The Star Trek universe runs deep enough that you can dive into any aspect of it for weeks
and always learn something new. Even just the standard Starfleet uniforms have decades
of complex history. Here's what they mean.
In the original Star Trek, which ran from 1966 to 1969, you can’t miss the brightly
hued uniforms worn by the crew of the starship Enterprise. Captain James T. Kirk and other
members of the command staff sport golden yellow tops. Blue is reserved for the science
department and medical staff. That’s why you’ll see Spock, the second-in-command,
and the ship’s physician, Doctor Leonard McCoy, with the blue uniforms.
And how about crew members in red uniforms? Though these poor "redshirts" are often little
more than cannon fodder, red is officially the designation for communications, admin,
and security. If you watch an episode where a random, red-clad crewmember is asked to
beam down to a planet with the main cast, don’t get too attached. They’re probably
going to get zapped, eaten, or otherwise annihilated for the sake of furthering the episode’s
plot.
As far as crewmembers in red uniforms though, there are some important exceptions. Characters
like communications officer and translator Uhura, and Scotty, the Enterprise’s chief
engineer, both survived the entire series while usually wearing red.
But don’t get too comfortable with these color designations, because they only apply
to one series. In later Star Trek shows, red and gold switch places. Captains, like The
Next Generation’s Jean-Luc Picard, wear dark red, while Jean-Luc’s security chief,
Worf, is usually clad in gold.
Though not truly a military organization, Starfleet still relies on rank to establish
a hierarchy of command. But how do crewmembers know who’s in charge on a starship carrying
thousands of people? That’s where the rickrack comes in.
In Star Trek, rank was denoted by stripes of gold ribbon on a crewmember’s sleeves.
The more stripes, the higher the rank. Generally speaking, two or three stripes represents
a captain. Commissioned offers usually get one stripe. Non-commissioned crew get either
a bit of braid or nothing at all. The stripes were brought back for the reboot films beginning
in 2009.
The follow-up series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, went with a different approach
during its run. Uniform colors were more muted, and the old rank stripes, which frankly, looked
like something you’d pick up from a local craft store, were retired. In their place,
officers wore "pips," subtle little pins, on their collars. The higher an officer’s
rank, the more pips they wore.
The films played around a bit with rank symbols. For instance, the different colors and badges
shown in 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Still, the ideas explored in the
movies weren’t too off the original mark. Basically, the more stuff on someone’s uniform,
the more likely it is that you’ll have to follow their orders.
Zapp Brannigan, Futurama’s loving sendup of Star Trek’s original captain, is all
about velour, and with good reason. The original Star Trek was really into luxurious velour
as well, but the fabric proved challenging to maintain. Though, it’s not as if the
1960s were known for comfortable natural materials after all.
The fabric initially used in Star Trek was designed to be flashy. Costume designers used
a stretch cotton velour for the tops, with a black synthetic Dacron, infused with sparkles,
for the pants. Both materials were meant to subtly glitter under studio lights, lending
the uniforms a shimmery, 23rd century, spacefaring feel.
“Do you like your quasi-futuristic clothes, Mr. Powers? I designed them myself.”
Unfortunately, the velour was a flop. Many called it "that rotten velour," noting that
the fabric tended to shrink in the wash and could tear easily. In the third and final
season, designers substituted it for a double-knit nylon, which proved to be a much hardier fabric,
especially in the midst of a battle with a gorn, or after being thrown in a washing machine.
The original pilot for Star Trek, "The Cage," is an interesting bit of TV history. Though
it was shot in 1964, it didn’t make it to screens in its complete form until a Betamax
release in 1989. Bits of the story found their way into the season one two-part classic "The
Menagerie," but it contained only brief glimpses of what could have been.
The original show idea included things like a smiling Spock, different uniform styles,
and women in command wearing pants. Instead, early Star Trek would become notorious for
its gendered uniforms: men wore pants and long-sleeved shirts. Women were confined to
mini-skirts so short that they always seemed on the verge of an embarrassing situation
when they sat down.
That’s partially why the Number One, the second-in-command in "The Cage" stands out.
