Funny Gifts for Coworkers: Graphic Tees That Land Without Awkwardness

Funny gifts for coworkers can go wrong fast, and graphic tees carry more risk than a tin of cookies. You have to guess a size, a taste, and how the joke will read when the paper comes off. Get those three right and a shirt is the rare office gift someone keeps wearing long after the holiday party.

Here’s the short version. Give a funny tee only to a coworker you know well enough to name their size and their running joke. Make the joke about their circumstances or their hobby, never about them as a person. Everyone else gets a baked good. The rest of this piece covers choosing the design, matching the garment blank to the person, sizing without asking, and handing it over without making the break room weird.

Is a Funny Graphic Tee an Appropriate Coworker Gift?

Etiquette guidance doesn’t ban shirts, and it doesn’t endorse them either. The Emily Post Institute’s office-gifting advice says gifts to your closest work colleagues are fine as long as you give them discreetly, preferably outside the office [1]. The same advice says to keep the gift simple and moderately priced, and not to be surprised if nothing comes back your way [1].

Its list of safe go-to items leans toward desk games, fine pens, office decor, shareable sweets and gift cards to places near work [1]. It also warns against gifts of a personal nature, naming perfume, cologne and pajamas [1]. A T-shirt sits between those two lists. It’s less intimate than pajamas, but it still requires a body measurement and a call on personal taste. That’s why it belongs with close colleagues and not with the whole floor.

The three-question test

Before you buy, run the idea through three questions. One “no” means you should pick something else.

• Do you know them beyond their job title? You should be able to name a hobby, a commute gripe or a family detail without asking around.
• Can you get their size honestly? Either you already know it, or you can compare a chart against a shirt they wear. More on that below.
• Would the joke survive being read aloud by your manager? If the shirt needs context, a wink or an apology, it isn’t a work gift.

Office culture breaks any tie. Some workplaces restrict gifts or cap their value. If you don’t know your company’s gift rules, ask a longtime colleague first. It beats explaining a shirt to HR.

One more point in the shirt’s favor: it doesn’t have to be wearable at work. A graphic tee that only comes out on weekends still counts. In some ways it’s better, because the gift belongs to the person and not to the cubicle.

Which Jokes Work at Work: Circumstance Beats Personality

Coworker humor follows one dependable rule. A joke about a shared circumstance puts both of you on the same side, laughing at the bridge, the traffic or the weather. A joke about someone’s personality or habits puts you in the role of the person judging them. Shirts that say “World’s Laziest” or anything about caffeine dependence or body size fall into the second group, even when they’re meant kindly.

Circumstance jokes also last longer. The recipient can wear one in front of anyone, because the punchline is the world and not the wearer. It turns into a story they tell instead of a label they put up with.

The commute joke, done properly

Picture a coworker who walks in at 9:07 most mornings and announces that the drawbridge was up again. Everyone has heard it. Some days it’s even true. That person is exactly who “A Very Large Excuse” was drawn for.

The artwork shows a black-hulled ship easing through a raised drawbridge while the barrier arm stays down. Heavy blackletter type reads That’s a very large excuse for being late. The joke lives in the typography as much as in the scene: Excuse is set huge, and for being late shrinks beside it, so the lettering itself measures how big the excuse is. The palette is cream on deep teal, with orange used only where something is lit, such as a street lamp, a row of ship windows and the glow on the water.

It’s printed on a Gildan 5000 crewneck in Navy, Black, Forest Green or Maroon, sized S through 5XL. That size range matters for a gift, since it covers more people than the other blanks in this group.

When this shirt is the wrong call

• Lateness is a real performance issue. If a manager has spoken to them about it, the shirt reads as a reprimand in costume.
• You started the joke. It works when they own the bridge excuse. If it’s your running jab at them, it’s a personality joke.
• You manage them. A supervisor handing a direct report a shirt about being late is feedback, whatever the intent.

If none of those apply, this is the cleanest office joke in the group. It’s specific, it’s affectionate, and it’s about a ship.

