Licensing, quality and price

How do you choose a character T-shirt as a gift?

Character specificity is the part adults most often underestimate. In properties built around a team — PAW Patrol, the Turtles, the ponies — children attach to one member and treat the others as wrong. Asking which one, rather than which show, is the difference between a shirt that gets worn out and one that stays folded.

On sizing, err upward. A shirt slightly too big is wearable now and for longer; slightly too small is neither. But there is a limit: buying two sizes up to extend the life backfires, because licensed graphics are positioned for the size they are printed on and an oversized tee puts the design in the wrong place on the body.

For a gift that has to last, a mid-weight cotton with a screen-printed graphic is the durable combination. Tri-blends feel better but mute the print; vinyl transfers look sharp initially and crack soonest.

If the recipient is outside the United States, remember that sizing conventions differ. Sending a US youth medium to a British nine-year-old is not the same as sending age 9.

• Ask which character, not which show.
• Size up if guessing — but only one size.
• Mid-weight cotton plus screen print lasts longest.
• Check the licence notice if it is meant to be a keepsake.
• Convert sizes if sending internationally.