Top 23 Iconic Christmas Shirt Ideas You Can’t Go Wrong With

Christmas season is always the time to add holiday spirit to your wardrobe, and the best way is with a standout Christmas shirt. For those looking for designs that are truly eyecatching, did you know you can choose iconic and timeless designs of Christmas but still being fresh and interesting? 

In this blog post, we’ve put together a list of such 23 Christmas shirt ideas that can’t go wrong for this holiday occasion. And don’t think timeless means boring – because these ideas are diverse. We at CustomAny have included design suggestions for retro styles, funny graphics, group and  couple shirts, as well as some classic ugly Christmas shirt options. And the best part? All of these designs can be quickly created at home using custom iron on DTF transfers, making it simple, fast, and fun to craft your own custom Christmas shirt.

So let’s explore and make yours tonight!

Vintage/Retro Christmas Shirt Ideas

Retro designs bring a classic look yet recognizable style to your Christmas shirts. These 4 ideas for Christmas shirt are playful enough to catch eyes yet easy to wear for any casual celebration:

1. Retro Santa Face Tee

Printed with muted reds and soft whites, this classic 70s poster-style Santa face design will dominate your shirt’s chest area. The artwork fading along the edges and the subtle texture bring out a retro look, making yours stand out among other Christmas shirt ideas.

2. Old-School Christmas Tree Print

The shirt features a classic Christmas tree artwork inspired by 80s holiday graphics. Its wash-out green base with red and yellow ornaments create a vintage yet festive layout, making it one of the timeless Christmas shirt ideas in this collection.

3. Retro Snowflake Pattern Tee

How about a shirt with pale blue or white snowflakes repeated symmetrically? What makes this design fits perfectly among classic Christmas shirts is its slightly distressed print. This worn, retro detail resulted in a simple yet nostalgic and festive look.

4. Candy Cane Artwork

Another iconic image of the Christmas season is candy cane artwork. To add a vintage look to this shirt design, you will use subtle grainy texture and gentle overlaps to the candy canes. A small change will turn your ordinary candy cane tshirt, hoodie or sweater to a playful, iconic wear among the curated Christmas shirt ideas.

These 4 vintage and retro Christmas shirt ideas give you a simple way to make a holiday outfit stand out in style.

Funny Christmas Shirt Ideas

Having funny Christmas shirts is when we take classic designs and turn them into ones with holiday humor. These 6 following designs for Christmas shirts are playful text or simple graphics or a mix of the two, allowing you to create looks that instantly catch people’s eyes.

5. “This Is My Christmas Shirt” Tee

The main feature of this Christmas shirt idea is the simple text “This Is My Christmas Shirt” across the chest. It’s the carefree attitude in this design that makes it hilarious, making your simple shirt stand out and create laughter this holiday.

6. Resting Grinch Face Shirt

In this holiday design, the humorous resting grinch face illustration is what catches eyes. Subtle green and yellow tones and the slightly exaggerated expression give it a fun, mischievous personality among other funny Christmas shirt ideas.

7. “Santa’s Favorite Employee” Shirt

Consider the idea of the cheeky text “Santa’s Favorite Employee” takes center stage of your shirt. Along with it, you can add a Santa hat printed in bright red. The lettering makes this shirt design perfect for a playful holiday vibe and also a Christmas gift for your coworker or employees.

8. “Dear Santa, I Can Explain” Tee

Another fun design for the Christmas season is a hand-lettered phrase “Dear Santa, I Can Explain” accented with a doodle of tiny festive symbols like snowflakes, gingerbread or candy cane around. This combination allows you to keep the holiday look and the humor center, ensuring the shirt delivers its message clearly.

9. Gingerbread Man Running with “Oh Snap!”

Gingerbread is an old but gold inspiration for Christmas shirt ideas. Let’s think about the design of a small gingerbread man with a piece broken off its leg, with a bold “Oh Snap!” text next to it. The chipped cookie design combines with the playful text create a funny moment that makes this shirt stand out.

10. Cat Tangled in Christmas Lights Shirt

The Xmas shirt is one the best ideas, especially for cat people. It features an illustration of a mischievous cat all wrapped up in colorful Christmas lights. You can choose a cat artwork that shows a little tangle and wide-eyed expression to make your design even more playful that’s sure to make anyone find it amusing.

With witty text and graphics, these funny Christmas shirt ideas will be great choices if you want to express your humor through interesting holiday outfits.

Christmas Shirt Ideas For Family / Groups

Matching outfits for family, friends, coworkers,… can lighten the mood for our holiday gatherings. So, let’s take a look at these simple yet festive family and group Christmas shirts.

11. Matching Christmas Tree Shirts for Family

Every member in your family can wear a Christmas shirt with the same holiday tree design. Adding a text of “Family Christmas” under those tree artworks will complete your matching shirts, creating a sense of togetherness. This one is among the ideal outfits for family photos this season.

12. Reindeer T-shirt with Name

This idea lets you personalize each shirt with a reindeer graphic and all the member names, whether it’s your family, friend groups or any other gangs. 

