DC Originals T-Shirts for the Female Fan

Trying to find superhero themed t-shirts as a female fan can be a frustrating experience, a problem which The Escapist’s Susan Arendt wrote about in One Size Does Not Fit All.

So I was delighted to discover a line of licensed t-shirts at Central Canada Comic-Con called “DC Originals”. This line is carried by various online t-shirt stores, but Pop Funk is the best I’ve found for selection, sizes and ease of navigation. They carry a dizzying array of DC Originals in men’s, women’s, women’s juniors, and youth sizes. Something for everyone!

DC Originals do not discriminate between gender in their shirt sizing. 99% of shirts come in both men’s and women’s sizes. The handful of shirts missing in women’s sizes are from the overrepresented male characters like Superman and Batman. [The awesome SuperLois carrying Superman that's only available in men/youth is by another company.] I can’t begin to express how astonishing and radical that is in pop culture t-shirts. Finally a t-shirt company that recognizes that women exist! They do have a number of annoyingly gendered/sexist shirt logos like Forget My Boyfriend, I’ll Take a Superhero!, I Like Guys with Cars and Money (Batman), and all those pinkified and dumb “Girl Power” shirts, but the fact that they all come in men’s sizes (at least on Pop Funk) amuses me a great deal.

While at first glance the women’s section on Pop Funk only appears to include the smaller, form-fitting junior sizes, if you look at the slider beneath each t-shirt you will discover that nearly every shirt also comes in a looser fitting “women’s” size, in addition to men’s and youth. Pop Funk ships only within the U.S. Other stores which carry a selection of DC Originals and ship outside the U.S. include the worldwide-shipping AllPosters.com (whose superhero shirts are located in multiple categories), Superhero Stuff, and Dress Code Clothing. Not every store carries the non-juniors women’s sizes. If you have a local comics store that carries DC Comics apparel, ask them if they can bring in DC Originals.

Because DC Originals’ shirts use designs from the classic 1982 DC Style Guide, you will find designs for many female characters. I could go broke trying to buy all my favourites :) Be sure to check out the Misc. Characters category for characters like the New Teen Titans, Lois Lane (!!!), Zatanna and Hawkwoman, in addition to the dedicated Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Supergirl sections and the female team shirts in Justice League.

The only disappointment is in the Supergirl t-shirts, which are relentlessly pink and blue pastels and don’t feature any character designs in Supergirl’s proper colours. It’s weird. If you don’t like pink t-shirts, I recommend a group t-shirt like the one below starring Supergirl with a group of female superheros (also available at AllPosters.com). (This shirt, which I bought, is actually a lighter charcoal colour than the image suggests.)

So if you’re looking for some great DC Comics t-shirts, check out DC Originals for some unique and attractive options. For Marvel shirts, I can recommend Mighty Fine which has a small selection of female sizes. I love their awesome art nouveau Marvel t-shirts designed by Megan Lara.

I found DC Originals tees at Central Canada Comic-Con, at a booth staffed by the Winnipeg-run Argy’s Collectibles (in case you’re a local). DC Originals has been in circulation for at least a year according to an update on Superherostuff.com from December 2010.