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60 years of Star Trek uniforms: Looking back at the everchanging wardrobe of Starfleet
Federation fashions have gone through many evolutions over the last six decades, from pastel pajamas to back-breaking Spandex.
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To boldly dress as no one has dressed before… In another universe, that could have been the "Star Trek" mission statement.
Sure, the veteran franchise has spent much of its 60-year lifetime seeking out new life and new civilisations, but it's also been preoccupied with keeping crews fashionable as they explore the final frontier. It seems that nobody wants to make first contact sporting last year's jumpsuit.
The sheer volume of uniforms worn on Federation duty is mind-boggling, as Starfleet has turned regular style updates into one of its prime directives. So, as "Trek" celebrates its 60th anniversary, we take a warp-speed tour through the outfits Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and the rest have hung in their wardrobes. Make it sew, number one!
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Departments denoted by: Logos in Starfleet delta, color of sweater (Command: Gold/Green, Science/Medical: Blue, Operations: Red)
Although the ranks were lifted directly from the Navy, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry didn't want the Enterprise to feel militaristic — this was the enlightened 23rd century, after all, when exploration was more important than war. As such, the uniforms worn by Kirk and co were rather more casual than standard forces' issue.
By the time the Enterprise started its five-year mission in earnest, the outfits had been through a couple of subtly different evolutionary stages (in pilot episodes "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before") before costume designer William Ware Theiss zeroed in on those now-iconic designs.
They featured sweaters and black pants for the men, peak-'60s minidresses for the women, and all of them were color-coded blue (Science/Medical), red (Operations), or green (Command) to show off the wonders of those new-fangled color television sets.