Daylight savings, windy weather, falling leaves–when these things happen, summer is officially over. However, fall doesn’t officially begin until Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a 16-day celebration held each year in Munich, Bavaria and Germany. It starts in late September and lasts until early October (hence the name Oktoberfest). These festivals attract millions of people every year and pumps plenty of money into the local economy. Over the years the revelry has spread to many cities and towns across the United States. These celebrations are modeled after the original, and include sausage, sauerkraut, music, dancing, and of course, beer.

Oktoberfest is known for its food and beer, but mostly for its beer. This is a festival where visitors are almost expected to over-imbibe alcohol. However, organizers have been trying to change this perception. In recent years they’ve installed some ground rules for festival-goers–no drinking the hard stuff after 6 p.m., for example. They’ve also implemented an assortment of family-friendly events, such as weiner dog races and live music provided by polka bands.

No matter what your reason is for attending Oktoberfest, a good way to truly get into the spirit of the celebration is to wear a custom T-shirt. If you click around online you’ll see a wide range of Oktoberfest-related T-shirts that include images of beer steins, weiner dogs, pretzels, polka bands, lone accordion players, lederhosen-wearing drinkers, serving girls, various country flags and more.

Some ideas are better executed than others, but no one is going to make the perfect T-shirt for you BUT you. And that can be done in just a few easy steps:

Select the image you want to use. Make sure it’s not to busy, nor too simple. It also helps if it’s not too offensive, but that’s a matter of personal taste. Select the text you want to use. Sometimes the image so strong, no words are necessary. If you do decide to use them, however, choose a short phrase in a font that’s easy to read.

Select the shirt you want to wear. You can choose long or short sleeved, cotton or other fabrics, classic cut or “girlie” cut–there are a lot of options out there, so take your time examining them and choose the shirt that’s best for you.

Give yourself time. It sometimes takes longer than you think to design and order a quality shirt, so make sure you start this process at least a few weeks before Oktoberfest begins. Finally, when you get your shirt, take care of it. Wash it with a color-protecting detergent. Dry it using normal settings. Pull it out of the dryer as soon as it’s done. Place a towel over the design before you iron it.

Take all these suggestions to heart and you’ll have the best-looking, Oktoberfest-themed T-shirt in the beer tent this fall.