Star Trek Uniforms – Star Fleet Costumes – Then and Now

Star Trek Uniforms – Star Fleet Costumes – Past – Present – Future

Male and female officers wore very similar Star Fleet costumes back when the first and original Star Trek television series began. The ladies Star Trek costume consisted of a velour type shirt, accentuated by black boots with tights, and a black skirt, which was rather short. On rare occasions, you would see one or more of them wearing black pants instead of the black skirt. Star Trek uniforms for the men were very similar to the ladies, consisting of the black boots, black pants, and the velour shirt with the Star Trek symbol affixed to the left sleeve. The shirt color, from the very beginning, would be used to identify the duties each performed.

In the early pilot episodes, three primary Star Trek shirt colors were worn to indicate the duties performed. Command personnel wore a gold shirt, the operations personnel wore a beige colored shirt, and medical, science, and security personnel wore a blue shirt. However, after the show went into production, the colors were changed somewhat. Command, and also the helm personnel wore gold/green shirts, while operations, engineering, and security personnel wore red shirts. The science and medical continued to wear the standard blue shirt with a black collar and of course, an undershirt.

The Star Trek insignia consisting of the arrowhead logo, would also denote the branch of service. For command personnel, a star was used, for science and medical, a circle superimposed with an oval, and for the operations and engineering, an angular spiral would denote the wearer’s area of expertise. In the case of officers that were assigned to other star bases or star ships, very similar Star Trek uniforms were worn; however, the arrowhead insignia was replaced with various logos or patches denoting the base of assignment or the star ship on which they served.

On special occasions, dress uniforms would be worn made from a fabric that was more shiny and was decorated with gold piping plus a colored badge that would indicate the rank of the individual. During the first and second seasons of the Star Trek episodes, the shirt material was velour, but after dry cleaning it shrank, and also tore quite easily. This fabric was soon replaced by a stronger nylon material that is used by professional baseball teams.

Over the next few years, several new designs, colors, and materials were tested, and generally did not meet with much approval. One film director insisted on a complete re-design stating that he did not want an all gray uniformed crew working on an all gray colored ship. Beginning with the movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek uniforms again were more colorful and practical. Later on, a type of jumpsuit was the uniform of choice – colors again indicated the branch of service, and changed insignias replaced those used in the past.

The 2009 movie brought back Star Trek uniforms that bore a strong resemblance to the originals, but with some cosmetic changes to the “com-badge” and other uniform accessories. When the series episodes of the Next Generation were filmed, a jumpsuit was again worn, with the top colors reflecting the area of service, a silver com-badge on the left chest area, and the wearer’s rank denoted by the insignia on the right collar. The main color change was red that was worn by command and helm personnel.

Spandex was used in the earlier Star Trek uniforms and generally was sized a little smaller so that it would appear smoother. After the actors began to complain, wool uniforms were introduced, with some cosmetic changes to the basic uniform. Other episodes such as DS 9, Generations and Voyager show different styles of Star Trek uniforms, and it was not unusual to see two different styles during the same episode.

In the more recent episodes of Enterprise, Star Trek uniforms changed back to a blue jumpsuit with a dark colored undershirt. The uniform had colored piping around the shoulders that was used to denote the branch of service. Flight control or command wore the gold piping, security and engineering wore red piping, and science, medical, and communications personnel wore blue piping. Some have said that these particular styles of Star Trek uniforms look more like the modern day NASA flight suit than the uniform that it intended to be. There was one exception to the uniform dress code in Enterprise, and that was the for the character T’Pol. Apparently, her figure looked so much better in a spandex jumpsuit, and may have been needed to spice up the show a little. The same exception was evident in Voyager with the Borg Seven of Nine.

We have an extensive selection of Star Trek uniforms on our sales site and invite you to check them out. Whether it be for an adult, teen, or children, you are sure to find perfect Star Trek uniforms for your next Halloween party or other themed affair. See them here…you’ll be glad you did.