Christmas Shirts: 19 Designs Sorted by Who You Are Buying For

Christmas shirts get worn three times, so the usual rules do not apply — here is what actually makes a good one, 19 designs grouped by recipient, and why ordering after November is too late.

Christmas shirts have a problem no other shirt has: they get worn perhaps three times, then sit in a drawer for eleven months. That changes what makes a good one. Fit matters less than usual. What matters is whether it reads across a crowded room, whether it photographs well, and whether the joke still works next December.

These are 19 designs at $24 each, sorted by who you are buying for rather than by theme. Order by the end of November — everything here is printed after you order, so production time comes before shipping time.

Buy early, and here is the actual reason

Print-on-demand shirts take two to three weeks door to door in a normal month. December is not a normal month: print queues fill and couriers slow at exactly the same time. A shirt ordered on the 10th may well arrive after the 25th, and there is no expedited option that fixes a full print queue.

If you are reading this in November, you are fine. If it is December, buy something else and give this next year.

For the one who does the whole Christmas

Somebody in every family runs Christmas — the food, the timings, the presents nobody else remembered. These two are for them, and both are jokes told from the inside.

For the family joker

These get worn once at a gathering, photographed, and remembered for years. That is the whole job — so pick the one that reads fastest across a room.

For pet owners

Pet Christmas shirts sell out earliest and get worn the longest, because the joke does not expire on Boxing Day. Check the breed and the colouring before buying.

For the hobby they will not shut up about

The strongest Christmas gift is usually not a Christmas gift — it is their hobby with tinsel on it. Two here, and a much larger set elsewhere on the site.

For someone who wants it plain

Not everyone wants a punchline on their chest. These say Merry Christmas and stop there, which makes them the safe choice when you do not know the person well.

The rest of the range

6 more designs that did not fit a category above, all at the same price:

Fa La 8 Christmas · Feelin' That Christmas Spirit · Happy Little Gnome · Jingle All The Way · OMG! I Look Fabulous! · Red Nose Reindeer

A better idea than a Christmas shirt

A Christmas design is worn three times. A shirt about the thing they are actually obsessed with gets worn all year, and usually lands better as a gift because it says you were paying attention.

We keep a page for each of those subjects — every nursing specialty, dog breeds down to the crosses, trades split by the job title people actually use. Start at the full subject list if you know their obsession, or the dog breed page if they have a dog they will not stop talking about.

Sizing and ordering

• Unisex tees run true to size. Size up one for a relaxed fit over a jumper, which is how most of these get worn.
• Dark colours photograph better under indoor Christmas lighting, which is where these shirts spend their working life.
• Order by the end of November. Printed to order, so the queue matters more than the courier.
• Checkout happens on the print partner's site — sizes, colours, payment and delivery are handled there.