many benefits in the side boob locale: you can hide it at work and flaunt it when you’re not at work; it’s nowhere in the vicinity of tramp stamp territory; and it’s naughty but not, like, scary naughty, like this:
And the side boob tat will show people that you’re not wishy washy about whether or not you should have gotten the tattoo in the first place. It’s bold, yet subtle.
Also, one more suggestion: maybe don’t get an entire encyclopedia tattooed there? It strikes me as a little, oh, presumptuous to expect people to read you in that way.
This probably isn’t really who you are.
HOT ON
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mibfto 3 months agoI don’t understand why tattoo haters feel the need to drop in on every single tattoo thread ever created on the internet to announce how unprofessional and gross they think tattoos look. Guess what guys? You’re probably surrounded by tattooed people at your apparently conservative office, but you’ve never seen them. Because tattoos can and are easily covered in the vast majority of situations, if the tattooed individual wants them covered. I have ink. I had it for close to a year before my boss laid eyes on it. Of my 6 immediate colleagues, 4 of us have ink. Most of it can only be seen when it’s shown. Honestly. If you don’t like them, fine, no one’s going to tell you that you have to. But try not to steal joy from the people who do like them, mmmkay?
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kea718 a year ago
There are so many tattoo haters out there. I love all 5 of mine and can’t wait to get more. All of mine are pretty easy to cover. I have a little one on the back of my neck, one on my ankle, one on each shoulder blade, and lower back. yes, I have a tramp stamp… And it’s butterflies. I got it at 18 and I still love it, not because of what it is but because it’s a memory of where I was at a certain point of my life. That’s how I feel about all my tats. It’s a symbol of who I was at a certain time in my life. I think somewhere on the back (doesn’t have to be lower back) is a good spot to cover up but u can still show it off if u want… Shoulder blade is a good spot.
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What Ever a year ago
Here’s my $0.02 worth as the boss of my company. It doesn’t matter what tattoo you get, or where you get it. Life goes on. So does your body. Change happens everywhere, including your skin. A tattoo not only won’t defy nature, it will exemplify it — as it transforms into a black-ish smudgy blob. And no one goes out to get an illegible, unidentifiable random blob of black on their skin. Forever. That’s just what they end up with. You may not see a tattoo as a testament to your lack of foresight, or an unwillingness to accept that you and your life will change, but other people do. And will. And if that’s how “you” want people to react to you, go for it. You can get as many tattoos wherever you like. But you won’t stop others from pegging you as someone who won’t/can’t foresee change in life. Which is to say, since change is inevitable, as someone they cannot/should not depend on, because you cannot/will not accept change itself. So to answer the question, “Where’s The Best Place For A Tattoo?” Answer: On the intractably unemployed.
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AdventureNeckbeard a year agoI have clients whom arms are covered, and work in government and private offices in professional settings. The unfortunate part is, it’s all about going to the employer first if you’re working a certain type of job, which is why I consider myself blessed that I don’t have to limit my love of art, for an image for someone else. If that makes sense.
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