Dinosaur Shirts for Men: Five Cuts, Real Sizes, and Which One to Buy

Shopping for a dinosaur shirt for men usually means scrolling past a hundred near-identical tees and guessing at the fit. Ours aren't all the same shirt. Behind the prints there are five different garments: a classic cotton tee, a vintage-fit tee that runs big, an all-over print tee, a slim polo, and a Hawaiian shirt. They differ in fabric, sizing and how long they take to arrive, so pick the shirt first and the dinosaur second.

Everything below comes from the live product listings. Where a listing doesn't say something, we say so instead of guessing.

The five cuts at a glance

The tees are in our men's dinosaur shirt collection; the polos and Hawaiian shirts have their own collections, linked below.

The classic tee: the one most men should start with

This is the bulk of the range and the safest buy. It's a soft, lightweight 4.2 oz tee in combed, ring-spun cotton, pre-shrunk, side-seamed and taped shoulder to shoulder so the neck holds its shape. Solid colors are 100% cotton; heathers are blends, which drape a little more.

Sizing is generous at the top end. Most designs run XS to 4XL, and the newer ones go to 5XL. The listings print the chart, measured laid flat:

Width is armpit to armpit. Lay a tee he already likes flat, measure it, and match the numbers. That beats guessing between L and XL.

The designs on this cut fall into a few groups:

• Science and fossils. The Fossil Hunter tee is a vintage dig-site badge: a T-rex skull, a paleontologist's pick and brush, and "FOSSIL HUNTER" and "DIG CREW" lettering. Triceratops Head, Oviraptor, Baryonyx, Brontosaurus Fade and North Dakota Triceratops are for the man who knows which one is which.
• Japanese-print style. Samurai T-Rex, Geisha T-Rex, Japanese Pterodactyl, Japanese Birds, Pterodactyl Ninja and Ramen T-Rex. These read more like art than a joke, so they suit a man who'd wear the shirt to dinner.
• Funny. Dinosaurs Never Had Coffee, Rock, Paper, Scissors, and the Trade Wife For Nuggies tee, which has a women's counterpart, Trade Husband For Nuggies, if you're buying a pair. The rest of the nugget range is in our dino nuggets shirt guide.
• T-rex, plain and simple. Half Moon T-Rex, Dinosaurs Ruled, Dinosaur Volcano and the T-Rex tees. Our T-rex shirt guide goes deeper on these.

The vintage-fit tee: softer, and it runs big

The second tee is a different blank, easy to spot because its colors are listed as "Solid Black", "Solid Heavy Metal" and so on. It's 100% combed ring-spun cotton at 4.3 oz, with a ribbed collar and a tear-away label instead of a scratchy sewn-in tag. The listing says plainly that it runs bigger than usual, so if he's between sizes, go down one.

These are the designs with the most attitude: Retro Rex, Hip Rex, Chillin Rex, Possessed Rex, The Last Dinosaur, Pteroble Puns, and two gym jokes, T-Reps and Rex's First Pullup. Most stop at 2XL or 3XL, so check the size list before choosing a design for a bigger build. For more in this style, see our retro dinosaur shirt guide.

All-over print tees: the pattern goes everywhere

These are printed seam to seam, so the dinosaurs wrap around the whole shirt. The Dino Dad all-over tee is the one whose listing spells out the fabric: a cotton-touch polyester jersey (93% polyester, 7% spandex in the US) that the listing says won't fade after washing. It's sized by chest, from XS at 31⅛″ to 2XL at 51⅝″, so measure him rather than his shirt. Blue and White Raptors, the 4th of July designs and the Dinosaur Nuggies men's tee are in this group too, all XS–2XL.

Pick this cut when he wants the shirt to be the whole outfit. Skip it if he needs 3XL or up.

For dads: the Dadasaurus shirts

If the shirt is for a father, start in the Dadasaurus collection, which pulls the dad designs together across cuts. The Piggyback Dino Dad tee shows a grinning T-rex carrying his little one on his shoulders above retro "DINO DAD" lettering, in four dark colors, S–3XL. The Cool Dadasaurus Rex tee and Daddysaurus are on the classic cotton tee and go up to 5XL. There's a Dino Dad polo too, for the dad who'd rather wear a collar.

Slim polos: a dinosaur shirt for the office

Fifteen designs, all $49.99, all printed edge to edge. They're 95% polyester and 5% spandex, a stretchy jersey with a white button placket, cut slim. The listing is clear that the polo runs a bit small and you should size up. Its chart is by body measurement; a medium fits a 36–38″ chest and a 32–34″ waist. The Raptor polo and Realistic Dinos (which comes in black or white) are the quieter picks. Browse them all in our dinosaur polo collection.

Hawaiian shirts: the biggest size range we sell

Ten button-ups, $49.99–$59.99, in the widest sizing of anything here: 2XS to 6XL. They're featherlight (2.95 oz recycled polyester), moisture-wicking, UPF 50+ and cut oversized. The T-Rex Vacation shirt is the classic one. They are summer shirts, so as a Christmas gift they make the most sense for someone with a trip coming up. All ten are in our dinosaur Hawaiian shirt collection.

Which dinosaur shirt should he get?

• You don't know his size well: a classic tee. Widest range, and the chart is on the page.
• He's 3XL or bigger: a classic tee in a 5XL design, or a Hawaiian shirt (to 6XL).
• He wears shirts to work: a slim polo, one size up.
• He's a dad: Piggyback Dino Dad or Cool Dadasaurus Rex.
• He likes the science: Fossil Hunter, Baryonyx or Triceratops Head.
• He hates itchy tags: the vintage-fit tee, which has a tear-away label.
• It's for Christmas morning specifically: Angry Snow Rex, Christmas Arms Rex or T-Rex Winter Forest. The Angry Snow Rex tee comes in black only.

If he runs cold, a tee may not be the right gift at all. Our dinosaur sweatshirt guide and dinosaur Christmas sweater guide cover the warmer options.

When to order a men's dinosaur shirt for Christmas

Every shirt is printed after you order, then shipped, with tracking sent once it leaves production. The listings give these estimates in business days:

Those dates use the longest end of each range and skip weekends; the all-over tee's date also steps around Thanksgiving. They're our arithmetic on the listing estimates, not a carrier guarantee, so earlier is safer. Each product page shows the estimate for that exact shirt.

FAQ

Are these men's shirts or unisex? The classic and vintage-fit tees are a straight unisex cut, so they fit men without a separate men's pattern. If you're shopping for her too, our ladies' dinosaur shirt guide covers the women's cuts.

What's the biggest size? 6XL in the Hawaiian shirts, 5XL in many classic tees, 4XL in most of the rest.

Are they 100% cotton? Both tees are, in solid colors. Heathers are blends. The all-over tees, polos and Hawaiian shirts are polyester.

Do you ship outside the US? Most tee listings and the polo listing give US shipping only. The Hawaiian shirt listing says it ships to the US, Canada, Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Check the product page for the shirt you pick.

Start with the cut

Classic tee for almost anyone, vintage-fit if he likes it soft and roomy, a polo for work, a Hawaiian shirt for the trip. Then pick the dinosaur. The whole range is in our men's dinosaur shirt collection, with the unisex designs also in our adult dinosaur shirt collection.