From print outlets like Teen Vogue to sites like Buzzfeed online, T-shirts with witty quotes and wild imagery are some of the most stylish millennial fashion items out there. One of the best things about tees is that they’re affordable enough to be widely available while still being stylistically varied and oozing with personality. Here are a few tips for tailoring and wearing stylish, funny T-shirts this fall.
Long Sleeves Are Your Friends
When we think about T-shirts, we tend to think of the shorter-sleeved variety. While those should still be some of your primary options—especially when pairing tees in relation to other elements of a typical fall wardrobe, as explained below—if you’re looking to wear a shirt on its own without a blazer or jacket covering it, you should look into longer-sleeved options, as they’re more seasonally appropriate in terms of both comfort and style. Autumn and winter are largely long-sleeve seasons, and sporting tees with print along those lengthy sleeves is just another way to style yourself according to the season.
Go Beyond Simply the Shirt
A T-shirt is only as good as the rest of the ensemble with which it’s matched; so no matter what T-shirt quotes or print graphics your shirt displays, to get the most out of it, you’re going to want to go beyond the shirt itself and think about what you should wear with it. For example, T-shirt/blazer combos are some of the most popular fashions today, especially around fall and winter.
With the fun of a T-Shirt and the class of a blazer, it’s quite a combo. To get the best out of both, however, you need to think about them in conjunction with one another. For example, if you’re wearing a blazer your sleeves are obviously going to be covered, so while long sleeve shirts may be a great solo option, you’ll want to revert back to classic short sleeve ones for this combo.
What’s more, blazers can serve as natural “frames” in terms of focusing people’s attention on your shirt, so you’ll want to keep that relationship in mind when choosing which printed T-shirts to wear with which blazers. If your shirt features printing in areas that are covered by the “frame” of your blazer, or your shirt color clashes with your blazer color, you’re not taking advantage of the versatility of this clothing combination. In fact, you’re undermining the natural framing and accessorizing power of a T-shirt/blazer ensemble.
And that’s just one example. Think about how your shirt’s color and printed material will work in relation to what your target audience is likely to wear. You want to feature a cosmopolitan style, while at the same time projecting your unique, distinctive personality.
Laugh it Up
Funny T-shirts have become a fashionable way to flash some wit. In an age of daily memes and social media, pop culture fluency and witty one-liners are a cultural currency unto themselves. Funny tees are a great way to show your smarts and pop culture savviness without seeming like you’re “showing off.” That casualness really is key—everyone, from the most razor-sharp wits like Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker in the past to the social media mavens of today, can instantly spot someone who’s “trying too hard” to be funny. Funny tees make comedy casual and all the more interesting at the same time.
All this and more can make for witty, refreshing tees to be worn during autumn!