Is a foot/ankle tattoo a bad idea

[keepcalm]

So, I have a kind of embarrassing question.

I have cankles :( I'm a normal weight; I just have thick ankles. (See first attached photo -- like that.)

I'm wondering if putting a tattoo on the top of my foot / front of my ankle would help to distract from the fact that I have cankles, or if would highlight them. (See second photo for placement idea.) I tried to search for photos online, but that's a weird-ass Google search, amirite?

I have a feeling that getting the back of my ankle tattooed would do more to distract than putting one on the front, but that seems like a weird place for a tattoo. Surely there are some principles of design that apply here, right? Black is slimming, patterns can help hide a belly, elongating your legs with heels or hemlines of intentional length, yadda yadda.

Anyway, I've been thinking of getting the tops of my feet done, and then I started wondering if I should go up the ankle a bit, and then I started wondering how that would affect the way my stupid legs look down there. That is the odd and admittedly very vain train of thought that led to this thread! I feel ridiculous!

Thanks in advance to anyone who indulges me! I feel silly posting this, but now that I've typed it all out, might as well, right? ha!

[L2DB]

I would get the tattoo there because you want a tattoo there and not because of how it impacts your perceived cankles. I have nothing concrete to base this on, but I'd think something a bit longer and narrower (think feather) going from side ankle up into your calf would offer the most camouflage, though your concern about drawing attention to the area with a tattoo is pretty valid, IMO.

[LizBee]

I don't have the slimmest of ankles, either, and that's where I got my first tattoos - on both of them.

I urge you not to judge yourself, or label your body parts with pejoratives, lol, and simply get a tattoo where you feel led to get on placed. I knew my first tattoos were meant to go on my ankles, though I have no real explanation for why, and that's what I did.

I even got my tattoos circumferentially around each ankle, which, if you listen to the style gurus, cuts off your leg and makes short legs look shorter (not supposed to wear ankle straps on shoes, for instance). To hell with that crap! Ignore our image-obsessed culture and do what you like, and get a tattoo that YOU like.

[pidjones]

Vanity have anything to do with body art? NO! Really?!?

I had a schoolmate in High School that although very thin and attractive otherwise, she had very thick ankles - I thought they were sexy as hell! Just wait, Curvy Girls are the fashion trend now - cankles may be next! If you really want to see what a tattoo would do, let me suggest two options: 1, get someone to take a couple good unobstructed photos of your ankles and then Photoshop some tattoos onto them, or 2, Henna - my tattoo artist also has a henna artist in her shop. It doesn't have to me a traditional Indian or mid-East design to be done in henna. Whatever your idea, have an artist do it for you and judge by your own feeling (and other's comments if you care).

But, either way - if you do get it, you MUST post the photos here!

[LizBee]

Great idea, @pidjones.

I had completely forgotten this, it was a long time ago, but I did the very same thing - I went to Claire's (a jewelry/accessory store for young girls) and got temporary tattoos of vines/tribal type stuff and walked around with them for a while to see how it would look, or at least give me an idea. It was very helpful! :)

[SnowyPlover]

You are worrying too much - tattoos can be transformative how we feel about our bodies. I love the tattoo in the photo and how it doesn't cut off at the ankle.

Guy le Tatooer does beautiful feet (okay, he does beautiful everything)

http://guyletatooer.com

[LizBee]

Yeah, I think you'll LOVE your feet and ankles if you decorate them in this way.

[Tornado6]

Heck, I just draw on myself with a marker.

The swoop of my first tattoo made my ankle quite fetching, if I do say so myself. I'm pretty sure that the root part of that floral piece is my favorite tattooed thing on my whole body. The tattoo on the other leg is not very shapely, but I love it for entirely different reasons.

Placement seems like it is going to be very important, and I'm very sure that if you go to the right artist, you'll come away with the most beautiful ankles in the world!

[Suiren]

I always do the marker thing too. It helps lots! :)

The first picture is your legs? No reason to distract from anything. You can techniqually get whatever you want. But if you do want a slimming effect I think something by the heel that tapers as it goes up like a natural curve, would do the trick.