Hobby Shirts: Gifts for the Coworker With a Life Outside Work

The second safe route skips office humor entirely. Choose a shirt about what they love outside work. The humor here is quieter, more observation than punchline, and that makes it easier to give. You’re telling them you noticed what they care about, which is a better message than any one-liner.

The catch is that hobby shirts only work when the connection is real. A coastal shirt for someone who grew up landlocked and has never mentioned the beach is just decor. Base the choice on what they actually talk about on Monday mornings.

The coworker who disappears to the coast every weekend

Suppose a colleague fishes off a breakwater, crews on a friend’s sailboat, or simply mentions the shore every chance they get. “Salt Gets Into Everything” is an observation that anyone who spends time near the sea has already made about their own clothes.

The illustration shows a worn denim shirt pinned by two wooden clothespins to a dark rope clothesline. Salt has crusted its chest pocket, and faded seams trace its construction. Behind it is a working harbor with a tall lighthouse, a boulder breakwater, fishing boats with masts and three birds in flight. Fine cross-hatching builds the scene like pen-and-ink. The detail that makes the joke work is small: the crusted pocket is the evidence, and the line along the bottom is the verdict.

The long-sleeve version suits a gift given as the weather cools. It’s printed on a Gildan 2400 in Light Blue, Navy, Sand, Cardinal Red or Military Green, sizes S through 2XL. The lettering is white-filled and edged in dark navy, which gives the bottom of the design some weight. If your recipient is above 2XL, the short-sleeve crewneck of the same design runs to 5XL.

The coworker whose family farms cotton

“Your Next Favorite Shirt” is a farm joke with a meta twist. A cotton picker rolls through white rows toward a barn, oversized open bolls crowd the edges, and chiseled lettering announces that your next favorite shirt is out here. The punchline is that the shirt is still growing in the field. The catalog aims it at dads who farm cotton, and it works just as well for a coworker from a farming family, or anyone in agriculture who will enjoy a joke about their own crop.

It comes in three formats: a crewneck tee, a long sleeve and an oversized heavyweight tee. The next section explains how they differ. You can browse more cool-weather options among the long sleeve shirts if the sleeve question matters more than the design.

A practical note: a cotton joke printed on a cotton shirt is part of the charm. The solid colors on these blanks are 100% cotton, so the shirt is made of exactly what it’s joking about.

Graphic Tee Blanks Compared: What the Shirt Under the Joke Changes

Every design here is printed on a stock garment called a blank. The blank sets the weight, the drape, the size range and how the shirt holds up over time. Three blanks appear across these designs, and they are genuinely different garments.

The crewneck tees, including “A Very Large Excuse,” use the Gildan 5000. It’s listed at 5.3 oz with a classic-fit tubular body and a 7/8-inch rib collar [5]. The same listing describes classic midweight fabric with taped neck and shoulders and double-needle sleeve and bottom hems [5]. Solid colors are 100% preshrunk US cotton, while Sport Grey is a 90/10 cotton-poly blend [5]. Gildan is moving to a collar without top-stitching and a narrower tear-away label, so neck details can vary slightly between production runs [5].

A note on the word “heavyweight.” The product names call these crewnecks heavyweight, but at 5.3 oz the blank is more accurately a sturdy midweight. That isn’t a flaw. It’s the weight most people imagine when they think “regular cotton tee,” and it layers under a work sweater more easily than something thicker.

The long sleeves use the Gildan 2400, which the catalog lists at 6.0 oz/yd² (203 g/m²), with solid colors in 100% cotton and fiber content that can vary by color. The oversized “Your Next Favorite Shirt” tee uses the Shaka Wear SHMHSS, listed at 7.5 oz/yd² in 100% USA cotton spun at 16 singles [8]. That listing describes an oversized, relaxed fit with a slight drop shoulder and a forward-set shoulder seam [8]. The shirt is also quarter-turned during manufacturing, which removes the center crease from the front [8].

