Answers

Can you wear a T-shirt instead of a Halloween costume?

The situation this solves is specific and very common. There is an occasion where turning up in nothing at all reads as unfriendly, and turning up in a full costume reads as trying too hard — a workplace, a school run, a pub, a party where you do not know how committed everyone else will be. A shirt settles it in one garment and can be worn under a coat on the way there.

The design requirement is narrower than it first appears. A costume announces itself; a shirt has to do the same work at a glance, from a distance, to people who have not asked and are not studying you. That rules out detailed illustration and favours marks that survive being reduced to a silhouette — a mask, a chest emblem, a single instantly readable shape. A photographic portrait of a character on a dark shirt frequently reads as nothing at all across a room.

The practical advantage over a costume is that you keep wearing it. A Halloween costume is worn once and stored; a character shirt bought for the same occasion goes into normal rotation the following week, which changes what it is reasonable to spend.

• Choose a design that works in silhouette — masks and emblems beat portraits.
• Check the print size in the listing photograph. A small centred graphic disappears at distance.
• High contrast matters more than colour accuracy; white or bright on black is the most legible combination in low light.
• If it is for a workplace, the safest choices are characters that read as seasonal rather than as horror.