Federation Commander

wedge_hammersteel · Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 10:20 pm Post subject: A Question of Uniforms

I never understood the progression of uniform styles from ST: Enterprise to ST:TOS to ST: Next Generation.

I can understand transitioning from shirt/pants to jump suit fine but what doesn't sound reasonable to me is the jump suit to shirt/pants back to jump suit transition.

I would have enjoyed ST: Enterprise more if they wore some sort of shirt/pants for a uniform. Maybe something akin to the style worn in the pilot episode, The Cage.

I have had fellow Trekkers say that the jump suit is a reasonable start as the real world shuttle astronauts wore jumpsuits.

What I am looking for is a cogent argument of how the jump suit to shirt/pants back to jump suit transition could be considered reasonable.

I would think the Steves would be versed in uniform militaria. Is there any real world example of the type of significant uniform change and then reversion?

Anyone can chime in with a view point.

Bolo_MK_XL · Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 12:39 am Post subject:

djdood · Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 3:01 am Post subject:

I've got nothing. Hollywood follows its own rules.
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Bolo_MK_XL · Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 3:08 am Post subject:

djdood · Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 4:18 am Post subject:

Actually, the Star Trek productions spend a fortune on costumes sometimes. What they don't do is necessarily make them make sense.
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Gimp · Ensign Joined: 13 Feb 2013 Posts: 4 Location: Tucson, AZ

I can't say it's the most logical progression, but I'll take a bite at an explanation.

Jump suits make good work clothes, but are far from the most impressive styles of uniforms. They look like exactly what they are: work clothes.

Enterprise is set when the Federation is forming, using a brand new ship with expected teething problems. Using a work related uniform as standard would make sense.

ToS moved uniforms on to a more presentable form, which also has the advantage of allowing part of a uniform to be replaced if it is damaged, such as being torn off of the ship's commanding officer. Still not the most impressive uniforms, but combining functionality with slightly better presentation.

That progression moved forward through the movies and into The Next Generation, where the uniforms carried reasonable presentation while maintaining functionality.

Imagine, if you will, the beaurocrats suddenly realizing that good looking uniforms cost a lot more than simple uniforms like jump suits. It certainly wouldn't be the first time silly changes were made due to cost concerns.

As a concession to the more sensible thinkers that wanted uniforms that made a better impression, the late Next Generation planners dressed up the jump suits to look a little better.

That gives you a progression from jump suit, to pants and shirt, and back to jump suit.

It doesn't have to make sense, it only takes the stupidity of a large government beaurocracy.

wedge_hammersteel · Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 12:19 pm Post subject:

Thanks Gimp. The Nextgen jumpsuits did look "dress-ier" than the ST:Enterprise jumpsuits.

Steve Cole · Site Admin Joined: 11 Oct 2006 Posts: 2752

When I joined the army in 1971 we had OD green uniforms.

The State Guard wore woodland BDUs.

The Army has switched about five times in the last 10 years now using some kind of digital camo that looks like you have been rolling around in the dirt.

The dress uniforms changed afterWW2 from the old pinks and greens (beige pants and a green jacket) to (depending) khakis, Khaki but later light green shirts and dark green pants perhaps with a dark green suit jacket. There were always dress blues and mess dress for those who wanted to get carried away.
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The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

Sneaky Scot · Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 8:22 am Post subject:

The Royal Air Force doesn't change uniforms all that often with a couple of exceptions:

- We flip between round-neck and v-neck woollen pullovers on a regular basis. Not quite sure why; I'm on my third style of round-neck...
- We don't change the form of our shirts, but we do change the supplier fairly regularly. A couple of years ago we bought shirts from China that lasted about 6 months before fading from light blue to a really washed-out looking colour. Always remember your equipment is provided by the lowest bidder...
- We regularly change our battle dress uniform. I started out with a traditional woodland DPM before we moved to CS95, which is also a woodland-pattern DPM but was actually put together really well with layers, add-ons etc. When I last went out on ops, we were issued with a desert-style DPM. But now we have a universal DPM material for use in all theatres (except arctic) which is another DPM but is a much lighter green.

So, military uniforms (at least in the real world) are driven by a combination of cost and operations. Except for Mess Dress where tradition rules!
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Jack Bohn · Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 9:35 pm Post subject:

The other side of the coin is civilian clothes. It would be interesting if over the decades military uniforms were --or kept falling-- behind the fasion.

Iremeber in TOS everyone wore jumpsuits, from miners and colonists to civilian station commanders and Federation ambassdors. In TMP I remember women in diaphonous dresses, to sell the idea that Earth is a pardise. Later,when the uniform added a jacket, our guys chanfed into civvies that also included jackets.

For the life of me, I'm not remembering civilians from later. Wesley wore pullover tops and one-pieces like Starfleet, but he wanted to be Starfleet. The Sisco Kid wore one-pieces, too, and he didn't.
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-Jack