July 1, 2010

"The tattoos take her look to a entirely different place."

"Honestly, I can't decide if they add or distract from her natural beauty but, with that added edge, it's hard to take your eyes off her."

And: "I love that she can pull off the black sock/brown shoe look in summer."

59 comments:

rhhardin said...

Tittoo is a coinage looking for an application.

Sydney said...

The tattoos ruin the look, IMHO.

Anonymous said...

Style changes; tattoos don't change.

I question how anyone can be in style in perpetuity with tattoos.

We all want to be able to change, renew, start over. With tattoos you have the same old thing every day.

Adam said...

There is not now, there never has been, and there never will be a successful "pulling off" of a black socks with brown shoes look, especially on not-inherently-attractive women in wingtips and shorts.

The fashion world needs a smattering of straight men to keep it from getting completely stupid.

ricpic said...

You usually have to read 50 or 60 Sartorialist commenters before you get to 1 who dares say the emperor has no clothes (or kooky clothes).

traditionalguy said...

Is she a midshipwoman on shore leave from the Navy? Seriously, to me the tattoos take away from her considerable natural female beauty and make her look like merchandise owned by someone.

Scrutineer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Sophia Loren???? Um...no.

traditionalguy said...

And the brown shoed waif's look is that of a sexy underage street person. Whatever floats your boat.

Anonymous said...

I can't look at her picture without mentally fast-forwarding to her at age 80 and wondering how the tattoos will look then. I have the same thought about women with multiple piercings.

She didn't remind me of Sophia Loren. Maybe Rachel Wiesz.

Scrutineer said...

You usually have to read 50 or 60 Sartorialist commenters before you get to 1 who dares say the emperor has no clothes

Thanks for masochistically doing the research to nail this down.

dbp said...

She will probably come to regret her tats someday, but for now I think they are fetching.

She has a nice figure and an alluring smile, but is really rather plain. The tattoos make her look rakish.

dbp said...

The guy riding a bicycle in a suit and oxfords without socks; he will have blisters on his feet.

kjbe said...

i think the tatoos work with that look. it's not something I'd do myself, but I'm all for others doing things a little off center. Who cares what she looks like when she's 80. Clearly, she's living now. That's all that matters, anyway.

As for the black shoe/brown shoe look - that one I like and would try if I was 25 years younger and 6" taller...

bagoh20 said...

That's so 2000's.

bagoh20 said...

I'd like to get a tattoo, but crap like this ruined it for me.

I guess I could still express my individuality by getting an Iphone.

The Chicoms could only dreamed of the conformity of the modern free market in America.

bagoh20 said...

I'd like to get a tattoo, but crap like this ruined it for me.

I guess I could still express my individuality by getting an Iphone.

The Chinese Coms could only dream of achieving the conformity of the modern free market.

Cedarford said...

I think tattoos are tricky. They require some thought. The right ones are cool...others can be stupid or trashy.

Stupid or trashy -

1. Any girl with a huge tramp stamp - or what I call ass antlers.
2. Any girl that decides if a small sunflower would look good, a giant sunflower that covers their entire back.
3. Stupid guys with Chinese chops on them that can't explain what it means except it helps their feng shui.
4. Guys that want to wear free advertising for a motorcycle or tractor campany, promote a beer product - the rest of their lives.
5. Prison-style tattoos - especially on fingers and face.
6. Biker chick tattoos on tits.
7. Etc, etc.

What works -

1. Tasteful arm barrets.
2. Good art on the arms, ankles.
3. Discrete art normally hidden.
4. Art of personal design or existing quality icons or artwork - which is good-looking, true to who the person is.

Add metal. That works if the body part impaled is a fine part on a fine bod. A beautiful Idol contestant can get away with a nose ring just because it enhances a pretty nose on a pretty face. But a Sonia Sotomayor with a nose ring would have the opposite effect.

Rialby said...

The best thing about a tattoo on a girl is that it lets you know she's up for anything.

bagoh20 said...

"The best thing about a tattoo on a girl is that it lets you know she's up for anything."

and it lets you know she's right side up.

Pastafarian said...

Tattoos on anyone are a hideous mutilation. On a woman, they're worse -- they're a damned abomination.

I consider them a warning sign, like a biohazard symbol. "Caution, scummy moron. Please keep feet, hands, and appendages at a safe distance."

What a bold, rebellious thing to do to your body...in 1943. Now, not so much...not so much. And I don't give a shit what the tattoo is for. I don't care if you're a goddamned sailor. You could be a fucking pirate for all I care; if you have a tattoo, you're a moron.

Let's see how many Althouse commenters I can piss off tonight.

Anonymous said...

"Honestly, I can't decide if they add or distract from her natural beauty but, with that added edge, it's hard to take your eyes off her."

detract. detract. For God's good sake, don't use word pairings if you don't even know what they are.

