If you share a house with a teenager, or work alongside young people, you’re almost certainly familiar with the slogan T-shirt, but did you know that you can tell a great deal about the mentality of a teen from what they wear?

Young teenage girls – from say thirteen to sixteen are particularly prone to personality labelling T-shirts – these contain attitudinal statements, or what we might call ‘behaviour blueprints’ such as ‘Princess’ or ‘Groovy Gal’ – essentially they are a message not so much to the world as to the wearer – psychologists say that this helps a young woman shape her behaviour by reinforcing a message about how she wants to appear. So a girl lacking self-esteem is likely to wear slogans that suggest she’s confident and assertive, to boost her own self image.

Shock tactic tops – what’s interesting about these clothing choices is that they aren’t always T-shirts. Worn by young men more than women, this is often a hoody or long-sleeved sweatshirt that contains a message specifically chosen to shock the older generation. Often blasphemous or at least irreligious, for example a T-shirt showing Mohammed Ali and Jesus Christ in boxing gear squaring up to each other, or Charlotte Church’s infamous ‘Barbie is my crack whore’ this clothing choice is a way of provoking a reaction and – in the same way as the attitudinal T-shirt – helps the wearer to establish a persona, in this case a rebellious one, that separates the teen from their parental influences.

Witty slogans are seen on the well-adjusted teenager or young adult – these T-shirts, bearing messages such as ‘make tea not war’ mash-up the slogans of older generations to produce an amusing and clever new effect. Teenagers wearing this kind of clothing are likely to feel confident about themselves and to have established a place in the world that they feel comfortable with.

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