The Best Graphic T-Shirts to Show Your Artistic Flare
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The T-shirt is the closest thing there is to a universal garment, and one of the reasons they are so popular with so many different people (and peoples) is its utility as a canvas. It’s remarkably easy to slap a message on a T-shirt and transform the wearer of that shirt into a messenger for an idea. This ease has pushed T-shirt design a long way, and graphic tees are as creative and varied today as they’ve ever been.
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The message could be as simple as “I’m a fan of this sports team” or “I went to this school,” but it can also be complex, buried under irony, inside jokes, or other connotations. The best graphic T-shirts are expressions of genuine creativity, striking design, or cultural cachet. (Sometimes, they’re all three.) The simplicity and comfort of a T-shirt means they can be worn anywhere, but graphic T-shirts are best worn when the wearer wants to make the specific statement about themselves that the shirt can help articulate.
What the Experts Say
A graphic T-shirt is still a T-shirt, which means that considering the materials, design, and construction of the shirt is just as important as if the shirt was unadorned. Frej Lewenhaupt, textile expert, co-founder and CEO of Steamery, says that cotton is a great material because it can “handle more machine-washing, tumble-drying, and ironing given the strength of the fibers.”
“You can determine the quality of a cotton T-shirt by how well-constructed it seems. Give it a gentle tug to ensure that the stitching is up to par, and check for loose threads or other irregularities,” he continues.
Todd Moore, director of development for the textile business at Milliken & Company, agrees that it’s hard to go wrong with a cotton T-shirt, though he also points out that synthetics can have their advantages, namely that they’re potentially recyclable, more durable, and incur less shrinkage over time.
BEST OVERALL
Velva Sheen Logo Pocket Tee
Buy Now $53.00
The vintage script of the Velva Sheen logo is printed on the pocket of one of the Cincinnati company’s high-quality T-shirts for a subtle statement about American manufacturing, respect for the past, and minimalism. It’s pretty great.
BEST FULL-BLEED PRINT
Loewe Logo-Embroidered Printed Cotton Jersey T-Shirt in Aquarium
Buy Now $890.00
Like the best screensavers, this T-shirt bathes you in an aquatic scene that feels more vivid than real life. It’s certainly a maximalist statement, but it’s hard to imagine a vacation near water that wouldn’t be improved by donning this made-in-Italy garment and becoming one with nature even before your feet touch the sand.
BEST CLASSIC LOOK
Polo Ralph Lauren Preppy Bear T-Shirt
Buy Now $63.00
Ralph Lauren’s bear was born a cute preppy mascot, became an icon of hip-hop fashion in mid-life, and, on this nearly neon shirt, seems to have relaxed and returned to its preppy roots.
BEST NAUTICAL LOOK
Willard Bond x J. Crew Made-in-the-USA Graphic T-Shirt
Buy Now $59.50
This shirt is the site of a collaboration between the late artist Willard Bond and J.Crew, going back to its nautical roots. The design, an expressionist yachting scene, looks like a painting that’s been in your uncle’s beach house since the ‘60s in the very best way. The shirt itself is a supersoft, made-in-the-USA garment made of American cotton from environmentally conscious farms.
BEST LOGO
Off-White Brush Arrow Slim Fit Graphic Tee
Buy Now $515.00
This slim-fit cotton shirt from Off-White looks is a step closer to being a literal canvas. On the front you’ll find paint “smudges” partially hiding the name of the brand. On the back, those same smudge-like designs form the brand’s signature logo. In one garment, the same treatment acts as both obscurer and revealer, which is quite the double life.
BEST STRIPED
Missoni Logo Graphic Tee
Buy Now $260.00 - $330.00
The chaos of discordant colors and jagged lines of seemingly random thicknesses is balanced out by the order of how those jagged edges fit neatly into each other and the softer straight lines on the sleeves. It’s certainly a maximalist statement of a cotton jersey T-shirt, but one that speaks loudly without screaming.
BEST NEW YORK COOL
Saturdays NYC Slash Summer Standard Short Sleeve Tee
Buy Now $48.00
This shirt is wall to wall whimsy: the arc of the girls’ arms imitating those of ballerinas, the photocopier quality of the image, and the two different fonts for the phrase Amongst Friends (mirrored in the embroidered slash logo on the front and screen printing on the back) make for a delightful pastiche of a midweight (190 gsm) cotton T-shirt.
BEST STREET ART
Jungles x Keith Haring Polaroids Cotton Graphic T-Shirt
Buy Now $55.00
The brisk, fluid lines and semi-abstract forms of Keith Haring’s art mean it’s always looked at home on a T-shirt. Eschewing that obvious move in favor of a quartet of Polaroids of the artist himself feels like a novel way to celebrate him that ironically attracts more attention than his work would.
BEST STIFF UPPER LIP
Barbour White Noah Edition T-Shirt
Buy Now $54.00
Everything good about Britain can be found on this shirt: a self-deprecating joke, a Barbour raincoat and boots, and a fantastic drawing of a duck. What more could you ask for, guv’nor?
BEST TIE-DYE
Grateful Dead Slam Dunk Tee
Buy Now $40.00
There’s an interesting, somewhat bizarre story about how the Grateful Dead came to sponsor the Lithuanian basketball team at the 1992 Olympics and how the latter’s apparel subsequently mirrored the tie-dyed fanbase of the former. Even if you don’t know it, this is a tie-dye tee featuring a skeleton dunking a basketball, which is all anyone needs to know about it to enjoy it.
BEST OUTDOORS
Nike Trail Dri-Fit Unpaved Encounter Running T-Shirt
Buy Now $28.97
Just because this cotton-polyester blend shirt has a real function (in this case, moisture-wicking) doesn’t mean it can’t have striking form. This Nike number features a scenic vista, thoughtful typefaces, and the unmistakable energy of exploration matched by the synthetic fibers, which Moore says can help with longevity and Nike says can help keep the wearer cool during even the sweatiest hikes.
Frequently Asked Questions About Graphic T-Shirts
What is a graphic t-shirt?
It’s difficult to nail down a precise definition, but a workable understanding is any T-shirt that has a visual image or design apart from the construction of the shirt itself.
What are graphic t-shirts made of?
Graphic T-shirts are typically made of what most T-shirts are made of: some form of cotton or a cotton blend, vague descriptors that belie the hundreds of not thousands of different options. The message of the shirt is the most important aspect of a graphic T-shirt, but the comfort and durability are still important. There are also some opportunities for the materials to deepen the meaning of a shirt (i.e. a shirt with an environmental message being made out of recycled bottles).
What makes a good graphic t-shirt?
This is essentially the same question as “what makes a good painting,” so a full answer probably requires an art history degree and a lifetime of ruminating on a question that doesn’t have an objective, universal answer. That means the best way to answer it is personally: a graphic T-shirt that someone really wants to wear is a good graphic T-shirt for that person.
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