Situation Normal The Thing T-Shirt Review

Ask anyone about their favourite horrors and John Carpenter’s THE THING usually crops up. It’s frightening and incredibly creepy with some of the best special FX we’ve seen on camera. Who can forget the legs that pop out of the severed head? *shudders*

One thing is for certain, I’ve never seen a The Thing t-shirt that has done the film justice. Sure, you can get the movie poster on a tee but I’m talking about a proper design. Enter Situation Normal.

British apparel company Situation Normal are not your ordinary t-shirt shop. Oh no. They take some of your favourite movies, including horror and cult films, and produce cracking, original, limited edition designs that do justice to the movies they’re inspired by. Take the Re-Animator t-shirt, for example.  Like The Thing, it manages to capture the essence of the film whilst imitating the style which equals one wicked design. The t-shirt company are also very quick to the mark with designs inspired by new and upcoming films such as Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters, a film that has yet to be released but has already caused shockwaves throughout the film community.

So what are the t-shirts like? With my love for Carpenter’s The Thing, I opted for a size Small The Thing t-shirt in black. There’s a choice of denim blue and charcoal grey t-shirts too but I felt that the design would ‘pop out’ better on black and I wasn’t wrong. Printed on a super soft, black jersey cotton t-shirt with crew neck, the combination of white, beige, brown and burnt orange in the searing mish-mash of flesh, including the aforementioned spider-head with Kurt Russell’s chillaxed face above in the middle of the design, is a thing of rare beauty. Underneath the design are the words “The warmest place to hide”, the tagline from the movie. A mirror image of the warped human faces being torn to reveal the horrors that lie beneath is marvellous and works incredibly well with the central design being two of the iconic images of the film topped off by The Thing text above. The artist is without a doubt a skilled one and has managed to sum the film up in one glorious design.

Situation Normal don’t just stop at the design though in order to impress. Made in Bangladesh, the t-shirts they use are Continental, a brand which are members of the Fair Wear foundation which look to provide fair labour of its workers. Situation Normal’s attention to detail, not just in design, but of what apparel they choose to print onto, has to be commended.

The t-shirt itself is a nice fit, not too tight nor too baggy, and fits how I would expect it to for a size Small unisex tee. As you can see from the photo, it’s a nice fit for my 5’2″ stature with 36″ chest.

Below are the actual measurements of size Small.

As with most printed t-shirts, it’s best to wash at 30 degrees and hang dry whilst avoiding ironing the print at all costs. The print, which is flush to the fabric using the DTG (direct to garment) method, will last longer this way and unlike transfers and the like, won’t peel.

I’m very impressed with the t-shirt and looking forward to the rest of the horror-inspired range the brand is building up. With ladies fit t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts on offer too, along with the odd collectable Star Wars figurine, Situation Normal is one company to keep a close eye on, especially with their eye for detail and passion for offering something a little bit different from the norm.