What the jargon means for the person wearing it

• Ounce weight is the fabric’s mass per square yard. More weight usually means more opacity, more structure and more warmth.
• Singles is the yarn count, and a lower number means thicker yarn. By tee standards, 16 singles is a chunky yarn, which is part of why a shirt like the SHMHSS feels dense and stands away from the body.
• Tubular body means the torso is knit as one tube, so there are no side seams.
• Taped neck and shoulders means a strip of fabric covers those seams. It reinforces them and smooths the inside.
• Drop shoulder moves the shoulder seam down onto the upper arm, which creates the boxy, relaxed outline.

The tradeoff is simple. The 5000 is the familiar shape, and the safe bet for a coworker whose personal style you don’t know well. The SHMHSS suits someone who already wears thick, boxy tees. On someone who prefers a trimmer fit, the same cut can look sloppy rather than relaxed.

Sizing a Gift Tee When You Can't Ask Their Size

Sizing is where most clothing gifts fail. Unlike a candle, a shirt that doesn’t fit gets nothing more than a polite thank-you. The fix is to stop thinking in letter sizes and compare measurements, because one brand’s L can differ noticeably from another’s.

Each listing here includes a manufacturer chart measured with the garment laid flat. Chest is measured pit to pit, length runs from the highest point of the shoulder, and the catalog allows a tolerance of about one inch. If you can get a shirt they already like and measure it the same way, you’ll know far more than any guess at S, M or L can tell you. The unisex graphic tee sizing guide walks through the measuring method in detail.

Getting a measurement without spoiling the surprise

• Ask the person who does their laundry. A partner or roommate can measure a favorite shirt in two minutes.
• Use team-shirt history. If your office has ever ordered event or team shirts, whoever organized it may remember who wore what.
• When torn, go up one size. Preshrunk cotton can still shrink a little, and a slightly loose tee gets worn. A snug one goes in a drawer.

The oversized surprise: same chest, different shape

This catches people out. On the catalog charts, the oversized “Your Next Favorite Shirt” tee and the Gildan 5000 crewnecks list identical chest and length figures size for size: an S is 18 inches across the chest and 28 inches long on both, and an XL is 24 and 31. The oversized feel comes from the drop shoulder and the dense 7.5 oz fabric, not from extra chest width on the chart.

So don’t size down expecting the “oversized” label to make up the difference. Order the size whose chest measurement matches a tee they already wear. Then let the cut supply the boxiness. Think of a coworker who wears thick, loose tees on weekends and sizes up on their own. Give them their usual size in this shirt and it will hang the way they like.

Let the size range narrow the choice

The blanks don’t all cover the same sizes. The long sleeves stop at 2XL, the oversized tee at 3XL, and the Gildan 5000 crewnecks go up to 5XL. If your recipient is a bigger guy, the crewneck format is the one with room to spare, and both the coastal and cotton designs come in it. Choose the design first, then confirm that the format actually covers their size.

Color and Print Style: Making the Joke Read Across the Room

A graphic tee has to work at two distances. Up close, the detail is what rewards a second look. From across the parking lot, the words have to be readable at a glance. Color is where those two needs meet, and these designs handle it in different ways.

“A Very Large Excuse” is built from cream, teal and a little lamp-lit orange, and it’s offered only on dark shirts: Navy, Black, Forest Green and Maroon. That restriction is a good sign. A cream-heavy design needs a dark ground to stand out. Pick the shade closest to what they already wear. Navy and Black go with almost anything.

The “Salt Gets Into Everything” crewneck uses a monochrome grey-blue illustration on a mid-grey background, in Light Blue, Natural, Dark Heather, Maroon and Military Green. Dark Heather is a heather, and Gooten notes that heather colors on this blank use a cotton blend rather than pure cotton [5]. The “Your Next Favorite Shirt” crewneck pairs cream bolls with charcoal engraving lines, in Gold, Natural, Forest Green, Light Blue and Cardinal Red. Its oversized version sticks to earthier shades: Mocha, Cream, Khaki and Black.

