Wore: Moment of bravery

As I've mentioned previously, I'm trying to get comfortable with wearing prints.  It's not easy for me but I'm trying.  Sometimes they say the best way to get over something is to throw yourself right into the heart of it.  So why not a full body print?

Dress: Torrid
Shrug: I don't remember, I've had it forever

I actually wore this and took pics a few weeks ago so I am still in my pained, sleep-deprived state here but hopefully the pic is too small for anyone else to notice. LOL

I actually really like this dress, probably because I was swathed in skulls all day.  Almost a dream come true!  It's a bit sheer, though, so I had to wear a tank top and shorts under it.  One thing I don't like about is the fact that it has spaghetti straps which are not flattering on girls built like me.

Edit: As I look over this post, I realize this dress is doing my body no favors.  LOL  Is it just me or do I look a lot heavier in this dress than I do in a lot of my other clothing?

But, in a rare moment of bravery, I decided to take a pic that shows my upper arms.  (*gasp*) (*shock*)

I am *VERY* self-conscious of my upper arms because of how they are largely disproportionate to my lower arms.  I mean, I *do* love my grandma wings on my biceps that I may or may not flap in the mirror after each shower but I don't necessarily like showing them off.

Since I was being brave with my arms, I decided this would a good opportunity to show the tattoos I have there as well.

I even reversed the mirror image so they'd be the right way in the pics. :)

This was done by 2 different artists.  The heart and skull in the middle was done by my ex-brother-in-law and was the 40th tattoo he'd ever done.  I had asked him for a skull and heart and he came up with the idea of a tattered patchwork heart because he'd heard about some of the bad things I'd gone through in my life but I still came out a warm, loving person.  Unfortunately, the ink he had was not that great so it faded poorly.  When I got the art supplies tattooed around the heart, the artist (Flaco from All Or Nothing) fixed the color but colored right over some of the shading, etc. without redoing it.  I need to get that touched up at some point.

I helped design this tattoo with an artist at Anchor's End Tattoo in Duluth, MN.  I can't remember his name which makes me sad because I remember the names of all my other artists. :(

I designed the SisteR which is my initial and my sister's initial intertwined.  The colors are our birthstone colors: purple/amethyst for February and green/emerald for May.  The artist came up with the art deco style scroll work then together we decided it also needed the colored dots.  My sister has this same one on her ankle.

Necklace: Wish

I wish I was brave/confident/comfortable enough to walk around in public in tank tops.  I do around the apartment all the time.  I even wear shorts and short dresses with no leggings at home as well.

What are your self-conscious areas and how do you deal with them?

Unrelated selfie from a different day - just because I was feeling cute. :)
Dress: Torrid