red uniform star trek

What Do The Star Trek Uniform Colors Mean & Why Are They So Important?

Star Trek cast posing in their red uniforms

"Star Trek" is definitely a technicolor wonderland of a show. That sense of eye-catching brilliance trickles down from the background scenery to the props used by each cast member, all the way to the uniforms the show's central crew wears as a part of their duties.

It's easy to notice that the crew of the Starship Enterprise wear tunics in varying shades. Those colors are quite important — they denote which job class each crew member belongs to. Those classes were devised by series creator Gene Roddenberry and costume designer William Ware Theiss, and are intended to resemble the classifications used by the United States Military on noise-heavy aircraft carriers.

Sometimes there are differences allowed for dress uniforms; the command staff, for instance, will wear green uniforms during formal occasions. And these rules aren't hard and fast ones; across the whole universe of "Star Trek" series, films, and other ephemera, the colors various officers wear on the show and the meanings behind them change depending on when the scene takes place in the show's general timeline. But these are the color codes that most often denote each character's job on the ship, and the ones used during the original "Star Trek" series to explain who is who and what they do.

The term 'red shirt' gained a negative connotation

Even if you're not a "Star Trek" fan, you've probably heard jokes about how often red-shirted officers are introduced to the show, only for them to quickly die during away missions. For a period of time, the term "red shirt" became a dirty word in the "Star Trek" world; it's gone on to take on a larger cultural significance, indicating that a person is a disposable background element easy to get rid of. And yet many of the show's red-toting characters are the franchise's longest-lasting individuals. The class encompasses the engineering, security, and communication staff positions on the Enterprise. Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan) are among the most prominent crew members who wear scarlet hues. To wear red on the bridge is definitely a high honor.

Are 'red shirts' more doomed than their counterparts? Mathematician James Grime weighed in on the subject during a talk at New York's Museum of Mathematics in 2017. A simple statistical calculation revealed that 10% of the show's red-shirted denizens die during the original show's run — compared to 18 percent of golden-shirted characters. "There is some truth in the old 'Star Trek' myth if you look at security officers ... 20 percent of security officers died. So I think the moral of the story is, if you're on the starship Enterprise and you want to survive, be a scientist," he said.

Ironically, crimson red was eventually used to denote a position of authority on the ship; the uniforms that debuted in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" place the crew in scarlet togs, with no color divisions to mark them.

Blue denotes a scientific mind

If you're feeling blue during your time on the Enterprise, then you're probably logically-minded. Throughout much of the original "Star Trek" series, blue uniforms were given to the show's science and medical officers. That's why Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett), and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) can be seen sporting blue tunics throughout the series' run. The designation of blue uniforms hasn't changed much during the course of various "Star Trek" series; blue and purple shades are used to indicate ship medics in such continuations of the universe as "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Blue was also the chosen shade for the crew uniforms in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," with splashes of brown, oatmeal and white. This change didn't go over well with the cast. Their rebellion against the baggy uniforms went beyond their alleged unsightliness; costume designer Robert Fletcher sewed shoes into the bottom of each uniform, forcing the actors to ask their assistants for help in completing simple tasks such as going to the bathroom. A change was promptly made for the next film, and the red Navy-style uniforms stuck with the whole movie franchise until "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was launched.

Golden shirts denote power

Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), meanwhile, sports a gold-colored shirt. These are the outfits worn by those in command: largely, captains and other figures of authority. In other iterations of the show, gold tunics are worn by members of the ship's security staff. In any event, it's a uniform that denotes power.

But those shirts weren't actually intended to be golden at all; in reality, they were pale green tunics that were filmed as golden or orange-looking thanks to the sort of film the show used. According to an interview conducted with Bill Thiess in 1988 for Star Trek Prop Authority , it wasn't the show's intent to present Kirk and other captains as wearing gold at all. "It was one of those film stock things; it photographed one way – burnt orange or a gold. But in reality was another; the command shirts were definitely green." Unfortunately, thanks to that mistake the look has stuck, and Kirk's uniform is more often remembered as golden instead of green.

Whether they're sporting green or dodging danger in red, there's one thing officers on the Enterprise definitely know how to do – look stylish in a timelessly classical way.

What Do the Different Uniform Colors Mean on ‘Star Trek’?

By jason serafino | mar 30, 2023, 3:23 pm edt.

Gene Roddenberry may have dreamed of a perfect future when he created Star Trek , but parts of his vision were firmly rooted in the real world, specifically in the physical makeup of the crew of the Enterprise itself.

Roddenberry, along with the show’s producers, decided to take numerous cues from the United States Navy when creating the official ranks on the show, including a captain overseeing a crew made up of a commander, a handful of lieutenant commanders, lieutenants, and several subordinate roles. But it’s the different colors of the Starfleet uniforms that really tell the story of how the Enterprise operates.

Fans know the basics: an array of blue, red, and gold shirts line the bridge of the ship every episode. Those colors weren’t just randomly picked for the sake of diversity, though. They actually correspond to the ship’s various service roles . The gold shirts are worn by the command division, which includes Captain Kirk, Lieutenant Sulu, and Pavel Chekov. Red uniforms belong to the engineering/communications division, including chief engineer Scotty and communications officer Uhura. The blue shirts are worn by the science/medical staff, including McCoy and Spock .

As with everything in Star Trek , though, it’s a lot more complicated than all of that. In addition to the red shirts belonging to engineers and communications personnel, they are also assigned to the security division. What’s the purpose of the security division on the Enterprise ? Well, they’re usually the supporting characters who are immediately killed whenever the crew is confronted by a new enemy. This is something of a running gag for fans of the franchise, as whenever one of the “Red Shirts” is seen on screen, you know they’re not long for this world .

Also, those gold shirts worn by Kirk and crew might not have been so gold after all. According to an interview with Star Trek ’s costume designer, William Theiss, the idea was for the show’s uniforms to be red, blue, and green. In fact, on the set, Kirk’s outfit certainly looked to be an avocado (or lime) green, but the end result was a little different when the studio lights finally hit the uniform.

“It was one of those film stock things,” Theiss said, “it photographed one way—burnt orange or a gold. But in reality was another; the command shirts were definitely green.”

This might come as a surprise to Trek fans until you remember that Kirk actually did wear green on a few occasions, including the times he was in formal dress and his seldom-seen alternate green get-up, seen in the clip below.

These alternate uniforms were all the exact shade of green Theiss describes, but they were made from a different material than the standard Enterprise shirts and apparently had no issue retaining their natural color scheme when lit on set. The gold shade may have been a production mishap, but the color has since entered the Trek canon as the official hue of Kirk and his command staff. So, in the Star Trek universe, Kirk wears gold; in the real world, though, the bridge of the Enterprise was designed with a completely different color palette in mind.

It gets more confusing when you look at the later Trek series, like The Next Generation , which had the command staff in red and operations in yellow—basically the reverse of the original series. Then, of course, the movies switched costumes and colors with nearly every entry, including the powder blue monstrosities worn in Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

Roddenberry’s eye for detail was unique for sci-fi TV at the time, and everything on the Enterprise had a specific purpose. Despite some production fumbles, ill-fated redesigns, and inconsistencies later on, the colors that make up Starfleet’s uniforms tell a story that many viewers probably never even noticed.

A version of this story originally ran in 2016; it has been updated for 2023.

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‘Star Trek’ uniform colors, explained

Everyone knows the iconic Star Trek uniforms. The brightly-colored outfits amazed viewers seeing color TV for the first time in the 1960s and helped to define the unique aesthetic style of the Star Trek universe, becoming an instantly recognizable feature of the shows.

The 23rd Century

In The Original Series , there were three uniform colors . Each color represented a certain duty division aboard a starship or station. Gold, as worn by Kirk and Sulu, denoted the command division of Starfleet, which included most ranking officers and administrative personnel. Blue, as worn by Spock and McCoy, denoted the sciences division. This included researchers and medical staff. Red, as worn by Uhura and Scotty, denoted the operations division which covered a wide range of specializations such as engineering and security. Each color choice was bold and striking, meaning viewers could immediately tell what position any new character had in Starfleet.

The Original Series gave rise to the infamous phenomenon of “redshirts.” Security officers wore red shirts and would regularly put themselves in harm’s way. Enterprise crew clad in red were massively more likely to be killed than their counterparts in the other divisions. A redshirt’s life could be painful and short — they would be blown up by alien weaponry, plunge head-first into bottomless chasms, or even have all their red blood cells surgically removed by malevolent cloud creatures. Around 26 officers in red uniforms died during the course of the series’ three-year run. In the season two episode “ The Apple ,” four unfortunate redshirts are killed navigating a jungle deathtrap, being struck by lightning, shot by plants, and falling onto landmines. Even by the cruel standards of the show, this ranks as a bloodbath.

Strange New Worlds — set very shortly before The Original Series — keeps the same uniform colors, but adds a new one. A white uniform denotes someone working as a member of medical staff, but these were seemingly phased out in favor of standard blue uniforms by the time of The Original Series .

Star Trek: Discovery , a prequel series set a little further prior to The Original Series , introduced a new color-coding system. All uniforms were made of dark blue fabric, with division denoted by metallic stripes on the shoulders. These stripes were gold (command), silver (sciences), and copper (operations). These clothes were super-sleek but looked too much like Navy uniforms, and it could be hard to tell at a glance who was part of what division.

The 24th Century

By The Next Generation , the uniform colors had changed . While blue still denoted science and medical, the meanings of red and gold were inverted. No reason was ever given in-universe for this, but the real-world explanation is that Next Generation actors looked better in certain colors — Brent Spiner as Data, for example, was deemed to look far better in gold than in red or blue. The change also came partly as a result of the Star Trek movies of the 1980s, where all Starfleet personnel were shown to wear red uniforms (the fabric for the costumes took better to red dye). Kirk had been seen wearing red for the movies, so it was felt that audiences would come to associate red with command.

Whatever the century, series, or ship, Star Trek just wouldn’t be the same without everyone clad in brightly colored pajamas. Too many modern science fiction shows have their actors wear drab, dark, soulless uniforms. Strange New World s is proudly carrying on the multi-colored tradition set way back in 1966.

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A Guide to the Different Uniform Colors the Characters Wear in ‘Star Trek’

Star Trek: The Original Series premiered in 1966. And in the year 2022, the franchise doesn’t seem to be slowing down soon. Currently, there are several ongoing television series with a new film and series recently announced.

I was a toddler when Star Trek: The Next Generation came out in 1987, making Picard’s Enterprise crew one of my earliest memories. I still love the series (as I sip out of my Chateau Picard wine tumbler). But the meaning of their uniform shirts eluded me for the longest time. Honestly, I thought you just picked your favorite color outfit when you joined a crew. After the “redshirt” trope (where a redshirt team member was more likely to die on a Star Trek away mission) became known, I thought there might be more to it. Apparently, there is a whole color-coded system in place. And the meaning of the colors changed slightly through the various shows.

The Original Series

For the original Star Trek series and the Enterprise prequel that came later, the uniform color breakdowns are:

Red – Engineering, Security, and Communications

Blue – Science and Medical Staff

Gold – Command Staff

Green – Command Staff Formal

The original series is where the redshirt trope comes from. It always seemed like if a random character in a red shirt went on an away mission, then they were not making it back to the ship. The largest group of people wore red uniform shirts, which would make it more likely that a person who died or got injured would have a red shirt on.