Donna B. said...

Older posts there show some of the most ridiculous men's shorts I've ever seen. They are so bad they wouldn't even look cute on a 4 year old.

Or have my tastes been altered by reading too much Althouse?

William said...

It just shows that a beautiful woman remains a beautiful woman even after tats. In like way, the Parthenon would remain a beautiful building even with graffiti on its columns.

Robin said...

I followed the link and found the mother lode of men in shorts. Oh the humanity....

Ann Althouse said...

"Whatever floats your boat."

That's like something Rowan and Martin would say. Or maybe one of the Golden Girls.

bagoh20 said...

You bet your bippy!

Anonymous said...

I am highly intoxicated right now. In fact, I think that shaved women are a major turn on.

Ha ha, just joking. I am intoxicated (a 24-ounce can of 10% alcohol Joose and most of a six-pack of Coors Light), but fear not, shaved women are the Distilled Essence of Evil.

Peter

Unknown said...

Tattoos like she has are for a chief petty officer in 7th Fleet who saw action from Rabaul to Lingayen. On most people, that much ink looks like Hell.

A woman who has one, preferably where only someone near and dear can see it, has style. The ones with everything but the USS Arizona and a scroll that says, "Remember Pearl Harbor", look like slobs.

The Crack Emcee said...

Her head's too small for the frame it's sitting on. Her calfs have no definition, and - unless she's serving in the Italian Navy - the tats are gross.

Don't care for the "sassy" look, either - she ain't "all that".

God, I miss women just being women.

Fred4Pres said...

She is cuter without the tats.

Fred4Pres said...

Damn if the Crack Emcee didn't nail it above. Thanks.

Unknown said...

She actually looks like any young woman walking down the street in LA these days.

Paul Kirchner said...

I don't get why people haven't gotten tired of tattoos yet. My daughter's 17-year-old best friend got a cupcake tattooed on her stomach, just to the side of her navel. She's petite and it looks really odd. Dumb.

Also, why are young black men and the young white men who emulate them still wearing their pants below their crotch? Isn't this style about 15 or more years old now? Does it never go out of style because it has still has the ability to annoy codgers like me? Is that the sole point? Do chicks dig it? Is it comfortable?

The zoot suit fad lasted, what, maybe two or three years? The zoot suit actually looks quite elegant compared to what you see today.

As people get older, they tend to stick with a style that they feel suits them, even if it makes them look as if they're stuck in a time warp--guys in their 60s with a DA hairstyle, women in their 50s who dress like hippies. I'm okay with that. I'm not giving up the shaved-head-and-goattee look for anything. However, why does and 18 year old want to follow a style that was set 15-20 years ago? It baffles me.

Unknown said...

Paul --

"I don't get why people haven't gotten tired of tattoos yet."

Well, it has been some four thousand years that we know of.

Joe said...

I hate tattoos.

Not a big fan of piercings either, especially tongue, lip, nipples and genitalia.

(I love my oldest daughter, but really detest her tattoos, however tastefully they were done.

Of course, it also annoys me that she's been dyeing her natural strawberry blonde hair, with natural streaks, for years.)

The Crack Emcee said...

"Why does and 18 year old want to follow a style that was set 15-20 years ago?"

They're making a statement, and that statement is, "I have no imagination."

Adam said...

She once swept an Admiral clear off his feet.
The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat.
And now the old boy's in command of the fleet,
for he went and married Lydia!

Matthew Noto said...

She's a skank, and not very good looking at all. I wouldn't $#@& her with a stolen penis.

Revenant said...

In my opinion, the tattoos make her more attractive.

Col Mustard said...

I wonder if the woman with the tatts will wear that same dress every hour of every day, the rest of her life.

As for the brown shoe babe - sexy??? Maybe to another brown shoe babe. And that's a stretch.

Largo said...

My brother-in-law has a Bible verse, that means a lot to him, tattooed around one wrist discretely earth-toned monochrome (not a garish red or blue), in elvish script! It is's one of the few tattoos I have seen that look discreet and elegant: charming to look at, but not drawing attention to itself.

Being in elvish, it is not pushing a message on anyone else, but when eventually noticed it can serve as a great conversation piece. Mostly it is there for him, as a perpetual reminder.

(A good one -- not a perpetual reminder of that lost weekend in Vegas thirty-three years ago!) ;-)

Largo said...

Regarding the lady in the pic:

I think a dense, richly textured pattern surrounding the upper arms, like hers but with fewer gaps, might ... just might ... work, as an adornment that is attractive without being distractive, in a wide variety of settings -- like a sort of patterned pair of short sleeves.

But the big blockish ones on her right forearm look clumsy to my eyes (to use an odd phrase). Perhaps it looks less so from other perspectives.

