Need suggestion on how to cover my upper arm
April 26, 2007 12:31 PM Subscribe
Need suggestion on how to cover my upperarm. I am a female and i got something similar to a burn mark in my upper arm. So i always wear full sleeve shirts, so that it is not visible to others...
I like to wear half sleeve/sleeveless shirts and then somehow cover my upper arm just below the sleeve, where the burn mark is present with some clothing etc...
Can someone please let me know, with what i can cover so that it fits in properly with my clothing...( I thought of wrapping a big handkerchief, but want some other suggestion , which is better).
Also please let me know, where i can purchase it... I am in bay area, usa. Thanks very much for your time.
I like to wear half sleeve/sleeveless shirts and then somehow cover my upper arm just below the sleeve, where the burn mark is present with some clothing etc...
Can someone please let me know, with what i can cover so that it fits in properly with my clothing...( I thought of wrapping a big handkerchief, but want some other suggestion , which is better).
Also please let me know, where i can purchase it... I am in bay area, usa. Thanks very much for your time.
Personally, I wouldn't bother, unless it actually looks very obvious to people who aren't you. I have a friend who is missing about half of a finger, but unless you're really bored in class, or she points it out, you wouldn't notice, because she doesn't care.
But since you seem self-conscious about it, and you're female, you have a few options, depending on several variables. (Guys have less options.) I have an upper arm tattoo that I've chosen or, in one awful instance, been forced to cover, and this is what I've used:
1. Bracelets meant for the upper arm. Depends on the location of the mark, and the direction, and so on.
2. For formal events, get a long scarf or drape and you can go without sleeves as long as you get good at draping it around the crook of your arm. I do this to cover my tattoos at formal events and it always looks pretty good. Advantage: totally colorful.
3. Dermablend. I bought mine at a large department store. I would strongly advise doing this, instead of ordering online, in part so you can try it out. It did not work for covering a black tattoo on my very pale (Scandinavian) skin. It was, I believe, however, made for skin conditions, which aren't generally as dark.
posted by cobaltnine at 12:54 PM on April 26, 2007
But since you seem self-conscious about it, and you're female, you have a few options, depending on several variables. (Guys have less options.) I have an upper arm tattoo that I've chosen or, in one awful instance, been forced to cover, and this is what I've used:
1. Bracelets meant for the upper arm. Depends on the location of the mark, and the direction, and so on.
2. For formal events, get a long scarf or drape and you can go without sleeves as long as you get good at draping it around the crook of your arm. I do this to cover my tattoos at formal events and it always looks pretty good. Advantage: totally colorful.
3. Dermablend. I bought mine at a large department store. I would strongly advise doing this, instead of ordering online, in part so you can try it out. It did not work for covering a black tattoo on my very pale (Scandinavian) skin. It was, I believe, however, made for skin conditions, which aren't generally as dark.
posted by cobaltnine at 12:54 PM on April 26, 2007
My experience reflects cobaltnine’s—I have evident scar tissue on the inside of my wrist, frequently wear short-sleeved t-shirts and normal shirts with the arms rolled up, and it’s been at least a couple of years since anyone said anything to me about it. (Though I do tend to mention the accident now and then in conversation).
Now, that may be because it looks like the result of an attempted suicide, but I do enounter enough people-of-a-direct-interpersonal-manner-slash-assholes that, if people were noticing it, they would have brought it up.
posted by Aidan Kehoe at 1:18 PM on April 26, 2007
Now, that may be because it looks like the result of an attempted suicide, but I do enounter enough people-of-a-direct-interpersonal-manner-slash-assholes that, if people were noticing it, they would have brought it up.
posted by Aidan Kehoe at 1:18 PM on April 26, 2007
Arm warmers. You can also make the same thing by cutting the crotch and feet off of tights. Who knew my junior high school goth kid fashion tips would ever come in handy?
Black armbands. Say you're protesting the Iraq war(they were worn during Vietnam for the same reasons).
If you're ever at any of the major anti-globalization/whatever protests there are usually people handing out armbands with various symbols spray-stenciled on. If you're not political, make one yourself with a bunny or a unicorn or something on there.
I, also, by the way, have something similar to a burn mark on my upper arm. I used to sweat out the summer trying to cover it up, too. I'm not going to be all LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF SISTER because these things take time, but I would bet that you're not going to bother wearing arm warmers and arm cuffs for the rest of your life. If it helps any, mine is super ugly and puffy and I hate it, but day to day I never notice it and I can lie like a rug on the rare occasions that someone is rude enough to ask how I got it.
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:27 PM on April 26, 2007
Black armbands. Say you're protesting the Iraq war(they were worn during Vietnam for the same reasons).
If you're ever at any of the major anti-globalization/whatever protests there are usually people handing out armbands with various symbols spray-stenciled on. If you're not political, make one yourself with a bunny or a unicorn or something on there.
I, also, by the way, have something similar to a burn mark on my upper arm. I used to sweat out the summer trying to cover it up, too. I'm not going to be all LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF SISTER because these things take time, but I would bet that you're not going to bother wearing arm warmers and arm cuffs for the rest of your life. If it helps any, mine is super ugly and puffy and I hate it, but day to day I never notice it and I can lie like a rug on the rare occasions that someone is rude enough to ask how I got it.