The Next Generation

When The Next Generation arrived, the series changed several things from the original, including the uniform colors:

Red – Command Staff

Gold – Operations and Security Staff

TNG , more so than the original series, set the template for most future shows. Even though the uniform styles changed, the color classifications stayed the same in Deep Space Nine , Voyager , Discovery , Picard , and the animated show Below Decks .

However, every season contained at least one character who wore their own take on the uniform that did not line up with the standard Starfleet look. Examples being: Deanna Troi from TNG (to relate to her patients better), Odo and Kira Nerys from Deep Space Nine (because of their connection to the Bajoran military), and Seven of Nine in Voyager (because of her cyborg physiology).

Now that we are clear on which uniform color means what, which color would you pick?

(feature image: Paramount)

the doctor ruby and the rogue all standing in a bridgerton way on doctor who

Star Trek Uniform Color Meanings

What is the meaning of the uniform colors in Star Trek? This post will cover the original crew, the next generation (TNG), and beyond, including deep space 9 (DS9), and Voyager.

Generally, the different uniform colors helped to differentiate between the different duty positions, levels of authority, and generally the command structure of the federation, and the crew on the starships.

In the Star Trek universe, the colors of the uniforms worn by crew members hold specific meanings. Let’s break it down:

Original Series

Red Uniforms: These are typically worn by crew members in engineering, security, and communications roles. Notably, Lt. Nyota Uhura and Montgomery (Scotty) Scott wore red uniforms. Wearing red on the bridge is considered a high honor. However, there’s a running joke about crew members in red shirts often meeting unfortunate fates during away missions. So, if you’re on the Starship Enterprise and want to survive, don’t wear red!

Blue Uniforms: These represent medical and science divisions. They’ve remained consistent across various “Star Trek” series. Blue shades indicate ship medics and scientific personnel.

Gold Uniforms: Worn by command officers, gold symbolizes the importance of strategic decisions. Command staff, including Captain Kirk, would wear these iconic golden shirts.

TNG, DS9 & Voyager

In Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), and beyond, not only did the uniforms modernize, the color meanings changed. Let’s delve into the significance of each uniform color:

Red Uniforms: These are worn by command staff. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his senior officers sport these crimson hues. Red signifies leadership, decision-making, and strategic roles. If you’re in red, you’re at the helm of the starship, making critical choices for the crew and the mission.

Blue Uniforms: Medical staff wear blue. Dr. Beverly Crusher and other medical officers would have a blue uniform. This remains the same as in the original series.

Gold Uniforms: Operations and security staff wear gold. Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge, Lt. Worf, Lt. Tasha Yar, and Chief O’Brien fall into this group. Gold symbolizes efficiency, engineering, and tactical prowess. These officers keep the ship running smoothly, maintain systems, and ensure security.

In summary, the colors of Starfleet uniforms reflect the crew members’ roles and responsibilities as they explore the final frontier!

Why The Uniform Colors Change?

The switch in uniform color in the 24th century likely aimed to move away from the negative connotation associated with “redshirt” deaths, those unfortunate crew members who often met their demise during away missions.

The evolution of Starfleet’s uniform colors reflects different visions of the franchise’s costume designers over the past 50 plus years. Each new designer brings their own perspective, adapting the color meanings while honoring the legacy of this beloved sci-fi saga.

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Star Trek Uniforms Fully Explained

Screenshot from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Since its premiere more than 50 years ago, Star Trek has been at the center of a growing web of culture, television, film, and fandom. With nine television series and 13 films, with undoubtedly more to come, there is a wealth of material to analyze and enjoy. Today, an enthusiastic fan can take just a single aspect of the Star Trek universe and dive into it for weeks.

Take uniforms. A seemingly simple concept, right? Star Trek generally focuses on the experiences of people serving in Starfleet, essentially a futuristic version of the Navy in space. So, Starfleet uniforms should be fairly consistent, even boring. Everyone's supposed to look like a cohesive group, so there should be little variation.

However, the uniforms of Star Trek are so varied and connected to the intricate fictional world of the franchise that it's pretty fascinating. Someone appearing on Star Trek: The Next Generation and then showing up again in a film like Star Trek: First Contact will probably have to fit themselves into two very distinct outfits. With more than five decades of stuff to go through, says CNET , there's a dizzying variety of looks for what's supposed to be a pretty staid quasi-military organization.

Practically everything about the history of Star Trek uniforms is linked to behind-the-scenes stories, real-world creativity, in-universe drama, and even a touch of fashion history here and there. From color, to cut, to material, there's a lot to learn.

Color is key to Star Trek uniforms

In Star Trek: The Original Series , which ran from 1966 to 1969, you can't miss the brightly hued uniform shirts sported by the crew of the starship Enterprise . Captain James T. Kirk and other members of the command staff sport golden yellow tops, says Mental Floss . Blue is reserved for the science department and medical personnel, so you'll see it on Mr. Spock, the second-in-command, and the ship's physician, Doctor McCoy.

And what of the folk in red uniforms? According to Star Trek lore, these poor "redshirts" are little more than cannon fodder, though, officially, red is for communications, admin, and security. If you're watching an episode where a random, red-clad crewmember is asked to beam down to the planet with the main cast, don't get too attached. They're probably going to get zapped, eaten, or otherwise annihilated to further the episode's plot.

Of course, there are some exceptions. Statistically speaking, says Nerdist , redshirts are not that bad off. Consider also that red shirts adorn major characters like Scotty, the ship's chief engineer, who made it through the entire series.

Now that you've got that settled, remember that it's only good for one series. In later Star Trek shows, red and gold switched places. Captains like The Next Generation 's Jean-Luc Picard wore a dark red, while his security chief, Worf, wore gold.

Starfleet rank is shown by pips and stripes

Like so many real-world military organizations, Starfleet hinges on rank. Crewmembers are expected to follow orders, but on starships that can carry thousands of people, who are they supposed to take seriously? That's where the rickrack comes in.

In Star Trek: The Original Series , rank was denoted by stripes of gold ribbon on someone's sleeves. The more stripes, the higher the rank. Generally speaking, says Atlas Obscura , two or three stripes means a captain. Commissioned officers are a safe bet for one stripe. Non-commissioned people 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 for something different during its 1987 – 1994 run. The colors became a more muted, and the old rank stripes, which, frankly, looked like something you might have picked up from your local craft store, were retired. In their place, officers wore "pips," subtle little pins, on their collars. The higher someone's rank, the more pips they sported.

Other films played around a bit with the rank symbols, like the different colors and badges shown in 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Still, they weren't too off the original mark. Generally speaking, the more junk on someone's uniform, the more likely it is that you'll have to follow their orders.

The original series went for velour

Futurama 's Zapp Brannigan character, a send-up of Captain Kirk, is all about his velour uniform. The first Star Trek series really was into luxurious velour, too, but the fabric proved challenging to maintain. It's not as if the 1960s were known for comfortable natural materials, after all.

According to Esquire , the fabric initially used in Star Trek: The Original Series was a little 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.

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, says CNET , which proved to be a much hardier fabric, especially when it got thrown into the washing machine.

Captain Kirk's special green shirt was a little embarrassing

Originally, reports Atlas Obscura , the command staff of Star Trek: The Original Series was supposed to be sporting a muted green. Under the studio lights, though, the cameras read the green velour as a golden yellow. The production team simply went with it for the rest of the series.

Careful observers of the 1960s run will note that Captain Kirk is sometimes seen in a very green tunic-style shirt. According to an interview with series costume designer Bill Theiss , that's because it was made out of a different material. That particular shirt looked genuinely green. This is also why some of the colors in the original series seem to change, said Theiss. Even the miniature of the Enterprise could appear ever so slightly green under the right conditions.

William Shatner, the Canadian actor who played Kirk, wasn't necessarily fond of the tightly wrapped look, says Cinemablend . "It was a little embarrassing after lunch to have that tight green thing on you," he said.

Star Trek's women went from pants to miniskirts

The first pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series , " The Cage " is an odd duck. 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 were included in the season one two-parter "The Menagerie," but it contained only the briefest glimpses of what might have been.

These included things like a smiling Spock, different uniforms, and a woman in command wearing pants . Star Trek: The Original Series is notorious for its gendered uniforms. The men wore pants and long-sleeved shirts. Female crewmembers were confined to miniskirts so short that Lieutenant Uhura, the communications officer, always seemed on the verge of an embarrassing situation when she sat down.

That's partially why 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. But she wasn't considered right for the character. When Star Trek got its second pilot, none of the women were in command, and certainly none of them wore pants. Barrett returned, albeit as the emotional, mini-skirted Nurse Chapel.

Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, offers up a counterpoint. "I was wearing [miniskirts] on the street," she told the BBC . "What's wrong with wearing them on the air? [...] It was the era of the miniskirt. Everybody wore miniskirts."

The first Star Trek movie shook took uniforms in a weird direction

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 got enjoyment out of Star Trek 's film debut, most viewers couldn't get past the plodding story and dialogue-heavy scenes. It made just enough profit to justify a sequel, to be sure. SyFy contends that The Motion Picture did originate some interesting new trends for the franchise, like wearable communicators and redesigned Klingons . Still, few would point to this entry as their favorite Star Trek movie.

Some of the 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. According to Memory Alpha , the crew was now outfitted in two-piece tunics and one-piece jumpsuits in mind-numbing shades like pale blue and beige. At least the women on the crew were dressed in the same jumpsuits worn by the men. They might have looked oddly dull for space adventurers, but crewmembers like Lt. Uhura didn't look like they needed to worry about errant breezes. And, if nothing else, the space pajamas look pretty comfortable.

The Wrath of Khan redeemed Star Trek uniforms while cutting costs

Though Star Trek: The Motion Picture began the series tradition of changing Starfleet uniforms at every opportunity, rebooted uniforms didn't get very eye-catching until the second film. In Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, both the plotting and 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 . As revealed by Empire , costume designer Robert Fletcher, burned somewhat by his experiences on the first film, decided to stay on in an attempt to redeem his craft. Fletcher still had to work within budget, says Forgotten Trek . Indeed, the budget was smaller, since the studio had been spooked somewhat by the lackluster performance of the first motion picture. As a result, Fletcher rather cleverly utilized the old movie uniforms. His team dyed the tunics red because that was the shade that took best to the fabric.

Meanwhile, Fletcher added a few more militaristic details to the revamped uniforms, like boxy shoulders, stripes, and shiny rank insignia. Fletch referred to it as "Hornblower in outer space," referring to the popular Horatio Hornblower series, set in the era of the Napoleonic Wars. The maroon color proved so successful that it persisted far beyond the film and back onto television with the follow-up series, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Next Generation's uniform was all about spandex

While the uniforms debuted in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan were structured, boxy outfits inspired by military getups, the theme wasn't going to last, for William Ware Theiss, who designed the costumes for Star Trek: The Original Series , was ready to completely revamp even his own designs. Theiss was called upon to design the costumes for the first year of Star Trek: The Next Generation , the follow-up series that premiered in 1987. According to Forgotten Trek , Theiss wanted to pull back from the structured look of Wrath of Khan and return to a softer appearance.

That meant spandex. Specifically, Theiss employed a heavyweight material, of the type often used for swimsuits. He also changed the color scheme, making red the color for command staff, while gold was switched to engineering and security. Blue remained the key shade for medical and science personnel.

