Hello Ric here once again, you can't get rid of me!
As Starfleet uniforms seem to be on peoples...
well, my mind of late, I thought
I'd put together a quick breakdown of my subjective favorite
designs from Star Trek canon.
Well, some ground rules first,
I’ve limited myself to the number of “hero” uniforms,
by that I mean the main series outfits otherwise the list
would consist of 4/5 obvious choices
And for the sake of diversity
I’ve pulled from designs some more obscure places
but these are all ones that have featured in primary cannon
but that I mean the TV show, so unlike my Top 10 Federation ships vid
I won’t be choosing from the never ending supply of “memory-beta” content.
Even though there are designs out there I really do like.
So first off, lets throughout a couple of honourable mentions that almost made the list.
2255: Starfleet Discovery uniform.
Listen, I really like the look of this design.
The neat trim, the collar the emboss lined with the delta pattern.
I enjoy the use of a blueish-silver for sciences, bronze for ops.
But it doesn’t get a place on this list in earnest
,. because although it screams sci-fi to me
it doesn’t feel very star trek. Maybe that’ll change, maybe not.
Next up.
2360 Voyager
Very close to another choice on my list and
I debated for some time weather or not to include it in its place.
To me, it reflects the era of star trek I grew up watching.
But as I mentioned, I’m trying to limit myself to the number of main series uniforms.
But with the honourable mentions out of the way,
let’s get onto the list with an immediate curveball.
29th century Starfleet.
The crew of the relativity were seen wearing this uniform
in the Voyager episodes and the asymmetrical design stuck with me.
The muted colour scheme shows that colour divisions had once again swapped around
with command being blue, sciences grey and the ops being brown.
The Starfleet badge too looked pretty cool with the delta flipped on its side
and all in all,
I feel that the redesign is appropriate for a Starfleet that is now exploring time as well as space.
Next on the agenda,
2230 (Kelvin Timeline).
Now, I’ve mentioned this uniform a lot
as I have come to respect the redesign of the 2254 cage era uniform,
which in my opinion is too simplistic.
The addition of the piping but maintaining the colour scheme
of just two divisions was a good nod to the original series
and in my mind stands out as a good example of how to do a reimagining properly.
Say what you like about the rest of the Kelvin Universe
But I think that the uniforms did Star Trek justice.
2151: Excursion uniform from Enterprise
On seeing ST:ENT,
I quickly came to appreciate how different the jumpsuit design
looked from any Starfleet uniform I’d seen before.
It feels more like a utility outfit to me and somehow, that suits the era.
But the exploration variant makes them look more like rough and ready explorers,
seen in desert environments most often,
this simple khaki-coloured design, to me,
reflects the early era of exploration and the unknown where
your dress-blues aren’t always going to be practical.
Also comes with matching pocketed jacket for +3 to your carry weight.
2260 Classic original series.
Well, come on.
It had to be on here didn’t it?
It’s colourful, clear, and set the foundation for star trek designs, hell sci-fi in general.
All the ideas can be found stemming from this original design.
Badge, rank, division.
All elements that can be summed up in a glance
without having to awkwardly fish for information
and it shows that Starfleet was truly trying to create something that didn’t resemble a purely military armada.
It’s a shame though, that the captain’s uniform seemed to be made from a lot less sturdy material.
I would like to add that the Kelvin redesigns again appeal
to the nostalgia in me
but maintain I direct familiarity with the original design
but they wouldn’t exist without the original.
hence, the reason it's at number 3.
Starfleet Red military tunic.
2286. A personal favourite of mine.
The military style tunic was something I enjoyed seeing in the films
and to me was a more official, scientific, militaristic take on the uniform.
All that stuff I said about Starfleet not wanting to appear militaristic?
Buuuut…Well… I like the designs.
The fold-over tunic again appeals to my sense of asymmetry,
and I did like the complex little insignia that denoted rank
and the variety of undershirt designs.
Even if you needed a small guidebook to decipher who did what abound ship.
And finally moving on to number one!
2373 saw the introduction of the 'First Contact' uniform/DS9
This is why I didn’t include the Voyager one on my list.
Out of the two, they are very similar;
however this one edges it out for me.
The tone of the uniform reflects a darker time for the federation
and would look out of place on the bridge of the TNG enterprise D.
The undershirt retains the division colour,
with the classic pips laying out rank.
Over it all is this jacket with textured shoulders that give it a tougher,
action-ready look.
While the earlier designs my look the part on the bridge of a starship,
they don’t always look as though they’d be as practical on the ground.
The 2370 variant suits both
and (in my nerdy unfashionable opinion)
when dishevelled, adds a layer of badassness.
bad-ass-ness?
So those are my top 6 designs.
Of course I like the TNG look among others,
and there are many more out there that belong to specializations and the like.
There’s especially designs from other species
that I think are pretty cool but
this list was just for the ones we see on the screens.
and just Starfleet.
So what do you think?
Agree with my choices? Disagree with my choices?
What’s your favourite design and
what would the next Starfleet uniform look like if Garak was allowed to design it?
Comment below and I’ll be sure to read them.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings, until next time, I’ve been Ric and I’ll see you later, goodbye.
Bashir: I think I'm going to like history.