13. Elf Squad Shirts

How about declaring your group as the official “Elf Squad”? It would be fun that everyone wear a shirt with simple elf illustrations and a shared color palette this Christmas holiday. This is a fun way to show holiday team spirit through these Christmas shirt ideas.

Celebrating the festive season together is so easy with these 3 Christmas shirt suggestions for family and groups, making holiday moments even more memorable.

Christmas Shirt Ideas For Couples

Couple Christmas shirts always get plenty of attention each holiday season because there’s something lovely about wearing matching designs with someone you love. These Christmas shirt ideas are simple yet stylish suggestions for couples:

14. Reindeer Antler Shirts

First, let’s pair “His & Hers” or “Mr & Mrs” text with small reindeer antler designs. The classic artwork of the antlers is a timeless design. It will give you and your partner a charming duo outfit, making these Christmas shirt ideas perfect for couples’ photos.

15. Santa & Mrs. Claus Shirts

Another idea for celebrating together with matching couple shirts is by wearing Santa and Mrs. Claus designs. You should choose a shirt in the same color or two matching shades, then put the artwork on. This outfit is easy to recognize, making this idea an easy way to showcase your festive spirit as a couple through Christmas shirt ideas.

16. “All I Want for Christmas is You”

This one is a familiar romantic saying for the Christmas season, so let’s create your couple holiday outfits with this text. You can print it in festive colors like red, green or twinkling gold. Besides, try to put a simple heart graphic linking the two shirts. This design is sweet and instantly recognizable, making it a standout among Christmas shirt ideas for couples.

17. ChestNut Matching T-shirt

ChestNut is a clever and mischievous design featuring a chestnut pun on both shirts. Wearing such a playful design with “Chest” on her shirt and “Nut” on his shirt will add humor to your and your loved one’s holiday wardrobe, proving these Christmas shirt ideas can be lovely and fun.

18. “He Cracks Me Up” Christmas Gingerbread T-shirt

Why don’t you add a little more naughty to your couple Christmas shirt ideas? Let’s use gingerbread figures with a playful text of “He cracks me up” and “She is so sweet”. This one is one of the most amusing Christmas shirts for partners this season.

Making matching holiday outfits with 5 ideas for the couple Christmas shirts above will make sure your festive celebrations are playful, charming, and perfectly matched.

Ugly Christmas Shirt Ideas

If you are a fan of ugly Christmas shirts, there are some iconic, classic artworks you can use but still ensure that your outfit is a playful and over-the-top of festive fashion.

19. This is my Ugly Christmas Shirt

Similar to “This is my Christmas shirt”, this “This is my Ugly Christmas shirt” design will turn the simplicity into holiday humor. You should print this saying large and in a quirky font across the chest. Besides, it’s advisable to pair the design with bright, clashing colors or a shirt with overdo festive patterns to highlight the “ugly” theme. This simple design will stand out as one of the best Ugly Christmas shirt ideas.

20. All-Over Christmas Lights Print

Overdo is a key for ugly Christmas shirt ideas, so let’s cover yours from top to bottom in colorful Christmas lights. You can mix reds, greens, blues, and yellows in a chaotic pattern that looks playful yet festive.

21. Christmas Patterned Busy Print Shirt

This busy print shirt design should feature multiple holiday motifs—from Christmas trees, stars, snowflakes, candy canes, Santa’s Christmas hat to cute reindeer – into a dense, vibrant pattern. Its layered artwork and various color mixing give your shirt its signature busy look.

22. Faux Knitted Texture Prints

A printed shirt that mimics the classic knitted style will be the best charm for a Christmas shirt. The faux knit graphics can include reindeer, snowflakes, and other festive icons. To ensure it fits in ugly theme, let’s adjust the artwork intentionally faded or slightly distorted, like a crooked crochet pattern. This idea is one of the best ugly Christmas shirt ideas since it brings out the holiday spirit while being easy to create.

23. Overloaded Ornament Pattern Tee

An overloaded T-shirt is a fun, bold choice that’s hard to miss every Christmas. It is filled with ornaments of all shapes and sizes, arranged in a crowded, vibrant layout. The dense pattern gives your shirt design a “it’s beautifully ugly” appeal.

These ugly Christmas shirt ideas give you the chance to enjoy the playful side of holiday outfits, best fit for those with a good sense of humor.

Last words

After exploring 23 iconic Christmas shirt ideas, now we have plenty of inspiration to make holiday outfits fun, eye-catching, and memorable. With these suggestions, we believe that you can turn your holiday shirts into an interesting and eye-catching fashion piece.

We just want to remind you that you can easily bring any of these designs to life right at your home using our iron-on DTF transfers. These custom products let you be in full control of choosing what to print as your Christmas shirt designs. Once you receive your iron-on transfer, simply apply heat and pressure from your household iron to transfer it onto your Christmas t-shirt, hoodies, or other fabric items. With simple steps, you will get vibrant, durable prints that hold up through many washes. 

So, if you find this transferring method interesting, you can go straight to our product page for iron-on DTF transfers to turn your ideas into real Christmas shirts.