While designers might have liked the spandex, it got poor reviews from the actors. The form-fitting material was unforgiving of a heavy lunch or brief dalliance with 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 Troi, were stuck in uncomfortable one-piece jumpsuits for a while longer.

Deanna Troi's exception confused Trek fans

In Star Trek: The Next Generation , ship's counselor Deanna Troi was actually a Starfleet officer, but you wouldn't know it from her clothes. While everyone else on staff was wearing the regulation Starfleet uniform, Troi was often stuck in revealing onesies that recalled the first film's unfortunate jumpsuits.

It may have something to do with Troi's gender. As quoted at Forgotten Trek , Marina Sirtis, who played Troi, took a dim view of how the show treated female characters. "The women on this show are very non-threatening," she said. "You don't see women in power positions." Troi was meant to be a soft, caring therapist. Perhaps her clothing was meant to reflect that gentleness, but 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.

Counselor Troi finally got to wear the real uniform in "Chain of Command, Part 1," a season six two-parter. In it, Captain Jellico, an uptight fill-in for Captain Picard, curtly tells Troi to just wear the uniform already. While the impetus for the wardrobe change might have been embarrassing for her character, Sirtis was delighted. As she told the BBC , "I was thrilled when I got my regulation Starfleet uniform [...] I got all my brains back."

The "skant" tried to reach gender equality but fell flat

We should give Gene Roddenberry some credit. While he was often of his time for things like scantily clad secondary characters on Star Trek: The Original Series , he genuinely tried to push back against cultural assumptions. Sometimes, it worked and became practically legendary, as when he helped to create a diverse bridge crew on the first television 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 premiere until shortly before his death in 1991. He was part of almost everything in the series, including the costume design. As reported by Star Trek.com , Roddenberry directed designer William Ware Theiss to design what became known as the "skant."

This take on the minidress was made out of the same spandex as the other uniforms. It was also meant to be unisex. Crewmembers of any gender would be able to 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, says SyFy, but never after that. Female crew like Counselor Troi wore it a bit longer, but actors and viewers alike thought it just made her look like a space cheerleader. Though you can understand what Roddenberry and company were going for, the skant just couldn't stay. It faded into fan lore and obscurity soon after the first season.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine made the uniforms fit for actual work

Star Trek didn't stop with Star Trek: The Next Generation . The sequel series was followed up by a progression of films and further television series. These included Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , which premiered in 1993 and briefly ran concurrently with The Next Generation . Though both series are supposed to take place at roughly the same time, the uniforms seen on Deep Space Nine were a serious departure.

Costume designer Robert Blackman returned to the jumpsuit design but mercifully stayed clear of figure-hugging, back-breaking spandex, says Forgotten Trek . 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 to repeated washings.

The softer uniforms looked like they could exist in a real, workaday reality. Characters like Chief O'Brien can be seen in the bowels of Deep Space Nine, a scrappy space station inherited from its previous Cardassian occupants. His jumpsuit, based in part on a mechanic's outfit and NASA workaday gear, looks right at place in the more gritty, realistic world of Deep Space Nine .

Star Trek: Lower Decks brings back color and might explain a big mystery

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 very definitely a silly take on the franchise, the Lower Decks series 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. According to Trek Movie , creator Mike McMahan realized the discarded uniform design for the Star Trek: Generations movie was just right for his series. It calls back to The Next Generation just enough to make connections but remains distinct and colorful in its new two-dimensional context.

This latest series might also help explain the constantly shifting Starfleet uniforms. Careful viewers may have already noticed that different ship and station crews sport wildly different looks, even when they're supposed to be taking place at the same time.

Inverse points out the apparent fact that Starfleet uniforms seem to correspond to very specific ships and jobs. Someone sent to a space station like Deep Space Nine would wear one uniform, while another crewmember on Picard's Enterprise would sport something noticeably different. An outside viewer could still see they were Starfleet personnel but might correctly guess they were stationed in different places. The looks on Lower Decks , which are their own unique creations, add more evidence to support this theory.

The Long History of Star Trek Uniform Fashions

Boldly go where many costumers have gone before!

The debate over whether or not Starfleet is a military organization, a scientific one, or a messy, often contradictory combination of both has been a part of Star Trek since it began. One thing that we can always be certain of though? It loves a wardrobe shakeup . With Discovery ’s upcoming season adding yet another uniform, here’s a look at four centuries (give or take an eight-century gap along the way) of Star Trek fashion.

Image for article titled The Long History of Star Trek Uniform Fashions

Enterprise may have been one of the more recent Treks , but it gave us our earliest possible look at Starfleet fashion, in the years leading up to the Federation’s founding. These blue jumpsuits might feel like a precursor to what’s to come, but the thin shoulder straps of colors for Command, Operations, and Science divisions would rotate in and out of Starfleet for centuries to come.

Star Trek: Beyond might take place in an alternate universe, but because its story briefly touches on the ancient mission of Idris Elba’s Captain Edison (who eventually gets transformed into the villainous Krall), the uniforms depicted there are actually from before the moment the “prime” Trek universe splits into the “Kelvin” timeline, making them an evolution canonical to Enterprise and beyond. These draw a lot of inspiration from Enterprise ’s uniforms, with the blue jumpsuit now grey and the division color swatches significantly larger.

The same goes for the uniforms seen on the U.S.S. Kelvin in the opening of the 2009 Star Trek reboot —these were the uniforms being worn at the point of the timeline split, making them a part of both Trek timeline’s histories. A much more radical break from the century before, these replaced jumpsuits with universal black pants and a colored long sleeve shirt: dark blue for Command, dark gold for Operations, and grey for Sciences.

At this moment in history, whoever’s in Starfleet costuming just had a bunch of ideas they wanted throwing out, presumably much to the chagrin of the poor officers who had to update their wardrobes multiple times in the next few decades. First up, this retro throwback to the blue jumpsuits of the earliest days of Starfleet, this time in a two-piece uniform, but with a major change: division colors saw an overhaul in a similar vein to the uniforms immediately preceding this look. Gold became the color for Command, with metallic bronzes and silvers for Operations and Sciences, respectively.

Shortly after the Klingon-Federation war, Starfleet was in the process of sending out a second updated division color change, because the best time for sweeping updates is just as you’re recovering from a nearly devastating intergalactic war. Maintaining the suits of the 2230s design, these introduced bold new color schemes in place of the navy blue and metallics: black trousers and skirts for the first time, matched with jackets that predominantly featured the classic, bright yellow for Command, Red for Operations, and a navy blue for Sciences.

Late 2250s, Type A

INT. Starfleet Command, Wardrobe Design Division

Officer: We just sent out the new color division jackets to the flagships, is it really necessary to have such a radical overhaul so soon?

Designer: Yes, it’s how I get paid. Everyone wears jumpers now! And we love beige, beige is very in on Vulcan right now.

Officer: Hang on, we’re keeping the gold and the blue and adding beige, won’t that be difficult to differentiate?

Designer: No one cares, those nerds are down in Engineering and never on the bridge. Also, the blue is baby blue now, the dark blue clashes too much.

Officer: Sure, fine, what—wait, hang on, you get paid for this? We live in a post-scarcity society!

Designers: ASKING QUESTIONS DOESN’T SOUND LIKE SENDING NEW UNIFORM DESIGNS TO THE REPLICATORS, ENSIGN.

Late 2250s, Type B

INT. Starfleet Command, Wardrobe Design Division, Three Days Later

Officer: You changed your mind.

Designer: I changed my mind. It was foolish to follow Vulcan fashion trends, and I miss my colors. We’re back, baby, let’s get that red in there!

Officer: Okay, I’ll get these recalled by Command in the hour, any schematics that have gone out to the flagships will have to be withdraw—

Designer: Oh, but the jumpers.

Officer: I’m sorry?

Designer: The jumpers are good! Let’s keep them. Oh, and the ladies get miniskirts now. Lovely. I have all this fabric that needs using up and we can’t just go back to the jackets.

Officer: That’s not how replicators wor—

Designer: JUMPERS, ENSIGN.

It’d take another decade-plus, but Starfleet merrily marched back into the land of beige with this highly customizable variant. Robbing the divisions of much in the way of color difference—there were variants in white, beige, and grey, and they were non-division specific—these uniforms had a wide arrange of alternates. They could come as one-piece jumpsuits or two-part trousers and tunics, they could have standard, high-necked, or flared collars, medical and operations officers even had the option to have a wide-collared wraparound tunic for good measure instead. Probably to make up for a lack of color!

Fast-forwarding an entire generation, the Starfleet of TNG ’s era decided to go back to big, bold colors—and a lot of black accents. The classic colors returned, but which division got them changed: red was now the color of Command, gold for Operations, and blue for Science. While this style of uniform would persist for two decades, it did feature some updates over that period that evolved, but didn’t outright replace the original design: most notably there was the transition from a one-piece jumpsuit to a two-piece collared jacket and trousers, but it also introduced a gender-neutral miniskirt option called the “Skant” .

This itself has a lot of similarities to the evolved 2350s look, but instead of division colors taking up the majority of the arms and torso, they were relocated to the shoulders. Instead of the continuing collar on the jacket for rank insignias, these uniforms added a grey, high-necked undershirt that would have rank pips displayed on it. It’s also here you begin to see more of a delineation in the Science and Medical-specific division colors, with the blue slowly being replaced with a sea-green reminiscent of the early Sciences uniforms.

Never let it be said that something like an existentially threatening war got in the way of Starfleet fashion. Just as the Dominion War was breaking out, Starfleet once again issued an updated uniform design, borrowing heavily from the jacketed uniforms of the 2350s and ‘70s. There were some major twists though, primarily in the jackets: division-specific shoulder patches were replaced with two-toned, padded black-and-grey variants, with the grey undershirts now being swapped to reflect the division colors.

After two decades of a similar design ethos, Starfleet went into a much more animated overhaul here. Double-breasted tunics replaced the prior jackets, and now their colors were once again more evocative of the original 2350s designs: predominant use of division color on the arms and torsos, broken up by black shoulders and collars. Further breaking up the divide between black and division color this time however was a white band cutting across the arms and chests, carving out the “classic” shape of prior uniforms.

Someone at Starfleet Design couldn’t make their mind up though, and by the end of the decade we were back to colored shoulders, evocative of the decade’s previous design in shape, but now broken up across the torso and neck area. The jackets were lengthened across genders, too, creating a more dress-uniform look.

This period was apparently what one might describe as a wave of 2360s nostalgia, because this uniform update feels very much evocative of that period, albeit with some small design tweaks. The grey undershirt is now a solid black, while the colored division shoulder pads—featuring a subtle hexagonal design for texture—now extend to include a collar over it, and rank pips displayed on the chest rather than the neck.

Fast forward nearly eight hundred years , and we get to miss out on an awful lot of Starfleet uniforms. But we do get a glimpse of the very futuristic fashion of the 32nd Century in Discovery , and the future is...very grey. The most businesslike of all the uniforms we’ve seen so far, this tunic maintained division delineation through a large stripe running vertically down an officer’s right side—now adding specifically white for Medical personnel, on top of the red, gold, and blue for Command, Operations, and Science.

Interestingly enough, security officers, usually roped in with Ops, get their own uniform variant, presumably because tactical maneuvers in a bulky suit were annoying. Featuring a dark blue honeycomb-padded section across the arms and upper torso, this variant was filled out with a similarly grey-toned jumpsuit.

