Toast World Maths Day with the best The Big Bang Theory T-Shirts

Leonard and Sheldon work the geek chic look with their top tees.

When it comes to cinematic style icons there are your usual suspects. From modern movies, there are your Brad Pitts, your Johnny Depps and your George Clooneys, if you’re a bit more retro your Steve McQueens, your Cary Grants and your Marlon Brandos and even characters that we want to emulate like James Bond, Wolverine or Tyler Durden (Pitt again – damn him!) And looking to TV, there’s no shortage of stylish fellas – Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) in Fringe, the Winchester brothers in Supernatural and hell, the whole load of ‘em in Mad Men, and yet some of today’s most influential small screen trendsetters are not quite as classy as Clooney, as polished as Pitt or as macho as Marlon. Yup, we’re talking about Sheldon and Leonard, the puny geeks at the heart of smash science sitcom, The Big Bang Theory.

Since its debut in 2007, The Big Bang Theory has become a comedy heavy-hitter, each season adding new fans with the current total averaging an impressive 15 million a week in the US. So what are they tuning in for? Nothing that far-fetched or fantastical (it’s not re-inventing the sitcom), just a look at two swotty scientists who share an apartment living across the hall from a hot blonde waitress. It’s got the day-to-domestic charm of Friends, the lads camaraderie of Entourage (if without the skill with the ladies) and the nerdy science of Mythbusters.

Okay, so the last one isn’t a comedy (though Jamie’s goatee/ bald head/ beret combo is kinda funny), but there’s no escaping the sheer geekiness of TBBT and while other shows shy away from nerd talk and scientific stuff, TBBT scores exactly because it does embrace these things. They might not be fashionable, cool or popular, but theoretical physicist Sheldon (played by Jim Parsons), experimental physicist Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and their fellow boffins, Howard, an aerospace engineer (Simon Helberg) and Raj, a particle astrophysicist (Kunal Nayyar) are real, believable and just like us.

Sure, we don’t have the off-the-chart IQs, yet no-one really believes themselves to be cool (even if they are). We all feel a little out of place and goofy sometimes and TBBT just taps into that, saying it’s okay to be different and for us guys, this is so often felt in being nerdy. And with the likes of TBBT becoming so well-liked (we can’t imagine that everyone who watches it is a physics brain), it’s helping fly our flag, encouraging people to see us in a different light (hey, if Penny bothers with them..) and gives geeks a much-deserved break.

And so if you’re into the show (and how could you not? It employs a full-time science officer!), you must have clocked the endless array of graphic print tops as seen on Leonard and especially Sheldon. They reference their appetite for all things intellectual as well as Sheldon’s obsession with superheroes with Flash, Aquaman, the Green Lantern and Superman all faves.

These tops have become one of the stand-out aspects of the show, (women can have their handbags and shoes, we’ve got our sci-fi tees) and as such there’s been a huge range on display throughout the comedy’s three seasons. Regardless of how unlikely these massive wardrobes might be (Leonard and Sheldon would need deeper closets than Penny!), they give the gang’s clothes a fun and distinctive personality that would have been totally lacking had they just been dressed in plaid shirts all the time (yawn) and we just can’t get enough of them.

So with today being World Maths Day (something we’re sure Sheldon and Leonard celebrate), we’re saluting the best friend brainboxes with our pick of their top T-Shirts from TBBT. Great if you relate to the guys, want to experiment with a little geek chic or are just looking to add some science to your style – bazinga!