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:27 PM on April 26, 2007
I was coming in to recommend Dermablend, but I'll come in to second Dermablend instead.
posted by mendel at 1:30 PM on April 26, 2007
posted by mendel at 1:30 PM on April 26, 2007
I have keloid scars on both arms and a big one on my chest. I don't worry about them. If people ask, I answer. The one on my chest is visible every day.
A girl I knew in college had been in a fire as a child. Both her arms, upper torso and part of her neck were burned. She dressed however she wanted and didn't try to cover them. Granted, with that much it would be difficult. However, she always looked great and I never heard anyone say a word about them to her.
Honestly, people aren't going to look at you like you're a freak. Ok, maybe your Mom will if it is self-inflicted and she doesn't know it is there. Otherwise, it is there and not going away.
posted by onhazier at 1:38 PM on April 26, 2007
A girl I knew in college had been in a fire as a child. Both her arms, upper torso and part of her neck were burned. She dressed however she wanted and didn't try to cover them. Granted, with that much it would be difficult. However, she always looked great and I never heard anyone say a word about them to her.
Honestly, people aren't going to look at you like you're a freak. Ok, maybe your Mom will if it is self-inflicted and she doesn't know it is there. Otherwise, it is there and not going away.
posted by onhazier at 1:38 PM on April 26, 2007
I know a girl who has contrictive bands (congenital) of scar tissue around her upper arms and her calves. She wears sleeveless shirts and shorts/skirts all the time, and just doesn't give a rip what people do. If someone stares, instead of just asking, "hey, what's up with that", she knows they're a dunce.
posted by notsnot at 1:39 PM on April 26, 2007
posted by notsnot at 1:39 PM on April 26, 2007
Half-sleeve shirts are all over the place right now, with sleeves that end just right above your elbow (see this or this or this, for example).
If your upper arm's on on the tiny side and you can rock the wannabe high school punk look, maybe you could cover it with a wristband from hot topic? If you're crafty at all, you can modify a wrist cuff tutorial/pattern to fit your elbow (this or this or something similar).
Some other upper arm jewely that may work, depening on the size and location: 1[nsfw!], 2, 3, 4.
I think jewelry/tattoos/whatever around the elbow is kinda hot, but it'll probably draw way more attention to it than a scar ever would.
posted by logic vs love at 2:22 PM on April 26, 2007
If your upper arm's on on the tiny side and you can rock the wannabe high school punk look, maybe you could cover it with a wristband from hot topic? If you're crafty at all, you can modify a wrist cuff tutorial/pattern to fit your elbow (this or this or something similar).
Some other upper arm jewely that may work, depening on the size and location: 1[nsfw!], 2, 3, 4.
I think jewelry/tattoos/whatever around the elbow is kinda hot, but it'll probably draw way more attention to it than a scar ever would.
posted by logic vs love at 2:22 PM on April 26, 2007
I think the cut up tights Juliet mentioned is a good idea. You can get flesh colored ones or ones that match your shirt. My roommate has to wear a cut-off stocking on one of her legs because of varicose veins. You can't really tell she's wearing it until you're up close, and even then it looks fine (she folds the ends under, so it doesn't look frayed).
posted by bluefly at 2:26 PM on April 26, 2007
posted by bluefly at 2:26 PM on April 26, 2007
Oh dear, I have psoriasis so I understand this impulse more than most, but I want to say that if this is a permanent scar, you should really not bother going to great lengths to cover. For many years I wouldn't wear short sleeves (long sleeves were the only reliable form I cover I came up with). Now I'm still weird about skirts with bare legs and I don't wear shorts, but I'm getting better. Yes, I get nasty looks like I'm a leper and people sometimes say, "What's THAT?" But I've decided I can live with that.
posted by loiseau at 3:43 PM on April 26, 2007
posted by loiseau at 3:43 PM on April 26, 2007
I have a surgery scar that I sometimes cover with Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs. it's pretty cheap (a $16 can should last you all summer) and stays on surprisingly well as it's water-resistant, and doesn't really rub off on clothes. if your scar is fairly flat, that might help.
posted by twistofrhyme at 9:29 AM on April 27, 2007
posted by twistofrhyme at 9:29 AM on April 27, 2007
Australian company Metalicus make a range of skin-tight garments designed to be worn beneath other clothes; they are perfect for the sort of layering you're describing. Their stuff is great, and available internationally.
I appreciate how personal these things are, but I urge you to cultivate a "who cares what they think" attitude about your scar. I avoided sleeveless tops for twenty years out of shame for my fat upper arms, and then one summer, during a heatwave, I had an epiphany: that my comfort and happiness was worth more to me than the cursory opinions of random strangers. It was a revelation.
It's worth considering, anyhow.
posted by hot soup girl at 12:03 PM on April 27, 2007
I appreciate how personal these things are, but I urge you to cultivate a "who cares what they think" attitude about your scar. I avoided sleeveless tops for twenty years out of shame for my fat upper arms, and then one summer, during a heatwave, I had an epiphany: that my comfort and happiness was worth more to me than the cursory opinions of random strangers. It was a revelation.
It's worth considering, anyhow.
posted by hot soup girl at 12:03 PM on April 27, 2007
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here's an example.
posted by amtho at 12:47 PM on April 26, 2007