3180s, Type B

Last week’s Discovery season four trailer, meanwhile, gave us a much brighter variant on the uniforms, while also evoking the classic 2250s Type B design. The previous suit jackets remained, except now they were predominantly based on division colors—the former “stripe” now being black, with trousers to match.

Since we’ve not seen the season yet, it’s hard to say if these replace the other uniform entirely or are actually used on starships compared to Federation HQ—and how long they’ll last remains to be seen. But Star Trek history tells us that there’s always a wardrobe update just around the corner, so don’t be surprised to boldly go back into the wardrobe soon enough.

For more, make sure you’re following us on our Instagram @ io9dotcom .

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Star Trek's utopian idealism may be eternal, but Starfleet's fashion sense is in seemingly constant flux. Virtually every iteration of the franchise has featured a new uniform for its Starfleet heroes. Sometimes they come off more like superhero costumes, sometimes they seem like strict military wear, and many other times they're somewhere in between. From Captain Kirk's gold tunic to the sleek blue body suits of Star Trek: Discovery , there's no shortage of iconic Starfleet uniforms.

There's rarely an in-universe reason given for the constant costume changes in Star Trek , though the real world reason has always been to keep the franchise looking fresh and sleek, and often to echo real world fashion sense, as well as trends in sci-fi costuming. Gene Roddenberry's original vision for Star Trek has gradually evolved as the series has grown and developed — it's only natural that the look of the franchise, including the iconic Starfleet uniforms, would change as well.

Related: How New Star Trek Shows Avoid A Classic Voyager Trope

The following discussion is a rundown of the primary Starfleet uniforms only; there are scores of variations, like dress uniforms, admiral uniforms, and away team gear. Bearing that in mind, these are all the iconic looks of the Starfleet uniform through the years.

Star Trek: Enterprise

As was appropriate for the prequel series about humanity's first forays into deep space, Star Trek: Enterprise featured economical, functional blue jumpsuits. Colored piping on the shoulders indicated which division each crew member was a part of - gold for command, red for operations, and blue for sciences. Rank insignia were displayed on the right shoulder, with an assignment badge on the left sleeve. Unusually for Star Trek uniforms, these featured plenty of 21st century details like zippers and pockets, sometimes making Captain Archer and crew look like the galaxy's most sophisticated janitors.

Star Trek (2009)

Featured briefly in the opening scene of J.J. Abrams first Star Trek film - with Thor's Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk - these uniforms were something of a middle ground between the look of Enterprise and Star Trek: The Original Series . The jumpsuits were now replaced by tight fitting spandex, but still in fairly muted colors, with blue for command, gold for operations, and grey for sciences. Rank insignia was displayed on the cuffs of the sleeves.

Related: Discovery Officially Makes J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Movies Canon

Star Trek: Discovery

A massive departure from what came before and what would follow, Discovery's all-blue uniforms featured a jacket and pants with striping down the sides, as well as chunky black boots. The striping on the shoulders indicated divisions - gold for command, silver for sciences, copper for operations - and the Starfleet badge worn on the right breast featured both a division symbol and rank pips. This uniform was in service at the same time as a slightly modified version of the classic TOS uniform.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Perhaps the most iconic uniforms in all of Star Trek , The Original Series' uniforms were also perhaps the simplest. These uniforms consisted of a colorful tunic, black undershirt and black pants with black boots. Command classes wore either gold or green tunics, operations wore bright red, and sciences utilized a baby blue. Rank was displayed on the cuffs of the sleeves. This uniform also offered numerous slight variations, like Dr. McCoy's short sleeves and Captain Kirks' wraparound tunic, while most female crew members wore a skirt variation.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

A completely new look was introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Gone were the colorful tunics of TOS , replaced by muted jumpsuits in Star Trek: The Motion Picture 's polarizing big screen debut . The variations are almost too numerous to list, but the basic look was a jumpsuit that was either blue, white, or beige, with division patch attached to the chest. The uniform also featured a life support belt, and shoes that were integrated into the trousers, creating some unfortunate footie pajama comparisons. The Motion Picture would be the only Star Trek project to utilize this style of uniform.

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan would introduce one of the longest-lived uniforms in Starfleet history. These uniforms consisted of a red jacket, white long sleeved turtleneck and black pants with red piping. It also featured the now-iconic Starfleet insignia on the left breast, as well as new rank insignia on the right shoulder. Minor variations of this uniform would be used for all of the remaining TOS cast films, and even featured in some Star Trek: The Next Generation flashbacks and time travel stories.

Related: Star Trek: Every Mirror Universe Episode

Star Trek: The Next Generation (Version 1)

The debut of Star Trek: The Next Generation saw the next radical reinvention of the Starfleet uniform. The uniform featured a streamlined jumpsuit design, with the pants and shoulders in black, and the torso either red for command, gold for operations, or blue for sciences. The rank insignia were displayed on the collarbone. The Starfleet combadge made its debut with this uniform - the Starfleet insignia doubled as a communication device. The TNG cast infamously hated the spandex costumes, as the way they were designed caused several cast members to have back problems, and they'd be redesigned for the show's third season.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (Version 2)

Featured during seasons 3-7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation , this is perhaps the second most iconic Starfleet uniform after the colorful tunics of The Original Series . The tight bodysuit look was left behind for a gaberdine material, with raised collars and solid black belts added to the look. The rank insignia were moved up to the collar, and the shoulder piping removed. Captain Picard would wear a variation of this uniform in later seasons that featured a grey sweatshirt and a jacket with the two-toned pattern.

Related: Star Trek Reveals The Federation Knows What Happened To TOS' Spock

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Deep Space Nine ditched the formality of the TNG uniforms for something darker and more utilitarian. These uniforms were largely black jumpsuits, with only the shoulders in red for command, gold for operations, and blue for sciences. The Starfleet delta symbol was slightly updated, changing the back piece from an oval to a buckle shape. A grey undershirt was utilized, and it wasn't uncommon to see officers with their sleeves rolled up, something of a visual cue to the grittier, grimier stories DS9 intended to tell. And while tonally different, Star Trek: Voyager would use this uniform for its entire seven year run.

Star Trek: First Contact

The next major evolution of the Starfleet uniform, this version kept the basic shape of the TNG -era uniforms, though with new color variations. The uniform consisted of black pants and a black and grey jacket, with a colored shirt underneath to signify divisions, once again going with red for command, gold for operations, and blue for sciences. The rank insignia remained on the collar, though they were also added to the cuffs.

Related: Star Trek: The Kelvin Borg Ruined Picard's Most Iconic Moment

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Utilized concurrently with the uniforms introduced in First Contact - as seen during the first season finale's heroic USS Titan moment - the Lower Decks uniforms are something of a middle ground between the look of the TNG movies and TNG the series. The division colors from TNG were maintained, though a new delta symbol with no backing was used. The uniform consisted of an angular dress shirt with black pants and boots.

Star Trek: Picard (Version 1)

The Starfleet uniforms featured in Star Trek: Picard's flashbacks were predominantly black with colored shoulders to indicate division, still utilizing the division colors established in TNG , and with the rank insignia still on the collar. The delta insignia first seen in Deep Space Nine and First Contact was still in use as a combadge.

Related: Star Trek Theory: Worf Replaces Data In Picard Season 2's Story

Star Trek: Picard (Version 2)

Extremely close to the look of the original DS9 uniforms, the Starfleet uniforms of Star Trek: Picard's relative present were, again, mostly black, with standard TNG division colors on the shoulders and collar. The delta symbol was updated to the version glimpsed in the possible future seen in the TNG series finale "All Good Things," and the rank insignia was moved to the chest.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3

Star Trek: Discovery 's relocation to the 32nd century brought with it yet another new Starfleet uniform. This time the uniform is largely grey, with a stripe down the left side of the uniform signifying division - red for command, gold for operations, and blue for sciences, and white for medical. The combadge is now an oval shape, and is not only a communication device, but a holographic tricorder and personal transporter as well. The rank insignia are displayed on the combadge, while captains wore additional rank insignia on their shoulders.

Next: Star Trek: Every Major Character Who Died & Was Better For It

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Command Delta Badge

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Star Trek: Picard Magnetic Delta Badge

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Badge

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Star Trek: Lower Decks Badge

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Command Uniform Throw Pillow

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Star Trek: Discovery Command Uniform Beach Towel

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Star Trek: The Original Series Engineering Uniform Athletic Shorts

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Star Trek: Discovery Command Uniform Sherpa Blanket

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Star Trek: The Original Series Command Uniform Premium Tote Bag

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Command Uniform Sherpa Blanket

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Star Trek: The Original Series Command Uniform Beach Towel

Just because you take a vacation from commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise doesn't mean you can't represent your division! Inspired by the command uniform of crew members aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, this Star Trek: The Original Series Command Uniform Beach Towel will make your next beach vacation out of this world.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Command Uniform Tote Bag

You can let everyone know your status in the command division by throwing this spacious Star Trek: The Next Generation Command Uniform Tote Bag over your shoulder. Featuring a design inspired by the iconic red command uniform, this Star Trek: The Next Generation tote bag will become any fan’s favorite accessory.

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Starfleet 2364 Men's Jacket

Outfit yourself for missions through space and time with the Starfleet 2364. Constructed of heavy denim with rugged topstitching, the jacket is strong enough to last a Vulcan's lifetime. The signature angular style of the Star Trek: The Next Generation uniforms are transformed into streetwear: recognizable as TNG-inspired, practical, and wearable. It's perfect for all your voyages, great and small. Whether you don Command Red, Operations Gold, or Sciences Blue, you'll be ready to tackle journeys in the Enterprise D—or just around your neighborhood—in this sleek jacket. Live long and prosper!

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Star Trek: Discovery Command Uniform Throw Pillow

Give your decor an out-of-this-world upgrade with this Star Trek: Discovery Command Uniform Pillow. Inspired by the command uniforms within the DISCO series, this Star Trek: Discovery pillow is perfect for command division members and Star Trek: Discovery fans alike.

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Star Trek: Voyager Command Uniform Sherpa Blanket

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Star Trek: Voyager Command Uniform Throw Pillow

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Starfleet 2256 Women's Jacket

Suit up for battle and prepare yourself to discover new dimensions in the Starfleet 2256 jacket. Heavy denim secured with sturdy topstitching enables this durable jacket to withstand conflicts with Klingons or tiffs with a Tardigrade. The signature angular style of the Starfleet uniforms returns with the stylish Star Trek: Discovery additions of long, geometric lines and shoulder line details. It's perfect for all your missions, whether it's a Black Alert aboard the Discovery or a routine landing party to the store. The sleek, blue color and the subtle details of stitching color and zipper allow you to flaunt your specialty under the radar. Pick gold for Command, silver for Sciences, copper for Operations, or stealthy black if you work in Section 31. See you on board!

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Command Gold - Sailor with navy accents and gold thread, gold zipper
Sciences Silver - Sailor with navy accents and silver thread, silver zipper
Operations Copper - Sailor with navy accents and copper thread, copper zipper
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Star Trek: The Next Generation Command Uniform Beach Towel

Make your next beach vacation the best one yet with this Star Trek: The Next Generation Command Uniform Beach Towel. Perfect for crew members in the command division, this soft Star Trek: The Next Generation beach towel keeps you dry while showing off your love for your team.

