Not Just a Princess T-Shirt Review

Reviewed by Katie Allen

Since I had my daughter 6 and a half years ago, I’ve been conscious of the gender bias in place when it comes to children’s clothing. Girls being given the choice of pink and pastels and “nice” messages and boys in blue and muddy colours and “naughty” slogans. I actively work against this and try and buy her clothes that best fit her needs and personality regardless of gender.

I saw the “Not Just a Princess” brand and was interested in their work and products. Their mission is to:

• Source and share real women’s career stories.
• Create aspirational organic t-shirts for girls which directly challenge the usual messages they hear.

Selling the t-shirts funds their work and also directly supports their charity partner – Inspiring Girls International which is dedicated to raising the aspirations of young girls around the world by connecting them with female role models.

There are 8 t-shirt designs to choose from; Architect, Coder, Scientist, Engineer, Doctor, Soldier, Pilot and the standard “Not Just a Princess” design. I love how all the careers have a simple, gold illustration which depicts the role. I’ve never seen such a design before and it’s really powerful.

All T-shirts are white with grey and gold print. From a practical point of view, it would be good if some non-white options were available, but we’ll have to see how well the white ones wash.

My daughter is a strong-willed young lady with many interests and aspirations. Her current career ideas are; astronaut, vet, rock guitarist and scientist so she clearly isn’t limited to gender stereotypes yet – let’s hope it stays that way. As she hasn’t yet settled on one role I went for the standard “Not Just a Princess” design in size Child Large (Size 6-8). 

The T-shirt arrived a couple of weeks later beautifully wrapped in tissue paper and secured with a gold crown sticker. What I immediately noticed is how soft the 100% organic cotton material is. My daughter will love this as she can be a bit fussy when it comes to “scratchy” clothes. The sizing looks good and measures up well against her existing Ts. All the T-shirt designs go up to age 8 with the Scientist one now being available up to age 12.

I can’t wait to give her the T-Shirt at Christmas. I may even roll it up and use it as a stocking filler – I reckon Father Christmas is a feminist and would endorse the “Not Just a Princess” ethos.

I will also be showing my daughter the Not Just a Princess website – career stories section. There are over 20 case studies of women in stereotypical male roles. From pilot to CEO to mathematician to surgeon to engineer and many more. I wish I had such resources available to me when I was younger. It’s great to see all the different jobs and what they involve broken down into an, easy to read, format. Would be great for teenagers thinking about their school subject options too.

Rating: 4/5

RRP: £16

For more information or to buy visit www.notjustaprincess.co.uk.