Phi Mu tattoo
 

Do any of you girls have a Phi Mu - related tattoo? Anyone got any thoughts in general on them -- right, wrong, or otherwise?

I'm from the old school where girls didn't have tatoos, however, as a chapter adviser now - so many of my girls have them, in rather discreet places. While I personally wouldn't want to see Phi Mu tattoed on someone - I liked what one of my girls recently did - she had a pink paw (rather small) tattooed. It was funny because I called her cell phone - she's on Exec - this summer and heard all these voices in the background - so asked where she was and it was the tattoo parlor with other Phi Mu's. So, while it's not for me, I understand times have changed. If you decide to do it - just be respectful, because not only are they your letters - they belong to over 150,000 other sisters also.

Shannon

Just wanted to put your mind at ease -- I'm not actually considering, just asking what you ladies thought. :-D

LIOB
Jacquelyn

I like the hidden-meaning thing. I know a Delta Chi who got a band of barbed wire going around his arm, and there's a delta hidden on the top and a chi on the bottom. I thought that was clever (although barbed wire isn't really my thing.)

How about a little pink heart? Somewhere no one would see. A Phi Mu would get it.... everyone else might not.

One of our sisters has a quadrafoil with phi mu letters on her back...she drew it herself and had the guy put it on...i thought it was pretty neat..but i dont think id do it myself unless it was like a hidden meaning thing...like maybe 3 pink stars or something dunno still to chicken to even consider a tattoo...lol im a squimish big baby!!!

lol
:D
LIOB

I have my fave flower (a lily) with our letters in front of it. It's on my lower back, and it's usually pretty well hidden. One of the other girls in my chapter got the design from her Bid Day shirt put onto her back, too.

Actually, I thought it wasn't allowed to get phi mu tatoos. But hey, I could be wrong! One of my sisters got our letters tattooed on the top of her second toe. But I guess she was told she would have to hide it when chapter advisors and such visited. I guess she didn't like that idea because she started erasing with a pencil eraser as soon as it healed(I guess it fades the ink). Another sister got a quatrefoil on her back, I think. But that's easy to hide!

I personally have committment issues, so I wouldn't get a tatoo, but I think the idea of a hidden meaning, like 3 stars, hearts or pink paws would be cool. But I'm also not going to be offended if anyone has the letters on them. Way to publicize!!!

Yeah I have committment issues too. But in my biker-chick fantasies it's nice to have everything all ironed out. :D

I think I'd probably do 3 stars. Or a design with our greek letters "hidden" in it.

It's funny that people are talking about this because I was actually just thinking about getting one when I should have been paying attention to this horrific movie in my shakespeare class.
I was thinking about getting a quatrefoil with a butterfly in the middle of it. I LOVE butterflies, plus my family in Phi Mu is the butterfly family. I also like the idea of the quatrefoil surrounding the butterfly because of the meaning.
~Michelle~

I hope you don't mind my $.02, but...

We had an active who had the ADPi crest tattooed on her ankle. When she was deactivated, she was also asked to have the tattoo removed. Suprisingly (and happily!), she did!

I was told that Phi Mu tattoos with the actual letters or words was discouraged because, you know, you can't drink in your letters. If you have your letters permanently on, you can't ever drink.

I just happened to come across this thread because it was a "recent post", but I thought I'd give a little input if you don't mind. Several of my sisters have a five-point crown tattoo (one of our symbols). None of them, as far as I know, have our letters tattooed anywhere, because we have the same rules regarding not drinking and such in our letters. The ideas u girls have said are cute. If you're going to get a tattoo that has something to do with your sorority, it's probably best to stick to symbols rather than your letters or crest.

*bump*
A couple of girls from my pledge class have been talking abou getting tatoos on our senior trip coming up this fall. As far as we've been told, we cannot get letter tattoos because Phi Mu is copyrighted or whatever... however, I was thinking about maybe a quatrefoil and three stars. I don't know where I would get it, though.. maybe on the top of my foot where it would be covered by the thick flip flops. I don't know where else I would want it. I don't really like tatoos on the lower back (for me).... I have actually been very against tattoos for a long time, but have recently changed my mind. I'm thinking that I would get it either in pink (like a bright pink so it doesn't look like a bug bite), or a brown. My parents keep telling me that I should wait because they don't think Phi Mu will mean so much to me in a few years, but I know that even if I am not way involved in Phi Mu, it will always mean a lot to me.