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Star Trek: The Original Series Command Uniform Sherpa Blanket

Being in the command division takes a lot of skill, energy, and focus. That is why you will love relaxing in your quarters with this Star Trek: The Original Series Command Uniform Sherpa Blanket draped around your shoulders. With the colors of the Star Trek: The Original Series command uniform on the soft mink front and a cozy sherpa back, this Star Trek blanket is a must-have for all crewmembers aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise.

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Star Trek: Discovery Women's Copper Operations Uniform

Look as stylish as Cadet Sylvia Tilly this Halloween when you put on the Star Trek: Discovery Women's Copper Operations Uniform. This lined blue shirt with copper accents is a replica of the style worn by Mary Wiseman as Cadet Tilly in Star Trek: Discovery. It features copper shoulder braids and a copper Starfleet emblem.

PRODUCT DETAILS:

Material: 100% Polyester
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Additional Information: Pants are not included.

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Star Trek: Discovery Women's Copper Operations Uniform

Star Trek: Discovery Men's Copper Operations Uniform

Did you know that the Uniforms for Star Trek: Discovery were based on actual NASA uniforms? That is why they are so stylish. The Star Trek: Discovery Men's Copper Operations Uniform looks just like the one worn by Shazad Latif as Security Officer Lt. Ash Tayler in the series. The lined blue top features a copper Starfleet badge and additional copper accents.

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Star Trek: Discovery Men's Copper Operations Uniform

Star Trek: Discovery Women's Gold Command Uniform

Step onto the bridge and take control this Halloween with the Star Trek: Discovery Women's Gold Command Uniform. Whether you are dressing up as Michael Burnham, the Shenzhou Captain Philippa Georgiou, or assuming command of your own spaceship, this uniform will let everyone know who is in charge.

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Star Trek: The Original Series Women's Deluxe Command Uniform

You'll look like you stepped off the Starship Enterprise when you wear the Star Trek: The Original Series Women's Deluxe Command Uniform. This costume includes a gold, form fitting long sleeved mini dress with a black collar, shiny gold wrist bands, and a replica Star Trek emblem pin. Look your best and impress Star Trek fans young and old in this costume.

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Star Trek: The Original Series Women's Deluxe Command Uniform

Star Trek: The Original Series Spock Dog Costume

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Star Trek: Discovery Women's Command Uniform

Step onto the bridge and take control this Halloween with the Star Trek: Discovery Women's Command Uniform. Whether you are dressing up as Michael Burnham, the Shenzhou Captain Philippa Georgiou, or assuming command of your own spaceship, this uniform will let everyone know who's in charge. This Star Trek: Discovery outfit features the standard-issue navy blue uniform of all Federation crew members, as well as the gold trim that signifies command personnel. Includes a shirt with Starfleet insignia and zipper, a matching pair of pants, and boot tops.

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Lower Decks finally fixed the biggest cliché in Star Trek canon

What does it mean to be a "redshirt," anyway?

What’s the most dangerous color in Star Trek?

Old-school wisdom would tell you that wearing a red uniform is bad form in Starfleet — because the random officers wearing “redshirts” always get offed in horrible ways. But, this trope hasn’t actually been true in Trek canon for a very long time.

With one very sly joke, Lower Decks just made it clear that, as you look beyond The Original Series , wearing red is broadly meaningless in Starfleet.

Here’s how Lower Decks unpacked this trope — and what it means philosophically, both in terms of Star Trek canon and the common sci-fi tropes of “disposable” crewmembers. Mild spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 6, “The Spy Humongous.”

Kirk and a bunch of guys he’s sending to fight a rock monster. Guess how many make it back alive?

The origin of the Star Trek redshirt trope

During the run of The Original Series , Starfleet characters wearing a red uniform belonged either to the engineering, operations, or security divisions.

This is why Uhura and Scotty wore red. But, because of that last category — security — the extra muscle sent to deal with rough aliens, Klingons, space gods, and rock monsters, also wore red. That’s why a bunch of guys who got slaughtered by the Horta in “Devil in the Dark” had red shirts.

Although it’s unrelated, the academic process of holding a student back in school (for whatever reason) is also called “redshirting” and, like the redshirts of Star Trek, has some connotation that the person who is a “redshirt,” is somehow less than. Either that or a “redshirted” person is carrying some kind of stigma. Hell, you could argue the earliest “redshirt” was Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter .

The larger point is simple: Trek fandom latched onto the recurring cliché that Starfleet had expendable characters, and they often wore red. If there was a landing party at the beginning of an episode, and it contained Kirk, Bones, Spock, and a few folks wearing red that you’d never seen before, you were basically just counting down the moments until they expired.

In 2009, J.J. Abrams embraced this trope in the Trek reboot by putting Kirk and Sulu on a death-defying raid of a Romulan platform... along with... some guy named Olson. And yes, Olson had a red spacesuit, and you get one guess as to what happened to him two minutes after he was introduced.

Ruk has destroyed all the redshirts in this episode, but stops short of ending Kirk’s life — why?

In some ways, Trek’s redshirt trope is in conversation with horror tropes where characters are picked off, one-by-one, until the only people remaining are the primary protagonists. (In this view, everyone in Alien is “a redshirt” who isn’t Ripley.)

While the connection to horror might seem odd with Trek, some of the writers of The Original Series had horror backgrounds, including Harlan Ellison, Theodore Sturgeon, and George Clayton Johnson. Additionally, Psycho author Robert Bloch wrote three episodes of the classic Trek: “Wolf in the Fold,” “Catspaw,” and “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

In the latter — one of the very first episodes of TOS — a huge android named Ruk (Ted Cassidy) murders red-shirted security officers, and later nearly murders Kirk. Obviously, Ruk can’t kill Kirk, because Kirk is the main character, and the writing simply won’t allow him to die. But in The Original Series , with very rare exceptions, the danger faced by the main characters (Kirk, Uhura, Sulu, et al.) is heightened when guest characters — “redshirts” — die first.

In the TNG -era, wearing gold as pretty dangerous, too.

The myth of Star Trek redshirts

The math on literal redshirted characters being more likely to die in The Original Series doesn’t really add up. While TOS has a lot of “minor” characters sacrificed in favor of the various plots, the numbers don’t totally support the idea that characters wearing red are always in the most danger.

In 2017, Inverse spoke to mathematician James Grime who specifically studied this trope. “Of the 43 deaths we saw, 25 of them were red shirts,” Grimes said. “That’s 58 percent. This has led people to believe that redshirts are the most likely to die, but this is wrong.” Grimes’ point was simple: “This is the probability you are a redshirt if you die. What we want to know is the probability you will die if you are a redshirt . And that’s a different question.”

The larger point is, there’s a logical fallacy in the Trek redshirt trope: People don’t die because they’re wearing red. These characters die because they are doing the more dangerous jobs in Starfleet. Both narratively, and within the constraints of in-universe world-building of Starfleet, there is a subtle classist system; that classist system probably puts the junior officers at greater risk than senior officers.

Boimler and “Redshirts” of Lower Decks.

How Lower Decks flipped the “redshirt” script

In Season 2, Episode 6 of Star Trek: Lower Decks — “The Spy Humongous,” Boimler is briefly recruited by a group of cocky ensigns obsessed with getting promoted. This group unironically calls themselves “the Redshirts,” which Boimler sort of thinks is weird at first — but he goes with it.

Boimler’s hesitation about the nickname implies that, within the reality of Star Trek, the trope of “redshirts,” may also exist — though, by the 24th century, the colors of uniforms had been switched around. In all but one of the classic Trek films — from The Wrath of Khan to The Undiscovered Country — all the characters wore red. By the time The Next Generation debuted, the command division of Starfleet no longer wore gold but instead wore red. You could argue this means that “gold shirts” were in more danger in TNG, DS9, and Voyager , but that’s not exactly the point.

In this Lower Decks episode, Boimler makes the most interesting point against the redshirt trope. Toward the end of the episode, when Tendi has been turned into a giant scorpion monster, the “Redshirts” start trying to give speeches instead of actually doing anything. When Boimler calls them out, their answer is “We’re inspiring the crew!” But Boimler’s response is perfect: “We are the crew.”

In the world of Star Trek, there’s a sense that — at least on Earth — poverty, war, racism, sexism, and other discrimination simply don’t exist. But what Lower Decks points out is that classism does still exist, even in the egalitarian 24th century.

Granted, Lower Decks presents this as a joke, but it’s a pointed one. The difference between being a “member” of a team and a “leader” of a team is a trope that pervades everything from superhero flicks to kitchen-sink dramas.

By attacking this one silly Star Trek trope, what Lower Decks is saying is that life is rarely that binary. In life, most of us aren’t “the captain” — but that doesn’t mean we’re the clueless, expendable ones in red, either.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams on Paramount+.

Science Fiction

Starfleet uniform

View history

Starfleet uniforms in 2371, showing two separate styles in use at once

A provisional officer's uniform alongside a standard duty uniform

Starfleet uniforms were uniforms worn by individuals serving in the Federation Starfleet , originally a United Earth organization. These uniforms facilitated the wearers' needs as both scientists and researchers , as well as Starfleet's military role. The uniform and combadge used by Starfleet personnel may vary by the ship or facility they were assigned to, or the officer's rank or department. These were often retained even when visiting other Federation locations. ( TNG : " The Child "; DS9 : " Homefront ", " Tears of the Prophets "; LD : " We'll Always Have Tom Paris ", " Kayshon, His Eyes Open "; DIS : " Saints of Imperfection ")

Casual duty attire also allowed for considerable variation of uniform aboard a Starfleet vessel, though it was ultimately up to the captain's discretion. Wearers were expected to abide by the Starfleet dress code , though special exceptions were sometimes made for certain aspects of an individual's cultural heritage, such as Worf 's Klingon baldric , Nog 's Ferengi headdress , and the earrings of Ro Laren , Kira Nerys , and Shaxs . ( VOY : " Learning Curve ", et al.) According to Elim Garak , " I think Starfleet should allow their officers more latitude in accessorizing their uniforms. You'd be surprised what a nice scarf can do. " ( DS9 : " Broken Link ")

On two occasions, the term " Federation uniform " was used to describe Starfleet uniforms.

In 2369 , the Bajoran civilian Mullibok , who was being evicted from his home , asked Commander Benjamin Sisko how many Federation uniforms he planned on sending down to have him removed. ( DS9 : " Progress ")

In 2372 , Chakotay referred to his as a Federation uniform as he explained to Kar how it was like the Jal name that the Kazon earned. Chakotay told him that his uniform was earned through " years of study ", and " learning about science and ships and navigation , " adding too, that he was further taught to be "[..] prepared us to defend ourselves in battle. They prepared us very well. And we had to pass many difficult tests before we were given the right to wear the uniform. " ( VOY : " Initiations ")

1.1 Command
1.2 Operations
1.3 Sciences
2.1.1 Type #1
2.1.2 Type #2
2.1.3 Type #3
2.1.4 Type #4
3 Uniform variations
4 Dress uniforms
5.1.1 Design
5.2 Ambiguous uniform
5.3 External links

Divisions [ ]

Starfleet uniforms were classified by color among the command, sciences, and operations divisions. Occasionally, the uniforms were also broken down by department, while displaying rank insignia conspicuously. The color scheme had varied over time throughout Starfleet history, but the uniforms were designed for comfort even in the most extreme environments. ( DS9 : " Trials and Tribble-ations ", " Let He Who Is Without Sin... ")

Command [ ]

The command division was the head of Starfleet, with most of the ranking officers in Starfleet Command wearing these colors. Generally, this division was responsible for the administration of starships , starbases , and space stations .