She’s wearing pants. Number One, played by Majel Barrett, is also a daring commander.
However, she wasn’t considered right for the character. When Star Trek got its second
pilot, none of the women were in command positions, and none of them wore pants either. Barrett
returned, albeit as the emotional, mini-skirted Nurse Chapel.
Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Uhura, offered up a counterpoint during a BBC interview,
where she seemed okay with the costume. The sixties were the era of the miniskirt. She
wore one on the street, so what was wrong with wearing them on the air?
Star Trek: The Motion Picture looked like it was going to be a big deal. The 1979 film
was the first time that fans would get to see their beloved crew on the big screen.
Anticipation was high. Then the movie debuted.
It landed with a dull thud. While die-hard fans still enjoyed Star Trek’s film debut,
most viewers couldn’t get past the plodding story and dialogue-heavy scenes. It did introduce
a few interesting trends for the franchise with wearable communicators and a redesign
for Klingons. Still, few would point to this entry as their favorite Star Trek movie.
Some blame surely lies with the redesigned uniforms. Where the original series had colorful,
if somewhat cartoonish, togs for the crew, The Motion Picture made it look like everyone
was going to the weirdest slumber party ever. The entire crew of the Enterprise found themselves
outfitted in two-piece tunics and one-piece jumpsuits in mind-numbing shades of pale blue
and beige.
At least the women on the crew were dressed in the same jumpsuits as the men. The uniforms
looked oddly dull for space adventurers, but at least Lt. Uhura didn’t need to worry
about errant breezes anymore. If nothing else, the space pajamas did look pretty comfortable.
Though Star Trek: The Motion Picture began the series tradition of changing Starfleet
uniforms at every opportunity, it wasn’t until the second film that the uniforms got
a much-needed upgrade.
To be fair, the striking red jackets of The Wrath of Khan wouldn’t have existed as we
know them if it weren’t for the beige jumpsuits of The Motion Picture. Costume designer Robert
Fletcher, burned by his experiences on the first film, decided to stay on for the second
film to redeem his concepts. Additionally, Fletcher was under strict requirements that
he had to work within the budget, which was smaller as a result of the poor performance
of the first movie.
Because of this tight constraint, he rather cleverly utilized the original films uniforms.
His team dyed the tunics red, because that was the shade that took best to the fabric.
Then, Fletcher added a few more militaristic details to the revamped uniforms. This included
things like boxy shoulders, stripes, and shiny rank insignias. He referred to the new design
as "Hornblower in outer space," a reference to the popular Horatio Hornblower series,
which is set during the Napoleonic Wars. The maroon color proved so successful that it
persisted far beyond the film and back into television with the follow-up series, Star
Trek: The Next Generation.
The uniforms that debuted in The Wrath of Khan were structured, boxy outfits inspired
by military getups, but that theme wasn’t going to last. William Ware Theiss, the designer
of the original costumes was ready to completely revamp his original concepts. Theiss was called
on to design the costumes for the first year of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Theiss
wanted to pull back from the structured look of Wrath of Khan and return to the softer
appearance of the original series.
For Theiss, that meant spandex. Specifically, he employed a heavyweight material, of the
type often used for swimsuits. He also updated the color scheme, shifting red to the command
staff, and making gold the color of engineering and security. Blue remained the primary color
for medical and science personnel.
While the costume department might have liked the spandex, it got poor reviews from the
actors. The form-fitting material was unforgiving, especially after a heavy lunch, or a cheat
day that involved a slice of cake. Robert Blackman, who replaced Theiss in later seasons,
came to the rescue with a different cut and wool fabric. Unfortunately, only the male
actors got the best changes, like two-piece uniforms. Female actors, like Marina Sirtis,
who played Counselor Deanna Troi got stuck with uncomfortable one-piece jumpsuits for
a while longer.
Speaking of Deanna Troi, she acted as the Enterprise’s counselor and was actually
a Starfleet officer, though you wouldn’t know it from her uniform. While everyone else
on the crew wore regulation Starfleet uniforms, Troi often found herself stuck in revealing
onesies that recalled the first film’s unfortunate jumpsuits.
