Mr Lazy or Miss Geek?

After Superman and Sponge Bob Square Pants t-shirts, Roger Hargreaves's Mr Men and Little Miss series is the hot new favourite

If you have something to say, put it on your t-shirt. It could be your life's mantra (Nobody's perfect, I'm nobody), an ode to your friend (I'm with stupid) or something articulate (Eh?). For long, most have worn the iconic red S with a yellow background on a blue t-shirt to symbolise strength and power. Bart Simpson exposing his derriu00e8re is another favourite. Ergo, popular culture has been the biggest bank from where most borrow their attitude-of-the-day.

In the midst of this comes a rather innocent and simple reference point u00a0Roger Hargreaves's Mr Men and Little Miss series. The Mr Men and Little Miss t-shirts have been around for a while but have picked up after Ranbir Kapoor casually flaunted his Mr Lazy attitude in Wake Up Sid.

Ever since, collegians have lapped up this new trend. Says Sanjay Sharoff of the Bandra boutique Slash, "We had those series but now they are all sold out. The sales went up after Ranbir wore the t-shirt in Wake Up Sid."
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Starting with Mr Tickle

Hargreaves first published the series of children's books in 1971 with Mr Tickle as the first character. The Little Miss series came 10 years later, with Little Miss Bossy as the first female character. Each character was illustrated to resemble the personality trait it was attributed, with a simple story to go with it. The Mr Men and Little Miss books have spawned an entire series of merchandise, t-shirts being the most popular.u00a0u00a0

The print on the t-shirt takes just two words to convey how you feel. So if you are wearing the t-shirt Mr Rude, people better stay away from you. Or if you are sporting the Little Miss Giggles t-shirt, then it's just all smiles. The tees stand out because their illustrations are cute, with long spindly arms or big smiles, yet are bold and colourful. The t-shirts are a little faded and the prints on most are broken which gives it the worn look.

Little Miss Sunshine

Boys will be boys and prefer t-shirts that talk about their physical attributes, like Mr Strong and Mr Tall. What they 'exactly' which to convey is anyone's guess. Girls, on the other hand, chose ones that express their personality like Little Miss Bossy and Little Miss Helpful.

The popular ones besides Mr Lazy are Mr Strong and for girls is Little Miss Sunshine. Even kids have a variety to choose from. Some of the rare ones available are Mr Messy and Little Miss Fickly (Fickle was the intended word, we think).

And when they can't find something that interests them from the wide range of Hargreaves's characters, they just invent something like a Little Miss Kapachi t-shirt or Little Miss Geek, that has the cutest illustration of a girl in ponytails and glasses smiling the hugest smile ever.

Most stores in Bandra sell The Mr Men and Little Miss t-shirts, that mostly come from Bangkok, for Rs 300-390. However, hit the streets and find the t-shirts for Rs 100. But get on the job. We ended up hearing the dreaded, "Maal khatam hogaya. Do din baad aana."u00a0

Grab all this at

1 Hues II, Rs 300
2 Kink next, Rs 300
3 Hues II, Rs 300
4 Hues II, Rs 300
5 Hues, Rs 400
6 Hues II, Rs 300
7 Hues, Rs 400
8 Hues, Rs 400
9 Hues, Rs 400
10 Roadside kiosk, Rs 100u00a0
11 Drama Queen, Rs 350
Pics/SAYED SAMEER ABEDI