Operations [ ]

The operations division was the backbone of Starfleet, encompassing the engineering , security , and support departments. This division was responsible for technological innovation and for maintaining and defending the Federation.

Sciences [ ]

The sciences division was the heart of Starfleet, composed of the exploratory , medical , and mental health departments.

Uniform styles [ ]

Unknown eras [ ].

These Starfleet uniforms were introduced between the 24th and 31st centuries .

Type #1 [ ]

A female officer in an unknown uniform

This uniform was worn by an operations division officer , as seen in a photo within the Transporter Facility maintained by Chief Petty Officer Carlton Dennis . ( LD : " Grounded ")

Type #2 [ ]

A female junior officer in a uniform from an unknown era

This uniform was worn by one of Tal 's hosts . ( DIS : " Forget Me Not ")

Type #3 [ ]

A holographic representation of a female lieutenant

This uniform was worn by officers in an unknown era. ( DIS : " Su'Kal ")

Type #4 [ ]

Kelpien and Ba'ul Alliance joining the Federation

Holographic representations of officers in uniforms from an unknown era

This uniform was worn by the delegation welcoming the Kelpien and Ba'ul Alliance into the Federation. ( DIS : " Su'Kal ")

In the 23rd century , similar uniforms had been in use as cadet outfits. ( DIS : " Through the Valley of Shadows ")

Uniform variations [ ]

Troi in her casual attire

Some officers wore alternate uniforms. Deanna Troi often wore casual clothing while on duty, and T'Pol retained her original Vulcan uniform with a few concessions to her Starfleet rank and ship assignment. Other officers, such as Worf, Montgomery Scott , and Ro Laren, were allowed to wear accessories relating to their culture with their uniforms, but this was at the discretion of the captain. Uniforms were also altered to accommodate non-humanoid officers, such as the three-armed, three-legged uniform of the Edosian Arex , and the uniforms for beluga whales Kimolu and Matt . ( ENT : " Borderland "; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ; TNG : " Ensign Ro "; TAS : " Mudd's Passion "; LD : " First First Contact ")

Uniforms were also adapted to environmental or atmospheric conditions. When exploring the planet Tyree , Benjamin Sisko and colleagues wore long, flowing gown uniforms to deal with the sand . They featured a colored stripe to represent departments. ( DS9 : " Shadows and Symbols ")

Dress uniforms [ ]

Worf wearing his dress uniform with a Klingon ceremonial sash

Dress uniforms were a variant of the standard Starfleet uniforms worn for special occasions, such as weddings , courts martial , funerals , and the greeting of ambassadorial delegations and heads of state. ( TOS : " Court Martial ", " Journey to Babel "; TNG : " Lonely Among Us ", " Manhunt ", " Data's Day "; DS9 : " Move Along Home ", " Rules of Engagement "; VOY : " Course: Oblivion ", " One Small Step ", " Ashes to Ashes "; Star Trek: Insurrection )

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

Patrick Stewart 's character of Jean-Luc Picard has appeared in more styles of Starfleet uniform than any other character on screen without story contrivances (like time travel , holodecks , or alternate timelines ) being involved.

For most of Star Trek 's history, Starfleet uniforms have had at least three division colors. Some characters have worn different division colors in different episodes. Leslie , Jae , Tom Paris , Harry Kim , and Sylvia Tilly have each been shown wearing three colors at different points (including, for Paris and Kim, alternate timelines and holodeck scenarios); however, the first character to wear all three division colors in one episode was Ensign Sam Rutherford , who wore operations gold, command red, and medical blue in LD : " Envoys ".

The Starfleet uniforms worn during Star Trek: The Original Series were designed by William Ware Theiss , who returned to design the Star Trek: The Next Generation uniforms (which were further adapted into future versions on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , Star Trek: Voyager , and the TNG -era films by Robert Blackman ). Robert Fletcher designed the uniforms seen throughout the original series movies, with later new designs provided by Nilo Rodis .

Robert Blackman also designed uniforms worn on Star Trek: Enterprise , a design representing a precursor to those seen in TOS . The uniforms seen in Star Trek: Discovery were designed by Gersha Phillips . The uniforms in Star Trek: Picard were designed by Christine Clark .

Michael Kaplan designed the uniforms seen in Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness , and Sanja Hays designed the uniforms for Star Trek Beyond .

As shown in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction , a number of Starfleet uniforms have had padding to increase muscular appearance. Such cases include two costumes for Tom Paris , one racquetball costume for Julian Bashir , and a Deep Space Nine costume for Worf, to create a more Klingon appearance. According to Wil Wheaton , all the main cast members wore muscle padding during the first two seasons of The Next Generation , mainly because of the tight-fitting nature of the spandex uniforms used in these two seasons. [2]

Several prototype uniform undershirts to those seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [3]

Ambiguous uniform [ ]

Female on the Elysian Council

A Human female seen as a member of the Elysian Council in " The Time Trap " wore a uniform of ambiguous origin. It was described in the Star Trek Concordance as "a white suit with blue collar and an insignia on the left breast," and was suggested to "possibly [be] an early Star Fleet [sic] uniform". While it is known that the Bonaventure , and possibly other Earth/Federation ships, were lost in the years prior to 2269, it is unclear if this is indeed a Starfleet uniform, and, if so, from which era it originated.

External links [ ]

Starfleet uniform at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
22nd & 23rd century Starfleet uniforms at Ex Astris Scientia
24th century Starfleet uniforms at Ex Astris Scientia
Starfleet uniforms at Spike's Star Trek Page
Interview with William Ware Theiss at Phaser Resource (X)
1 Daniels (Crewman)
3 Calypso (episode)

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‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Costume Designer Breaks Down Wedding Outfits, Progenitors Looks and New Starfleet Uniforms

By Scott Mantz

Scott Mantz

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Team Built a ‘Museum Quality’ Enterprise D to Make Things as ‘Cinematic as Possible’ 1 year ago
How ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Resurrected an Iconic Set 1 year ago
How ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Created the High-Tech Bridge of Its Newest Starship 1 year ago

Somkela Iyamah as Progenitor in Star Trek: Discovery steaming on Paramount+, 2023. Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Paramount+.

After 65 episodes, “ Star Trek: Discovery ” boldly wrapped up its ambitious five-season run with “Life, Itself,” in which Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin-Green) finally found the technology of the Progenitors that she and her crew had searched for, only to let it stay hidden after deeming that it too powerful to be in the hands of one civilization.

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Published Jun 4, 2024

WARP FIVE: Costume Designer Anthony Tran Weaves Real Life and Past Influences into Discovery's Tapestry

The Star Trek: Discovery costumer details Vulcan wedding gowns, Breen uniforms, and more!

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains story details and plot points for the fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Episodic stills from 'Life, Itself' of Saru and T'Rina's wedding looks

StarTrek.com

Welcome to Warp Five, StarTrek.com's five question post-mortem with your favorite featured talent from the latest Star Trek episodes.

Star Trek: Discovery 's fifth and final season has taken the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery , and viewers, across the galaxy on an epic chase that has led us to places such as Q'Mau, the caves of Mak'ala, Halem'no, the Eternal Gallery and Archive, the Infinity Tunnel, Sanctuary Four, and more.

With each new destination, we've discovered new cultures and new environments. The ambitious fifth season's look and feel was brought to life not just by the talents on-screen, writers, and creatives, but the countless teams behind-the-scenes including props, sets, and costume designers.

StarTrek.com had the opportunity to talk to the costume designer Anthony Tran about incorporating real life cultural influences and Star Trek 's past into the designs of the 32nd Century, designing T'Rina and Saru's finale wedding looks, and more!

Making First Contact

Behind-the-scenes of Saru and T'Rina's wedding as he leads her into the room with all the guests surrounding them raising glasses and clapping in 'Life, Itself'

Behind-the-Scenes of "Life, Itself"

For Anthony Tran, Star Trek was presence that came in and out of his life since his youth. He recalls his first contact when he was a young child.

"My parents were fans of The Originals Series ," states Tran. "I remember at one point we were in LA randomly, I grew up in Southern California, and we met George Takei. My parents are immigrants from Vietnam, and they were so stoked about it. I had seen bits of it, but I wasn't immersed in the world. I was later reintroduced again with the 2009 film ."

Approach to Season 5's Designs

"Red Directive"

Tran drew from various aspects of his culture, studies, and background for all of this season's looks, which he took time to walk through with StarTrek.com.

"Our first episode, we went to a planet called Q'Mau," details Tran. "The references are pretty clear that it's Bedouin, Tuareg, traditional nomadic tribes. But I also looked at Miao and Hill tribes, and Vietnam and Thailand, just purely from a textile perspective. The work they do is really interesting; the stuff they do with headdresses and all that we later played with a bit when we went to Halem'no [in 'Whistlespeak'], looking at things that were not purely traditional influences that people look at."

"Jinaal"

"Growing up and even looking at the Vietnamese ao dai, the way that's cut and its linear-ness, that influenced what we did with Saru when he became an ambassador, with how we played with lines and the collars," reveals Tran. "All the geometry of that, the layering of the skirt and the pant, that feels very near Eastern Asian."

"I'm such a costume history buff," Tran shares. "That was my way into becoming a costume designer, looking at our history, and being a huge fan of John Singer Sargent and all these people that would paint great costume portraits. When I worked a bit in museums, I had a hands-on approach to textiles. That's why I always feel like costume design, even though we're in the 32nd Century with Star Trek , it still feels grounded and lived in. We had an amazing textile artisan breakdown team in Toronto, and the way we would take things that were new and just made them look older, so you could feel there was history in them."

"Labyrinths"

"In terms of the stuff for the [Eternal Gallery and Archive in 'Labyrinths'], we had the character Hy'Rell who was an Efrosian," says Tran. "That was actually inspired by a president in another series; the way they cut his costume, and there was this very specific quilting they did on that. I used that as a springboard for what we did. We just did it in a different way with glue versus sewing, updating some techniques."

Tran gives credit not only to his 65-people strong costume department, but the entire art department led by Doug McCullogh, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Michelle Paradise, Alex Kurtzman, stating, "There were just so many hands on deck, but everyone was so open to ideas."

Noting how science fiction shows in the last 10-15 years all "merged together a little bit in aesthetic," Tran found balance by incorporating his Asian background — "things that maybe people haven't looked at that exist" — and playing with all the beloved touchstones from previous Star Trek series that the numerous genuine Star Trek fans in his department enjoy. "There's a lot of collaboration," notes Tran. "In terms of creating new worlds, it's starts with the scripts and the various worlds, which were so vividly imagined. Then Doug [McCullogh] and I were designing in tandem. He started a little bit earlier than I did. When I looked at the sets, I was like 'Okay, cool. Knowing that’s what you're doing, we'll play off the colors.' He was going these rune designs in the first episode with Q'Mau, so I incorporated those into the costume. There was a kind of reciprocal back and forth between us."

A Wedding to Remember

"Life, Itself"

The costumes Tran delighted in designing the most this season were all the looks for Saru and T'Rina's wedding in "Life, Itself." Specifically, T'Rina's Vulcan wedding dress.

Tran shares, "T'Rina's wedding dress was my way in. I remember when I met with the team early on about doing the show, they told me there was a wedding at the end," which resulted in him germinating on all his ideas throughout the course of a year.