I don't have any tattoos (yet), but I don't mind them, even when they involve Phi Mu. A tattoo is (supposed to be, anyway) a permanent piece of artwork that helps define who you are, so I'd hope that if anybody got a Phi Mu related tattoo, it would be because they're truly serious about our Fraternity.

When I was a collegian, several of my chapter sisters were discussing getting Phi Mu tattoos, and they asked me if it would be okay (I was, apparently, my chapter's unofficial adviser in matters of Phi Mu etiquette). I told them that it wasn't against any bylaws that I knew of, but that they might want to consider waiting until they'd graduated, just to be on the safe side. As far as I know, the girls who talked to me about it did wait at least until their senior year to get one.

I also thought that it wasn't allowed/was discouraged to get letters. But hey, I could be wrong!

A girl in my chapter got a quatrefoil with our chapter letters inside. I think if I got one, I'd get a little sir fidel or maybe 3 stars.

Don't do it!
 

OK, I'm an old mom, but I'd strongly advise any of you ladies to steer away from a tatoo of any kind. Trust me, your tastes change over the years (anybody want some 1978 circa dinnerware with orange flowers? LOL) and tatoos are very permanent. I've also noticed that tatoos don't age well...the colors fade, and what weight gain can do to them is not pretty. Go with celebrating Phi Mu with a shirt, jewelry, etc. and I think you'll be happier down the road.

Risa

I really like the idea of a Phi Mu tattoo, but I'd never get letters or "Phi Mu". I think I want a quatrefoil on my lower back, something that other people wouldn't recognize, but that a Phi Mu would see and go "That is SWEET!". Lol. I do think I'm going to wait until I graduate just to be on the safe side - but I don't have long to wait... I graduate next May! How sad!

discreet, simple and tasteful.
 

although i am mostly opposed to having our letters tattooed on the body, i am a fan of a more discreet symbol.

I got a quatrefoil. Claudine did an wonderful job (a good friend) and it is gold and she shaded it to look 3D, beveled i think she called it. She looked at me wierd when i brought in "the wierd shape" she called it. Later i plan on getting magnolias through/around it.

i have a few tattoos. none of them are in any obvious spots, there is one star that is on my upper arm near my shoulder that sometimes shows with some tshirts.
I may have ideas of the human body as a canvas (some people agree, some don't) but i'm not extreem.

A good friend in Sigma Pi has a really cool armband with sigma's and pi's wrapping around his arm. i'm not normally one to like arm band tattoo either. :)

Just keep it simple, and tasteful. (i was going to say "classy", but tattoos are not necessarily classy)

I got a tattoo the semester I joined Phi Mu and I didn't want to put letters on my body, so I got a star on my left hip. The star is my family tree symbol. So it still has some meaning for me.

Update on my tattoo situation: I think I'm getting a quatrefoil on the back of my neck this weekend (very small). I'm not sure what color though...any thoughts?

Sorry to crash, but a lot of you have great ideas on sorority tattoos! I have always wanted a Phi Sig tattoo, but I never wanted letters. I was thinking of getting a red rose with our open motto in greek along the stem.

My one TBS sister wants to get a tattoo of a treble clef going from green (chapter color) to blue (national color) with a butterfly sitting on the clef (chapter mascot) so people would be able to see it, but only our chapter sisters would know the meaning. Its awesome.

Oh and a bit ago - I forget where I was, but I saw a few quatrefoils and completely thought about Phi Mu! :)

I got 3 pink stars on my lower back. And I think it's great to have something as a permanent reminder and any Phi Mu know what it means.

So I got my tattoo! I got a small (about 1 inch) quatrefoil on the back of my neck in black. It's so cute...and didn't hurt at all!