Unfortunately, this might have something to do with Troi’s gender. Sirtis took a dim
view of how the show treated its female characters. She felt they were meant to be non-threatening,
and were often prevented from being in positions of power.
The character of Troi was meant to be a soft, caring therapist, and her clothing was intended
to reflect that gentleness, though with an admittedly sexist twist that lowered her necklines
and kept Sirtis trapped in revealing spandex for much longer than her coworkers. Too often,
her clothes reflected stories where Troi was made to be helpless or even outright dull
for the sake of the plot.
Deanna finally got to wear a real uniform beginning in the season six episode "Chain
of Command, Part 1." In it, Captain Jellico, an uptight fill-in for Captain Picard, causes
the change in costume for Troi.
"I prefer a certain formality on the bridge. I'd appreciate it if you wore a standard uniform
while you're on duty."
While the reason for the wardrobe change was embarrassing for her character, Sirtis was
delighted. Sirtis has said she was thrilled to finally get to wear a regulation Starfleet
uniform from that point on.
We should give Gene Roddenberry some credit, though. While he was of-his-time for things
like scantily clad secondary characters, he genuinely tried to push back against cultural
assumptions. Sometimes it worked and became practically legendary. Like when he created
a diverse bridge crew for the original series. Other times, he pushed for costume parity
that simply didn’t land.
Roddenberry was involved with the production of Star Trek: The Next Generation from its
1987 premier until shortly before his death in 1991. He was part of almost everything
in the series, including the costume design. One of his more interesting contributions
to that department was when he directed designer Theiss to create what became known as the
"skant."
This take on the minidress was made out of the same spandex as the other uniforms, and
was also meant to be unisex. Crewmembers of any gender could wear the thigh-baring skant.
Yet, it was a hard sell. The skant was ever-so-briefly seen on a male crewmember here and there in
the first season, but not after that. Female crew members like Counselor Troi wore it a
bit longer, but actors and viewers alike thought it made any female character who wore it look
like a space cheerleader. It’s laudable what Roddenberry and his crew were going for,
but the skant just couldn’t stay. It faded into obscurity soon after the first season.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiered in 1993 and briefly ran concurrently with The Next
Generation. Though both series take place at the same time in Federation history, the
uniforms on Deep Space Nine were a serious departure from costumes of the show that inspired
it.
Costume designer Robert Blackman returned to the jumpsuit design that originated in
The Next Generation, but stayed clear of figure-hugging spandex. Instead, the looser jumpsuits were
made out of wool. Blackman had, like earlier designers, discovered that wool took dye better
than other fabrics and held up well against repeated washings and Dominion attacks.
The softer uniforms looked like they could exist in a real, workaday reality. Characters
like Chief O’Brien are often seen in the bowels of Deep Space Nine, the scrappy space
station inherited from the Cardassians, which serves as the focal point for the series.
His jumpsuit, based in part on a mechanic’s outfit and NASA working uniform, looks right
at place in the more gritty, realistic world of Deep Space Nine.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated comedy series, the first ever to take a look at the
ridiculous side of Star Trek. While it’s definitely a silly take on the franchise,
Lower Decks actually holds a clue to the ever-changing and seemingly inconsistent uniforms across
the series.
In part, the uniforms of Lower Decks are an homage to a never-used 1994 redesign. Showrunner
Mike McMahan realized the discarded uniform design for the movie Star Trek: Generations
was just right for his series. It calls back to The Next Generation just enough to make
connections, but remains distinct and colorful in the new two-dimensional context.
This latest series in the Star Trek saga might also help explain the constantly shifting
Starfleet uniforms. Careful viewers may have already noticed that just about every ship
and station crew sport wildly different looks in the show.
It seems like Starfleet uniforms might correspond to specific ships and occupations. Someone
sent to a space station like Deep Space Nine might wear one type of uniform. While a crewmember
on Picard’s Enterprise would put on something noticeably different. As a result, outside
observers can identify a member of Starfleet while also being able to correctly identify
where that crewperson was stationed. The look and uniform designs of Lower Decks, which
have their own unique costumes, add more evidence to support this theory.
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