Daddy Loves a Graphic Print

A $27 tee, a cheap oxford, and the most expensive shoes you own. Daddy on the high-low rule, and the fourteen pieces that prove it

A graphic tee is the only piece of clothing a man owns that's allowed to speak. Everything else in the closet should have the good sense to stay quiet. The trick, and there is a trick, is picking a shirt that says one interesting thing and then building an outfit that doesn't argue with it.

Daddy has been doing this for years, and the formula hasn't changed.

How to wear a graphic tee: the formula

The tee goes under something open. A white oxford, or a striped one, unbuttoned, sleeves rolled twice to the forearm — and it should be a Uniqlo oxford or a Brooks Brothers one, nothing more precious than that. When the morning is cold, a plain long sleeve goes underneath instead, the kind American Apparel used to make by the thousand, and the oxford stays home. Jeans, dark, a good fit, no distressing — the shirt is doing the distressing. Then sneakers you'd be upset to scuff, or loafers, and a pair of sunglasses, because a man in a Picasso tee with nothing on his face looks like he got dressed by accident.

That's the whole outfit. Five pieces. You could do it in the dark.

The high-low rule

Here is the part people get wrong. They think the way to look expensive is to be expensive, head to toe, every label matching. That is not style. That is a receipt.

MAN WEARING GRAPHIC TEE BANANA WASHED DENIM AND GUCCI ACCESSORIES — Andy Warhol's Banana, 1967 Pop Art T-Shirt $27

Daddy always pairs the cheap with the expensive.

A twenty-seven-dollar tee with a dove on it, a Uniqlo oxford over it, and over that a one-of-a-kind Comme des Garçons piece he'd have to think about before lending you. A shirt with a wet dog on it, a basic long sleeve underneath, and on his feet a pair of Gucci loafers he's had resoled twice.

The cheap things make the expensive thing look relaxed. The expensive thing makes the cheap things look intentional. Neither half works as well alone.

It's the look, and it's what you feel comfortable in. You do not need designer from head to toe to look this good. You need one thing you love that cost real money, one thing you love that didn't, and the confidence to put them in the same outfit without apologizing for either.

The edit, piece by piece

Fourteen pieces. Art first, because that's where Daddy started. Every one of them is $27 unless it says otherwise.

Pablo Picasso, Dove of Peace, 1949

Start here if you've never worn a graphic tee as a grown man. One line drawing, one bird, drawn for the World Peace Congress in Paris. Soft enough to go with anything, famous enough that nobody needs it explained. This is the shirt Daddy wears under a white oxford with the Gucci loafers when he wants to look like he made no effort and made every effort.

Pablo Picasso, War and Peace, 1952

A woman's face — Head of a Woman — from the peace side of the chapel murals Picasso painted at Vallauris. The model was Françoise Gilot. More going on than the dove, more of a conversation. Wear it with the oxford buttoned one lower and the sleeves pushed past the elbow. This one wants a striped shirt over it, not a white one. Pablo Picasso, Bouquet of Peace, 1958

Hands holding flowers, drawn in about four seconds by a man who could. This is the summer tee: no oxford, no long sleeve, just the shirt, light jeans or white trousers, the sneakers, and the shades. It's the softest thing in the edit and it reads as a compliment to whoever you're standing next to.

Pablo Picasso, Lump the Dachshund

Picasso's dachshund, who lived at the villa, ate off his plate, and turned up in the paintings. Daddy has a rule that a man should own one shirt with a dog on it, and this is the one with the best pedigree. Wear it on a Sunday under a navy long sleeve with the sleeves pushed up so the dog shows. People will ask. Let them.

Andy Warhol, Banana, 1967

The Velvet Underground cover. Louder than the Picassos, and it knows it. This is the tee for a night out — black jeans, the Tribeca sneakers, an open black oxford if you own one, the horn-rims pushed up in your hair until it's dark enough to need them. Do not wear it with anything else yellow.

Gustav Klimt, The Virgin (Maiden), 1913 Sketch

A pencil study for Klimt's 1913 painting The Virgin — women tangled together, each a different age. Quiet, elegant, a little strange — the kind of shirt people lean in to look at. This is the one to wear when you're meeting someone's parents, or a gallery opening, or anywhere you want to be the most interesting man in the room without raising your voice. White oxford. Loafers. Done.

Banksy, Anarchist Punk and His Mother

A punk getting his hair fixed by his mum. Funny, sweet, a little pointed. Daddy wears this one with the striped oxford and the Brooklyn Bliss sneakers, because the joke is that you're the punk and you're also the one who did the laundry.

Banksy, Wet Dog Splatter, 2007

A dog shaking itself dry, and the whole wall paying for it. This is the second dog shirt, and the one for days you're feeling less polite. Basic long sleeve underneath, the loafers on your feet, no shirt over it. Let the shake do the talking.

The Barking Dog Icon, 1990

From the 1990 Icons Series, pop-graffiti, a dog mid-bark. If you know, you know; if you don't, it's still a great dog. Daddy pairs this with the DUGALD shades and the Tribeca sneakers and calls it a New York outfit even in Portland.

Save Ferris

From Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Daddy also believes life moves pretty fast. This is the least "art" shirt in the edit and the one that gets the most smiles from strangers, which is its own kind of art. Wear it with the oxford fully open and the sneakers, and take the day off.

The Endless Summer, 1966 — Long Sleeve, $36

The surf-film poster, three silhouettes against that sunset, on a long sleeve. This is the cold-morning layer, and it's also the only piece here that works entirely on its own — no oxford, no tee underneath, just the shirt and the jeans. Push the sleeves up. Every long sleeve in Daddy's closet has the sleeves pushed up.

BYMANYC Brooklyn Bliss — Eco-Friendly Sneakers, $276

A low-profile retro runner from the New York brand, built on eco-friendly materials — teal body, black toe and heel, yellow eyestay, magenta laces. The sneaker that makes a $27 tee look like a decision. This is the expensive half of the equation. You wear it with the cheap tee on purpose. If you own one good pair of sneakers and everything else in this post, you're finished.

BYMANYC Tribeca Statement — Vegan Sneakers, $401

The louder pair. Same New York brand, handcrafted in Italy, 100% vegan, and a lot more shoe: chunky red sole, blue sock upper, pink, yellow, lime and lilac. Daddy wears these with the Warhol banana at night and the Barking Dog by day. The rule is the same as with the CDG: the more the shoe costs, the cheaper the shirt should be.

DUGALD — Classic Horn-Rimmed Rectangle Sunglasses, $26

Finishes the face. Horn-rim, rectangle, the shape that has always looked correct on men. They're twenty-six dollars, which means you can leave them at a bar and buy another pair without a conversation. Wear them with every single shirt above.

Three ways to buy it

One thing: the Dove of Peace tee. It's the gateway. Two things: the dove and the DUGALD shades. Complete face, complete shirt. Three things: add a pair of the BYMANYC sneakers, and go stand somewhere people can see your feet.

The oxford, the long sleeve, and the jeans you already own. Daddy is not going to sell you those.

Questions Daddy gets asked

Can a grown man wear a graphic tee? Yes, if the graphic is worth looking at and the rest of the outfit is quiet. A Picasso under an oxford is grown. A cartoon under a hoodie is a different conversation.

Never fully. Untucked under an open shirt, or a small front tuck if you're wearing it alone with the sneakers. A fully tucked graphic tee looks like a uniform.

Should the tee be tucked?