Phi Mu tat
 

Actually, my big started a family tattoo. She's got it, I've got it, I'm taking my little to get it later this month, and my grandlittle is going to get it later this fall. It's very simple, but I love it. It's just a quatrafoil outline (a little bigger than a quarter) in black, filled in with pink, and it has our letters in black in the middle. Nothing too creative, but I love the fact that my family has it---it's just another thing that keeps us all tied together. It's also in a very discreet place on my lower back so I'm not "wearing my letters in poor taste." And I don't parade it when I'm in a party setting.

My advisor put it a very good way: It's not a problem to get it done if you do it right. Keep it discreet. Don't get be disrespectful with the design or location (she said no phi mu stuff near your "special area" lol). And as long as it means something important to you, then it's done right.

One of my sisters recently got a Phi Mu tattoo, and it's probably one of the coolest ideas I've ever seen. It's a simple black quatrafoil outline, and inside in simple black again are the greek letters "Alpha" and "Omega" symbolizing the beginning and the end. People always ask her about it, and when she explains its meaning, they are so impressed! I don't think I'll ever get one, but I just had to post this because I thought it was so amazing!

we were always told at our chapter getting the actual letters or the written out letters "phi mu" tattooed was bad luck...haha...local lore, i suppose, because every chapter on our campus seems to think the same thing...a LOT of girls in my house have three stars, though....every year on bid day there's a group of 20 or so who go get tattooed...a few quatrefoils....i have yet to get inked...i have no desire to have extra needles poked in me...

A lot of girls from my chapter had quatrefoils on their hips or lower backs... personally, I am terrified of needles (and the PERMANENCE of tattoos!) but if I was going to, I would choose a tiny, dime-sized beveled quatrefoil on my foot. You can always cover that!

I just got a new tattoo (it was a cover up of a silly tattoo I got 4 years ago to skip rugby practice) of 3 nautical stars on my lower back in black and pink and in between the left and middle one it says love in between the middle and right it says honor and below the middle it says truth all done in really pretty caligraphy.

A group of us in my chapter are talking about getting a quatrafoil tattoo during inspiration week before our new Phis initiation in November.

I would love to get a Phi Mu tattoo. I was told that PHA didnt allow tattoos with our letters, but the badge or anything related was fine. I know that some of my sisters have tattoos with the quatrofoil, but they are in discreet places. I think i may get the quatrofoil in pink and white on my hip, and maybe put the letters inside once i go alum.

As far as I know there wouldn't be any rules by a campus panhellenic that can regulate the tattoos on your body. Reference your by-laws and your constitution for your local PHA, but I DOUBT you'll find anything there. They can't tell you want you can and can't put on your body, nor should they try.

I have 2 Phi Mu-related tattoos: on my lower back, I have a small quatrefoil (about the size of a quarter) outlined in black and filled in with light pink. My big has the same one, and my little is getting it done, so it's also a family thing. I also have the outline of three small stars (in black) on the top of my foot in the same arrangement as what's on the badge. I have them both on the left side of my body, because that's the side you wear the badge on.

I implore all of you with tattoos to post pics!!

Spring 2005 we had a PC of 18 girls. On their Phi retreat they went to a tattoo parlor and got matching ladybug (regional mascot) tattoos. They got them in different places on their bodies, but they are all small and discreet. They'll always have that bond and the memory.

[COLOR="Pink"]I have 3 stars on my lower back (below where my jeans hit, so it's not really visible), and I also have a quatrefoil on the back of my hip, but also low enough that you can not see it at all, even in a swimsuit. A lot of my sisters have started getting 3 stars done pretty small and in discreet places, and a few have done the quatrefoil thing too!

I feel like the whole pledge class going together to get a tatoo could be a little iffy--even if it is completely their choice.

We were told when we first joined it is bad luck to get phi mu tattoos while you are a collegiate and to wait until you go alum. I guess a lot of girls who got them dropped. My pledge sister however got one and I love it. It is three hot pink stars on her side near her rib cage with Les Soeurs Fideles written underneath it.