Influences for T'Rina's wedding dress came from previous Vulcan wedding looks from T'Pring in both The Original Series and Strange New Worlds , and T'Pol in Enterprise . Focusing on the nuances in Vulcan culture, Tran explains, "Coming from a Vietnamese background, I know what Vietnamese clothes look like versus Cambodian clothes versus clothing from Thailand." Trying to keep distinct cultural identities, it was important for Tran to factor in T'Rina's Ni'Var background in the 32nd Century, but also all the various iterations of Vulcan designs."

Close-up of a Saru and T'Rina wedding guest in 'Life, Itself'

Behind-the-scenes of "Life, Itself"

"We [emphasized] the strong shoulder T'Rina had, and played with both of T'Pring's iterations, which had linear-raised designs," Tran details. "The idea for me became how do we create our own 32nd Century version of lace? Lace is such a great overly used textile in wedding costumes. That symbol that's on her chest is a symbol of Ni'Var. We had a great tailor, Ritta [Koleva], who patterned out her costume, and then our build team, led by James Bolton, basically took a 3D print of her body, and then we carved out all of those lines on her body. It was actually gold leather that we then re-applied up to the top of the texture and raised it so it feels very dimensional and super modern."

"Then the veil was inspired by T'Pol, who in Enterprise , had this veil that was sitting on the back of her head," adds Tran. "Trying to create some more structure with that and make something that was dramatic. It was a little bit inspired Princess Grace's wedding dress from the '50s that I saw at a museum. If you look, there's a very distinct lace, and an over-skirt element to it. That was another reference for T'Rina there."

Behind-the-scenes of wedding guests at Saru and T'Rina's wedding in 'Life, Itself'

Not only that, Tran calls all the wedding guests' looks the "greatest hits of Discovery ," that captured a Royal Wedding feel with 30 additional looks, as well as Starfleet's formal wear. "It was a big operation," Tran comments. "It was really fun creating new ideas of people and new ideas of cultures. It was a 65-person costume department, and by the end of working together for the better part of a year, you really get to know people's strengths and the things they enjoy doing. We also had a great milliner and designed this really crazy hat that she had a great time building. Someone who really loved to sculpt created new laces and sculpts. It was just an idea of celebrating the work we'd done together in this big culmination, that also coincided with the finale."

Weaving Past Influences into the 32nd Century

"Erigah"

One of the essential designs under Tran's purview for this ambitious season was the monolithic Breen , which took four months of prototyping alone. "One of the first things I met with Michelle Paradise and Olatunde [Osunsanmi] was Breen, Breen, Breen," Tran recalls. "It's the season of the Breen. I remember at first, I thought, 'Oh, we just need 10 [uniforms],' and by the end of it, we made 60 of them."

"There's a responsibility where obviously that costume is pretty iconic and specific," explains Tran. "The idea of trying to update that became a little bit tricky. There was this discussion of their refrigeration technology. I actually found a bunch of photos, I think from a Christie's auction, of the original costumes. I studied those religiously for a bit and was hand-drawing out ideas of just trying to slim it down a bit, making it feel a bit cleaner and sleeker, which was the aesthetic for Disco from the beginning."

Moll, with Arisar behind her, faces Primarch Ruhn on the Breen Dreadnaught as he stands on his platform in 'Labyrinths'

"Taking that and the root inspirations, which were those diagonal plates and figuring out how to recut those," says Tran. "There was this whole refrigeration technology element, that the Breen were going to be gelatinous, but they had this suit that was keeping them together. The original costume had these backpacks on them. So, for me, the idea was this was the genesis for that technology, that was the cooling system; there might be tubes everywhere, inspired by NASA cooling suits. We started weaving tubes into things, playing with hoses and such. All those lines and things are from the original Deep Space Nine costumes. In terms of profile and all that, obviously with helmets, we slimmed all that down, keeping a little bit of a nod to that beak shape, making it feel a bit more modern since they're obviously a thousand years or so later."

Boldly Going Further into the Future

Some time in the future, in their home, Book offers his wife Michael Burnham a hot beverage with some homemade honey in 'Life, Itself'

At the end of "Life, Itself," we see the now Admiral Burnham and Cleveland Booker in their home on Sanctuary Four. Their son, Captain Leto, makes a surprise visit to accompany her to her former ship for its next Red Directive mission.

Tran concludes the conversation with StarTrek.com going through the various looks for the coda. "The [designs] were very script-driven," says Tran. "Book and Burnham were living this remote lifestyle. We were trying to ground the clothes and make them feel as real as possible. They feel very contemporary, but they're all askew. Book's sweater is asymmetrical. Burnham wears these weird textures with her pajamas, and then later has this work-wear outfit where the jacket has all this belting on it. It was about playing with things that were contemporary and making sure it felt really lived in and earth."

Sometime in the future, Captain Leto arrives at his parent's home and greets Michael Burnham and Booker in their front yard in 'Life, Itself'

"Then, one we got to the uniforms, I don't think we’ve ever sprung that far into the future before, so playing with those was a lot of fun," Tran continues. "I love the jumpsuits from TNG; that's my favorite Star Trek look. When it came to [Captain Leto] and what he would look like, that was my inspiration. But since we were jumping so far forward, the idea of layering came in. How we sewed and put it together felt very dimensional. Everything is sewn stacked on top of each other, but the reference is pretty TNG in terms of my own taste there."

"With Admiral Burnham's costume, we used that same idea, this stacking the way things were sewn and the way they were put together as from technology from the future," he adds. "Her costume is obviously inspired by those Wrath of Khan uniforms. Again, playing with that, it felt like a great celebration of Star Trek springing so far in the future, but referencing all the things that I think people really love about the [franchise]."

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Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Behind The Scenes

Collage of Michelle Paradise along with a behind-the-scenes Star Trek: Discovery photo of Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baeirs, Olatunde Osunsanmi, and Michelle Paradise with Sonequa Martin Green

Star Trek: Discovery's Costume Designer On Creating Season 5 Starfleet Uniforms, Breen Suits & Saru's Wedding Attire

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Anthony Tran's work on Star Trek: Discovery season 5 included designing the Breen, the villainous couple Moll and L'ak, and Saru and T'Rina's wedding.
Tran's design process involved updating the Breen for the 32nd century, creating futuristic lace for T'Rina's wedding dress, and crafting Ambassador Saru's regal look.
The costumes for characters like Admiral Burnham and the Starfleet uniforms of the future in Discovery's finale coda were inspired by past Star Trek iterations.

Costume designer Anthony Tran developed the unforgettable looks for Star Trek: Discovery ' s final season. Tran was an assistant costume designer on Star Trek: Picard season 1, and he joined Star Trek: Discover y season 5 after designing the costumes for Kung Fu on The CW, Lizzie McGuire on Disney+, and How I Met Your Father on Hulu.

Star Trek: Discovery was an intergalactic adventure that saw the crew of the USS Discovery exploring new planets, meeting new aliens, and even leaping forward 30+ years into the future. Anthony Tran's work for Star Trek: Discovery season 5 included designing a new look for the Breen , costuming the villainous couple Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis), and outfitting the bride, groom, and guests for the wedding of Ambassador Saru (Doug Jones) and President T'Rina (Tara Rosling).

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Finale Ending & Shocking Epilogue Explained

Star Trek: Discovery comes to an end with season 5's finale wrapping up the Progenitors treasure hunt and an epilogue concluding the entire series.

Screen Rant had the pleasure of interviewing Anthony Tran about designing the looks for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, updating the Breen for the 32nd century , and designing 'the royal wedding of the future.'

Costume Designer Anthony Tran On Joining Star Trek: Discovery In Season 5

Screen Rant: Star Trek Discovery is a universe away from Kung Fu and How I Met Your Father. You joined Discovery for season 5?

Anthony Tran: Correct. I was the assistant costume designer for the first season of Picard. I had just finished How I Met Your Father. And they called and said, 'Would you be interested in doing [Discovery]? And it felt like a very great full circle moment.

What are the challenges of joining Star Trek ? I've heard everything is bespoke. Everything has to be created from scratch. You can't go off the rack for your Breen uniforms.

Anthony Tran: And even if you go to buy something, we've changed it, 90% of it, where you wouldn't even recognize that we bought it at the store. I mean, it's a huge undertaking. We had a 65-person costume department, so many talented artisans. The management, the logistics of it, are huge. I give full credit to Michelle Paradise and Alex [Kurtzman] because they had scripts so far in advance. By the time I started prep, we knew so much of where the story was going. I knew about the Breen, I knew there was going to be a wedding. So there were so many things that we could get ahead of. So a lot of the bigger challenges, like the Breen, we were prototyping so early, because once you start shooting, you never stop. So it was nice to get such a head start on stuff.

A lot of the costumes, like the Starfleet uniforms, were introduced in seasons 3 and 4. What were you excited about in terms of new costumes to design when you came in for season 5?

Anthony Tran: When I met with Michelle and 'Tunde [Osunanmi], and they were telling me about the story of the season, it became pretty clear that in every episode they were going to be going somewhere. And so, I think the excitement of that, as a kid who loves Xena and Hercules -- Remember? They go into a different town [or] go these new worlds every episod -- the idea [I liked] was getting to do a TV show where every episode kind of like a microcosm of a film, where there was its own world, its own entity, was very, very exciting. The wedding was definitely... From the beginning, they mentioned it literally maybe five minutes in our conversation. They're like, 'Yeah, there's gonna be a wedding.' And I was like, 'A wedding? Tell me more about the wedding'. That was very, very exciting. Building worlds and cultures is just always exciting. So that was a real joy, for sure.

Star Trek: Discovery cast seems like a group of actors who'd be really fun to dress. There's no sameness on Discovery . Everyone is different, different body types, but they all look really good in costume. So what's like dressing everybody?

Anthony Tran: It's amazing. It's really, really collaborative bunch. But also, because they've been doing it [for] five seasons, they know the drill. They understand what it is to wear neoprene on your body, and what the breathability is, and just what it is to be uncomfortable. And they also, because they know their characters so well, it becomes very, very easy, when you're in a thing to be like, 'I really needed to move my arm this way. What can we do?' And so, it becomes very, very collaborative, the push and the pull of it, and they get excited. I mean, that's always exciting. They come in, they look at the renderings, they read the scripts, and they get excited, and I think that makes you excited. It couldn't be a lovelier bunch of people.

Designing Saru's New Costume As A Federation Ambassador

Before Saru got married, he left Starfleet and became an Ambassador. Tell me about dressing him as an Ambassador. He has a brand-new costume that looks so regal.

Anthony Tran: We did two versions of it. But the idea became that he was going to kind of be this diplomatic officer, and what that would look like. So it was riffing off the idea of a business suit of the future, but using the tailoring and technology of the 32nd century in Trek, and so, kind of abstracting it. He's obviously so tall and lean, like Doug [Jones] himself, and the body of that character, and so [it was about] really playing with the monochromatic elements to make him look really, really tall. We used two shades of blue. So, using the darker shade to sculpt out his body. And for his draped collars, we found really interesting ways that we're kind of inspired by Japanese culture in terms of the way we folded things in and pulled them out. And he was so game and so excited to, I think, wear something new. He's the loveliest man. He would put on those boots and parade around the fitting room for you so you could see how things move and all that.

Doug Jones really is the nicest man. I've met and interviewed him a bunch of times.