Why engraving-style art feels older than it is

Both the cotton and coastal designs use fine hatched lines that imitate old engravings and pen-and-ink plates. That style suggests age through the drawing itself, so the shirt looks vintage on day one without any distressing. It’s one of several routes covered in what makes a graphic tee look vintage, and it’s the route that doesn’t depend on the fabric wearing out first.

How the recipient will actually wear it

• Casual Friday: the Gildan 5000 crewneck under an open flannel or cardigan they already own keeps the joke visible without making it the whole outfit.
• Weekends: the oversized tee does best with relaxed trousers or shorts from their own closet. Its boxy cut clashes with anything slim.
• Cold mornings: the long sleeve works on its own or under a jacket they already have, and the print stays visible when the jacket is open.

Timing, Bosses and Secret Santa: Giving a Shirt Without the Awkward Part

How you hand over a funny tee matters almost as much as which one you pick. A shirt opened at a desk in front of six people becomes a performance. Opened over lunch, it becomes a private joke, which is the whole point. That lines up with the etiquette advice to give close colleagues their gifts away from the office [1].

Gifts for a boss: change the format

Shirts and supervisors don’t mix well. Emily Post’s guidance is that the best way to give to a boss is as a department or group, with anonymous contributions where both the amount and participation are voluntary [1]. A solo shirt from one employee runs against that advice. If the team wants to give a joke tee together, that’s a different and more defensible gift.

If you were planning to tie it to Boss’s Day, that date has passed for this year. The observance falls on October 16, or the nearest working day [3]. It has also been criticized as a Hallmark holiday that pressures employees because of workplace power dynamics [3]. The card industry has been involved for a long time: Hallmark first produced Boss Day cards in 1979 [4]. The holiday season is a better occasion, and peer gifts suit it better.

Secret Santa: only if you drew someone you know

For a Secret Santa draw with a coworker you don’t really know, Emily Post suggests baked goods, gift certificates or a donation to their favorite charity [1]. A shirt fails two of the three tests from earlier: you don’t know their joke, and you don’t know their size. If you happened to draw your bridge-blaming deskmate, though, go ahead.

Practical logistics

• Order early. Check the production and delivery estimate at checkout before you count on a party date. Holiday weeks are not the time to find out a package is still in transit.
• Respect the spending norm. The guidance is simple and moderately priced [1]. If your office swap has a cap, see gifts under $40 for how to choose when the budget is fixed.
• Write a one-line card. “For the next time the bridge is up” turns a shirt into a moment. Leave out any line that explains the joke.

Care Notes So the Gift Outlasts the Joke

A gift tee that cracks or shrinks after three washes ends the joke early. The basics for the crewneck blank are on the record: Gooten lists the Gildan 5000 as machine washable with a low tumble dry [5]. That same listing describes the solid colors as preshrunk cotton [5]. Preshrinking reduces how much cotton tightens up later, but it doesn’t eliminate it. That’s why the sizing advice above leans toward going up rather than down.

The heavier oversized blank is described by its seller as holding its shape after multiple washes [8]. Treat that as the seller’s description rather than an independent test. A denser knit generally keeps its structure better than a light one, but repeated hot drying is hard on any cotton.

A care routine worth passing along

Follow the care label sewn into the shirt first. Beyond that, these low-risk habits are standard for printed cotton:

1. Turn it inside out before washing, so the print rubs against the inside of the shirt instead of against jeans and zippers.
2. Use cool water and a gentle cycle. This is easier on both the fiber and the ink.
3. Skip the fabric softener on the printed area, and never iron directly on the print.
4. Hang it to dry or tumble on low, and take it out promptly instead of letting it bake.

A useful gifting touch is to write those four steps on the back of the card. It reads as thoughtful, not fussy, and it keeps the drawbridge readable for years.

Your next decision

Choose in this order: the joke, then the format, then the size. If the joke is their commute, the drawbridge crewneck is the answer. If it’s their weekends, choose between the coastal and cotton designs based on what they actually do. Then let the size range and their usual fit decide between crewneck, long sleeve and oversized. If you can’t fill in all three steps, the cookies are still a fine gift.