I am wondering if any womenn out there have arm sleeves (or half sleeves) & work in a job that frowns upon tattoos. If you do, how do you keep it covered even during the summer months. Also has anyone ever been "reprimanded" for a tattoo at work????

As unfortunate as it is I have been given a dress code at work becuae of my third tattoo. It is only about a month old and it is on my left ankle but I am not allowed to have a exposed. I had to cover it up with band aids when I first got it which made the healing time longer and it really hurt to take them off.
As for your sleeves, try wearing something that is sheer. Still covered but still cool.
Good Luck

Well I dont have a sleeve but I have a rather large braclet type tattoo on my wrist (a watch wont cover it) I work in a Jr/SR high lunch room I serve the kids lunch. So far I have not had to cover it (knock on wood) However when kids make comments on it I try to keep them quiet there are teachers that have tatoos and they make them cover them up all the time. I don't think really they are any different than Jewlery like a necklace or braclet as long as it is anything profain I don't think they should have to be covered.I mean look at the people that wear some ugly clothes we don't say excuse me could you please cover those pants. LOL I think that the shear shirt is a good idea I guess it depends on you job if it is not a formal setting get a pair of long gloves and cut the hand part off or a sleeve from a old shirt. Boy it sounded like a good idea when I thought it. Good luck to ya

I work in a dental office. I am working on my fifth tattoo. My boss has made it very clear that I need to keep them covered or else..... Mine are very beautiful with nothing offensive. When I was hired at this job 5 years ago we didn't have a dress code but now that I have started getting tattoos it appears we have a "dress code". My tattoos are on my ribs, and back but next week I am getting a large rose on my arm that I will have to keep covered. I think if you can just find something that is light and shear or even a little lacey it covers them enough that you really can't tell if you have tattoos.

I have to wear something with a semi long sleeve. Something that goes right above the elbow. On my left arm I have work done, but you can't see it even with a short sleeve. Like a baby-tee type sleeve. It's the right arm that needs covering. With the current shirt I am wearing you can see 3/4's of it right now. It's not something customers want or need to see according to company policy and as management. I have little choice in covering up.

I have Jalinahs problem, I have to wear something to my elbows since I have work on both arms, and on the right arm I pretty much have a 1/2 sleeve piece. i cant wear some V or scoop necks either from tattoos around my collar bones.

I choose to wear a sweater all day at work even in summer, its easier than only owning longsleeves & its light weight. They just think I am cold natured...I dont work in a tattoo friendly place & they dont know about any of mine.

Well I am just about to re-enter the work force and figure my tats will weed out the "old school" b.s. for me really quickly.Anyone that thinks my ink affects my abilities...I do not want to work for!I'm 48 years old and don't have time for small minds! By the way,I also went and got a mohawk!lol

I have to keep my tattoos covered at work and unfortunately during the summer it gets complicated, especially because most women's short sleeve shirts are cap sleeves. This summer I've ended up wearing XL boy's shirts because the sleeves are longer. I also have had issues with having piercings, I had my labret pierced and ended up just letting it close up because I got tired of taking it in and out. I understand somewhat the issue, but it's becoming so commonplace that I feel that if the tattoos are unoffensive it shouldn't be an issue.

lmbear- i can sympathize completely with you. I work at a very conservative professional office where the employee manual specifically prohibits "visible tattoos". It's takes a long time to change people's opinions and people are slowly coming around. However, with that being said, I'm not sure that the more entrenched, conservative professions will ever be receptive to this type of change. Short of finding a new place of employment, you'll probably just have to find a way to make it work.

I am a nurse and i work in home health care pediatrics i have both arms in the works of sleeves forearms are already half done. it can e very difficult at times. for me, i rarely see bosses so when i go to the office they are covered with long sleeves, in the clients home the are covered with long sleeves from the get go. once i have gotten to know the family and if they see the one on my neck and they are comfortable with it usually they dont mind, and kids tend to love them! i am in the midst of changing careers to become a tattoo artist and i am very happy about this, i am tired of trying to hide my works of art and bieng uncomfortable about who i am. i work hard and am an intelligent abled woman who happens to love tattoos. however, the last client i had, it just so happened that they loved the tattoos and we watched miami ink together every week, they became so interested that i even got to tattoo the parents of my client!! that is probably the highlight of my experience with tattoos so far!!

Where I work there are a pile of Navy vets, so if they were to ban visible tattoos they'd have to fire half the workforce. I've only got the one, and it's not visible while I've got my shirt on, but I'm planning on getting one on the bicep later on, which is likely to show a little if I wear a polo shirt.

For people who are going to have to work in an office setting, especially with customers, it's probably wisest to plan your ink to be located where it's easy to keep covered up. Bosses are worried about frightening the customers.

i am a cashier at a groshery store and we dont have to cover them unless they are bad looking we have a girl who has a rose on top of her hand and she is a manager we have guys with them on there necks and full sleaves they dont have to cover them not unless there of bad things like nude people or something and the customers seem to be ok with it

I can tell you a cool story about tats and the workplace. For 15 years I was a mucky-muck working for a major pharmaceutical wholesaler. White shirts and ties and all that . I've had ink since 1987 so my whole time, from 1990 on until 2000, I had to keep things under wrap. What happened in 2000? I'll tell you. We had a meeting of the minds out in Las Vegas to discuss Y2K procedures . Well..it was a really informal type of meeting and on the second day I showed up wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt..without really thinking about it. Well..I got a few comments off the bat. However ...after lunch a few others showed up wearing shorts sleeves and lo and behold...SPORTING INK. The short story..most of the guys we had working for us at the time were ex-service and almost all had ink of some sort they were shy about showing. I was patted on the back for "outing" us all and making things so we could show our ink. Little did most know it was just a thoughtless shirt selection that lead to our liberation.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kim g,

I'm really lucky in that the career I've chosen is really easy going and laid back. I'm going into the costuming industry and I was told by my professors and other students that have tattoos and piercings do not affect your chances of getting jobs in the industry.So I'm pretty lucky.

I'm getting into Real Estate and I really don't care if my clients see my tattoos. I will try to cover them as much as possible but I'm not going to make an issue about it. If they don't like them then they can buy or sell the house from someone else.

At the moment I do work in an environment that they are not allowed to show. Thank god a coworker of mine is going through menopause and the AC is always on so I can wear long sleeves.