Many men go through a graphic tee stage at some point in their adolescence, but wearing graphic tees as an adult is a little bit different. You can have fun with art on your tee while looking stylish and very cool. Here’s what you need to know about how to style a graphic tee.
1. Make Sure it Fits
Nothing screams “kid” like an oversized graphic tee. For a graphic tee to look great, it needs to contour to your body. That doesn’t mean it has to be tight or cling all the way down.
A graphic tee that fits you right is tighter in the chest, shoulders, and arms while leaving a little bit of room in the abdomen. You should be able to pinch about an inch or two of fabric on either side of your stomach without pulling the shirt out from your skin. The shirt should end around the hip, no further than the middle of your back pocket. A shirt that covers your butt is too long.
2. Choose a Great Design
Just because you like the way a graphic looks doesn’t mean that it will look good on you. You want to choose a graphic that conveys a message you believe in or has art that you love, but it must be done in a way that will be flattering. Take a look at SharpSuits for designs. Here are a few things to look for.
- Shirt background. You don’t want the T-shirt to interfere with the graphic. The base should be black, white or another solid, muted color.
- Color agreement. The best graphic tees have graphics using only one color or utilizing three to four complementary colors. There is usually a fair amount of white, black, and gray in a design that looks good on.
- Strong Lines. Graphics look best on T-shirts when they have strong, clear lines that make the picture clear. The last thing you want is for the shirt to have the appearance of a random mass of colors. The overall design should be evident at a glance.
3. Dress It Up
A graphic tee alone may not be enough for many adult occasions. To dress up your graphic tee, pair it with a jean jacket, a button-up, a pullover, or a sports jacket. Layering your graphic tee allows the graphic to peek out from under the layers, which is a very cool effect.
Be sure that you use the colors in the graphic to help organize your other layers. You can even wear a graphic tee with a suit and sneakers for a fun play on formal wear. Layering graphic tees with suits can be a very artistic way to make your style your own.
4. Shoes Matter
The shoes that you wear with your graphic tee help to complete a look. You don’t want to wear a graphic tee with dress shoes, especially if you are otherwise wearing dress clothes like dress pants or a suit jacket.
If you want to pull off casual dress shoes, it’s best to pair them with jeans instead of dress pants to maintain the casual effect. In general, the best pick in footwear is a minimalist black or white sneaker, or a sneaker that is solid and pulls from one of the colors in the shirt.
5. Accessorize
Belts, watch bands, and hats that draw from the colors in your graphic tee create an overall color palette and tie together your outfit. Furthermore, by pulling the colors of your graphic tee out into the rest of your style, you extend the artwork out so that it seems that you are part of it.
Choose an Awesome Graphic Tee
If you follow these simple tips and make sure that you only choose quality, stylish graphic tees, you can feel confident that you’ll look great while also expressing yourself and bringing some art into your style.