[PinkUnicorn]

let me suggest two options: 1, get someone to take a couple good unobstructed photos of your ankles and then Photoshop some tattoos onto them, or 2, Henna - my tattoo artist also has a henna artist in her shop.

It's also very easy to get custom temporary tattoos done if you already have your basic idea as a computer file.

I've used these folks, and I expect there are other similar places around.

https://www.straytats.com/

[sophistre]

I don't have thick ankles particularly, but I do have pretty beefy calves. They're just very, very muscular, to the extent that I don't often fit into zip-up knee-high boots (which sucks, because I love themmmmmmm).

I used to worry about this kind of thing with shoe choice. Can I wear the boots with the big piece in front? What about booties in general? Won't that make my leg look wide all the way down?

I don't really worry about this anymore. If you look happy in what you're wearing, people roll with it. If you look uncomfortable and nervous, they notice. There is no substitute for genuine joy.

Plus, I second the person above who said that tattoos can be transformative! Mine made me love my fat upper arm long before I started getting back into shape.

[Synesthesia]

I think it's common for people to get "problem areas" tattooed to help them like those body parts more. I personally have never thought a tattoo made a certain part of the body look worse, if anything, it's a huge distraction from flaws. If you want it on your foot, go for it.

[Lance]

@keepcalm, I have fugly feet. Imagine Hobbits and The Beast from the X-Men movies. Didn't even occur to me when I got my feet tattooed. I just wanted to get tattooed. I think you'll be fine. As what is usually said, get what you want. I'm sure you'll love it. Tip, when you do get it, keep your feet elevated and take willow bark capsules to help reduce swelling.

[keepcalm]

I forgot I made this embarrassing post!

Thank you all for the encouragement and positive vibes :)

I like the idea of trying henna first to see what it might look like. The foot/ankle would be the most all-year-round visible spot I'd have a tattoo, so I am having more than my normal amount of anxiety over placement.

Alternatively, I'm also considering the back of my upper left arm (above the elbow) for this piece (a fox head and some patterned bits around it). I'm so terrible with decisions -- especially about tattoo placement. I've been looking at pictures of tattooed people on the internet for weeks now, trying to get a feel for how tattoos look in certain spots on the body.

Classic overthinker, right here.

Thanks again for the indulgence, guys! You really are the best.

- - - Updated - - -

The swoop of my first tattoo made my ankle quite fetching, if I do say so myself.

Picture! :)

And thank you for the encouragement!

[Tornado6]

Picture! :)

And thank you for the encouragement!

This is difficult to selfie!

[purplelace]

@Synesthesia this definitely how it is with me. Reason why started getting tattooed was to cover scars on tops of arms.

@keepcalm but will echo what everyone has said, if you want to get tattooed, get tattooed. My legs/feet aren't exactly small lol but fuck it, hasn't and won't stop me from getting tattooed. In fact am thinking of how to merge the ones on lower legs with the ones on tops of feet. The one on top of my left foot goes up a bit onto my ankle/leg join. Will be planning on merging that next session and, will talk to tattooist about going down onto ankle and with tops of feet to tie all together.

Didn't mean to ramble, but I feel a lot better about my body now and how I look. Last year when started getting tattooed again, I started wearing shorts to get tattooed and I now I wear little black dress. Something that would never have happened in the past, and also being tattooed below the knee helps because I want to show them off. My tattoos have boosted my confidence esp in regards to my body, because I did not like how I looked. This is hard to write but I did have low body esteem, hated how I looked. Now I am happy with my body and how I look. Love wearing my little black dress to show off my tattoos.

Just go for it, hell more tattoos not a bad thing! (Unless they are shite, then they are lol)

[Wonderwoman]

I also have cankles and I'm thinking of getting them tattooed also in an effort to elongate them. Wondering if you "keepcalm" did it in the end? I know it's an old post. If so how did you find it and did it hurt a lot due to the fluidly nature of the cankle? 🤔

[Gingerninja]

Get tattooed @Wonderwoman!