The large black ring on her right hand helps, providing a kind of -- closure? I don't know the right words one might use for this kind of description. It feels like a "full stop" to the visual phrase running down her arm. The attention is drawn to the ring, and not left lingering around the "white space" (skin space?) surrounding the tattoos?

I hope someone who understand style, and the language of style, can set me right on this. Being out of my depth, I am probably just passing intellectual wind. :)

Largo said...

(My point was that if the look needs the ring to work, then she has stuck herself with it. She look great in spite of it -- in person she might look great because of it!

But much more than the tattoos that make up her "short sleeves", they limit her.)

@Quayle: My suggestion is that there may be some forms of tattoos (like some items of clothing) that kind of "go well" with most anything. Admittedly, the short sleeve look would look a bit odd with a bikini.

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Largo said...

@Adam (and everyone):

Let all Althouse commentor's sing in unison (modulo time zone):

La La La ... La La La!

KCFleming said...

Tattoos like hers are excessive; failing to know when to stop is a cardinal sin in art.

The people shown on The Sartorialist suggest to me that most humans are very plain if not outright ugly, and we try very hard to look better. Clothes help (believe me; my daily exposure to the naked form for 25 years has made me a fan of textiles and tailors).

If the sockless dude were in Vernal, Utah rather than Valfonda, Florence, he would be called a dork.

The girl with black socks and brown shoes pulls the look off as well as I do. Her cuteness begs forgiveness for the act, not praise.

I have an inordinate desire to pummel the guy wearing the shorts on the street in rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Paris. God forgive me, but he is just asking to be assaulted with a pointed stick. And won't someone please lop off his faux pompadour with a scythe?

Anonymous said...

Tattoos on women = skin rape

raf said...

I have to recuse myself from this topic. I have never even reconciled with pierced earrings. Tattoos are totally beyond my comprehension.

Clyde said...

I have a formula for the likelihood of a woman having nude photos of herself floating around out there somewhere:

(T + P)/pi

Where T is the number of tattoos she has and P is the number of piercings, other than earlobes.

People with tattoos and piercings tend to be exhibitionists. Not always, of course, but usually.

The Crack Emcee said...

I just looked at the black sock/brown shoe chick and, Jesus H. Christ on a bike, will somebody PLEASE buy that girl a sandwich? It's like we're reliving the fucking Holocaust!

And how hard is it to wear black socks and brown shoes? I'd hardly say she's "pulling it off" but, rather, would've hardly noticed she even put them on.

What I WOULD notice is the bitch is too skinny. I'd be all, "You wanna go for some ice cream, honey - with chocolate sprinkles?" And BTW:

She's at least cuter than your tattooed dreamgirl,...but not by much.

Anonymous said...

a cupcake tattooed on her stomach

If I am going to have cupcakes near my stomach, I want to come by them honestly - by eating them.

The Crack Emcee said...

And BTW:

I don't like commenting about women, this way, but that seemed to be the point.

John said...

Crack,

I will take the tattooed girl. She has an okay face and boobs and hips. I really can't go for the adolescent boy look. I like women, even if they do have too many tattoos and are kind of plain.

Calypso Facto said...

I think the black skirt is a good look for that tattooed, square jawed, receding hairlined, youngish MAN.

Known Unknown said...

I consider them a warning sign, like a biohazard symbol. "Caution, scummy moron. Please keep feet, hands, and appendages at a safe distance."

After meeting my wife, Pasta, you would definitely reconsider this stance.

I designed the tattoo that adorns her right foot. She got it last year. She also has a small daisy on her right hip, which I drew for her 18 years ago.

And she's as hot as hell and one of the sweetest people you'd ever meet.

Ray said...

As usual, Althouse commenters are reliably stuck in the 19th century. Perhaps I'm jaded by Suicide Girls with tats on their tits or chestpiece/backpiece/ass tats, that I find a couple of demi-sleeves absolutely restrained. And it does transform her look, from a semi cute chick a bit on the stubby side, into a a semi cute chick a bit on the stubby side who's not utterly risk averse but still want to maintain the option of social acceptability via long sleeves. That indicates a sort of balance, which is sexy.

You don't want Courtney Love crazy, because no matter how fun initially, that gets tiresome after a minute. And there's also zero attraction to a person who filters every single decision through what the effect will be when they're 80. you don't want so alt that their appearance is incapable of not being distracting, but not such a slave to other people's prudery that they become another bland Stella McCartney'd drone.

Unknown said...

LarsPorsena --

"Tattoos on women = skin rape"

As it's their own skin, do you also consider masturbation from boredom rape?

Phil 314 said...

Crack;
God, I miss women just being women.

The same go for me (and their tattoos')


There are clearly few Gen Y'ers on this blog