Sometimes growing up and acting sensibly seems like a scary prospect. Sometimes you just need something in your wardrobe that reminds you that you still have a cool, young, fun side to counteract the mounting responsibilities in your life. For me that security blanket is novelty t-shirts. You can never have enough wacky, branded t-shirts I say. Here are a few of my favourite places to buy them.
Hairy Baby
I’ve bought some of my favourite novelty t-shirts from Irish company Hairy Baby (www.hairybaby.com). What I love most about their t-shirts is that most of them are just so Irish, daft phrases and saying that only Irish people are likely to get, either because they’re as Gaeilge or they just capture the Irish sense of humour.
I’ve bought practically every t-shirt on this site over the last few years but my favourites are my Culchie hoodie, my ‘Don’t Mess with Jess’ Murder She Wrote t-shirt, my Father Ted t-shirt, my ‘Who’s Taking the Horse to France’ t-shirt… OK, I’ll stop now. Obsessed much?
Topshop
Topshop is great for novelty t-shirts and hoodies. There’s always some fun ones in the stores or on their website (www.topshop.com). My favourite recent purchases from this range are a Wonderwoman hoodie (too great for words) and a Smurfs Smile t-shirt.
Vero Moda
This chain is great for picking up very reasonably priced novelty t-shirts, particularly if you’re a bit of a fashionista but don't want dressing to the nines every single day. A couple of weeks ago I managed to get my hands on two great fashion-themed t-shirts, one saying ‘I love fashion and fashion love me’ and another saying ‘I am a fashion victim, arrest me’. Love it! I’ve also picked up some great Pink Panter and Winnie the Pooh t-shirts here recently.
Truffle Shuffle
Ever seen a cool gimmicky t-shirt on a celebrity and wondered where they got it? Well chances are you’ll find it on the Truffle Shuffle website if you did (www.truffleshuffle.co.uk). This website has a great range of novelty t-shirts, everything from the Mr Men range to classic movie lines. There’s something for pretty much every taste here.
Also check out the novelty t-shirts at a|wear, Penneys, Dunnes and New Look.