Anthony Tran: Truly. Even on a day that is so challenging where we're shooting in the forest, and he's running around and chased by things, Doug would literally stop when he saw me to have a five-minute conversation and then just keep running. Truly a lovely, lovely human being.

Designing Eve Harlow's Moll Costume & Updating The Breen For Star Trek: Discovery

Eve Harlow raved about Moll's costume on her Instagram. I'm with her, Moll looks awesome. And so does Elias Toufexis as L'ak. Tell me about designing their costumes.

Anthony Tran: The script called them a futuristic kind of Bonnie and Clyde. Michelle was really clear that she really liked a biker gang kind of influence for them, but flipping it to the 32nd century. Working with Eve was great. She was just finishing a show in Vancouver, and we got her pretty last minute in terms of trying to fit her for a costume. And the costume I designed... I remember we had a phone conversation. She was like, 'I don't think I will look good in this costume.' And I was like, 'No, no, no, we'll get there, we'll get there.' She's like, 'I really am not sure this costume is for me.' And I was like, 'Just come to the fitting room, we just come to the fitting room.' And she put it on. In five minutes, she was like, 'I get it, I get it.' And that is a tribute not just to design, but the tribute really is to the person who made that costume. Her name is Ritta [Koleva], and she also made T'Rina's wedding dress. She understood Eve's body, so just a phenomenal job there.The harnessing and the way we kind of wove things together, things that really felt tactical while being cool. It was the same thing with Elias' costime for L'ak. We knew he was a Breen. That was clear to us when we were working on the show early on. So I was like, 'How do we nod to that in a way where you probably wouldn't recognize it?' But if you went back for a second, you notice that the entire jacket he was wearing is on that same diagonal line, all the seams of the pockets are all slanted. There's a tubing technology that we incorporated, which was inspired by NASA cooling suits. And that was the idea, that was the refrigeration technology. So if you look at L'ak's costume and the Breen costume, they have the same technology because the idea is he's on the run. And the only world he's known is the Breen world. And so, the aesthetic he would be wearing and the technology he would be using would be derivative of things he knew from that world. So just the way we broke down the costumes, it was like six layers of paint of different colors. So nothing was fully black. It looks black, but the way that in different lighting that it plays, L'ak's costume is actually green. Which we knew because of the way his skin was colored. So just the idea of giving things dimensions, knowing they're on the run, knowing they're getting into these battles, and making them really feel like they were lived in and rough and tumble.

L'ak's costume is different from the Breen costumes, right? The refrigeration suits, which are beautiful. They're like works of art.

Anthony Tran: Thank you. So the Breen costume was the greatest undertaking. We knew it was the season of the Breen, and we knew we had to make a lot [of costumes]. And so, there's the logistical element of, 'How are you going to make these for different body types and make them relatively quickly in the scope of a TV timeframe?' And then, aesthetically paying homage. Obviously, the costumes in Deep Space Nine are so specific. I remember when they were like, 'We need to update the brain costume.' I sat there for a while, and I found on Google photos from a Christie's Auction of a Breen costume. And they had a detailed helmet, front, side, back. I really studied that for the key hallmarks, knowing that we were gonna slim them down just because that's the aesthetic of the 32nd century. Knowing from conversations that we were going to push in that beak of the helmet, just because it seemed to serve no function. There was a minute when I thought we were going to see the Breen's faces until I saw the makeup design. There was going to be an element that made that make sense, but when I saw that the makeup that was designed was relatively low profile, I was just going to push [the beak] in a little bit. You'll notice that we kept a little bit of their snout, but the hallmarks are there. That straight green line [of the helmet], I broke up at the ends a little bit just to make it feel a little bit modern. I used a lot of the lines on the helmet and just broke them into plates so they looked like they're more dimensional. The grills we kept, the idea was that maybe it was venting for refrigeration technology. The original Breen costume had this backpack. We slimmed it down, we made it more architectural, but it's the same style lines if you look at it. And the idea for me was that was the genesis of the cooling technology, whatever it was, that was in these backpacks. And so, you'll notice tubing that comes out of it that connects into the helmet. The tubing is the same on the helmets as it was in Deep Space Nine, the style of the plates is the same. Even the grid texture on their bandoliers is all the same, we just updated the way we cut it so it looks more sleek. Obviously now, with the nature of 3D printing, we're able to get so fine with our details. But yeah, if they feel like a futuristic soldier version, I feel, of that original costume.

Designing The Costumes For Saru & T'Rina's Wedding

Let's talk about Saru and T'Rina's wedding. Tell me about designing those costumes.

Anthony Tran: With T'Rina, we had Trekkies in our costume department. I remember I was like, 'Surely there's been other Vulcan weddings.' I knew about T'Pring, both in The Original Series, also in Strange New Worlds. And then someone was like, 'Have you ever looked at Enterprise?' There was a character named T'Pol, and she had this veil that was literally sitting on the back of her head. So, blending inspirations and knowing that there was an identity to Vulcan culture, we kept the strong shoulder that T'Rina. And then the idea came of, 'How do we do a futuristic lace?' Lace is what almost every wedding dress is made out of. How do we do a 32nd century version of that? So I took the Ni'Var logo. And then, there was kind of the stripping element that was in the T'Pring costumes in The Original Series. Using that as formal style lines, we used leather, and we laser cut it out. We mapped out Tara's body, and we mapped that out onto a pattern so it's very, very specific for her the way it's cut. So it's super, super flattering. And also, all that gets hand applied on. It was a very intensive process that a lot of people were like, 'Oh my gosh.' The fabric is actually like basket weaving. It's raffia basket weaving so it looks really, really textured and cool. And then that veil from T'Pol inspired her veil, I just made it more architectural. It was partially inspired by Princess Grace's wedding dress from the 1950s, lace, and then a giant geometric structure. And Saru's costume was meant to be a little bit Vulcan in terms of the strong shoulder but playing with Kepliens colors and the way that they're draped. Super, super heavy. I think it was like 40 pounds. Doug was like, 'This is the most beautiful thing I've ever worn,' and I'm like, 'I'm sure you say that to everyone. But thank you so much.' The costume was mohair, actually, that we shaved, and we dyed into, and then we used foil on top of it. So it's kind of a marrying of cultures, that he's kind of assuming a little bit of hers, and she's assuming a little bit of his. And the guests... It was just a lot of fun. For me, it was like the royal wedding of the future. What does that look like? So we did a lot of crazy millinery with a guy who walked around with no eyes because he created this whole kind of costume. There was just so much we did, our little easter eggs that are back there, which I don't know if anyone noticed because it moved by so quickly. But it was a lot of fun for us.

Creating Admiral Burnham's 33rd Century Starfleet Uniform For Star Trek: Discovery's Finale Epilogue

I also have to ask you about Discovery 's finale coda jumping further into the future. Tell me about designing Admiral Burnham and the Starfleet uniforms of the future.

Anthony Tran: The Starfleet uniform, obviously, is pretty standardized in terms of color and cuts. So you think about. how do you put a new spin on that, especially knowing this is like so far in the future, further than we've ever seen? And so for me, my interests are always in the technology of how we put something together. I think if you look at that costume, we really stacked the way we sewed everything so it looks like everything's piped in and bound the way we put it together, just to create depth and dimension and build it out. It's still that same silhouette, but just the way it's put together is a little bit more tweaked and leveled. And with Brendan's costume, we did the same thing. Just because that was our language for how we put those costumes together at that time. Burnham's is inspired by The Wrath of Khan a little bit. I love those uniforms. Her son's is inspired by the TNG jumpsuits, which is my favorite, probably, Starfleet uniform iteration. So there are little bits of references in terms of things that I responded to, and it's meant to be this great little callback and a celebration of the show itself, and of Trek.

About Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.

Check out our other Star Trek: Discovery season 5 interviews here:

Sonequa Martin-Green
David Ajala and Doug Jones
Wilson Cruz, Mary Wiseman & Blu del Barrio
Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise
Callum Keith Rennie
Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis
David Ajala
Mary Wiseman
Elias Toufexis
Jonathan Frakes
Michelle Paradise

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Alex Kurtzman

Directors Jonathan Frakes, Olatunde Osunsanmi

Showrunner Alex Kurtzman

Where To Watch Paramount+

Star Trek: Discovery's Costume Designer On Creating Season 5 Starfleet Uniforms, Breen Suits & Saru's Wedding Attire

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COMMENTS

Star Trek's Starfleet Uniform Colors: What They Mean & Why They Changed
In the entire history of Star Trek, blue has always denoted that the officer wearing the uniform is attached to Starfleet's medical or scientific divisions.During the 23rd century, the gold uniform denoted command positions and were also worn by Star Trek's ace helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and navigator Lt. Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig). ). The red shirts were worn by the engineering ...
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Star Trek II's Change To Red Naval Starfleet Uniforms Explained. Wrath of Khan is essentially a movie about a conflict between two naval vessels, in space. Meyer was keen that Roddenberry's futuristic society be recognizable to a modern audience, and so he eschewed the more casual, looser uniforms of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
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Star Trek uniforms are costumes worn by actors portraying personnel of a fictitious Starfleet in various television series and films in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. During the various series, ... (Star Trek II): black indicates officer, red indicates cadet. There is also a field jacket for away missions with several large pockets ...
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According to an interview with Star Trek 's costume designer, William Theiss, the idea was for the show's uniforms to be red, blue, and green. In fact, on the set, Kirk's outfit certainly ...
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Kirk and Spock discover dead redshirts in the Star Trek episode "Obsession" (1967).. A "redshirt" is a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced.The term originates from the original Star Trek (NBC, 1966-69) television series in which the red-shirted security personnel frequently die during episodes. Redshirt deaths are often used to dramatize the potential peril the ...
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Redshirt is a term used by fans and staff of Star Trek to refer partially to the characters who wear red Starfleet uniforms, and mainly to refer to those characters who are expendable, and quite often killed, sometimes in great numbers, often security guards. They are the unlucky victims of attacks and sicknesses. Some redshirts could have referred to a lucky set of crew members with ...
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The Delta Shield. The colors: red, gold and blue. The form-fitting jackets and often black trousers. Even the confining jumpsuits. Star Trek uniforms have a special place in pop culture, equal in renown maybe only by the jerseys and full kits of certain sports teams. Let's take a look at some of the uniforms over the years and what messages they are sending to the galaxy.
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For the original Star Trek series and the Enterprise prequel that came later, the uniform color breakdowns are: Red - Engineering, Security, and Communications. Blue - Science and Medical ...
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In Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), and beyond, not only did the uniforms modernize, the color meanings changed. Let's delve into the significance of each uniform color: Red Uniforms: These are worn by command staff. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his senior officers sport these crimson hues. Red signifies leadership, decision-making, and ...
Star Trek Uniforms Fully Explained
In Star Trek: The Original Series, which ran from 1966 to 1969, you can't miss the brightly hued uniform shirts sported by the crew of the starship Enterprise.Captain James T. Kirk and other members of the command staff sport golden yellow tops, says Mental Floss.Blue is reserved for the science department and medical personnel, so you'll see it on Mr. Spock, the second-in-command, and the ...
What Do the Star Trek Uniform Colors Mean?
Star Trek uniform colors explained. The basic colors that outline Star Trek as a whole are an array of blue, red and gold. These colors line the bridge of the ship in every episode, and relate specifically to the various occupational roles that are performed on the ship. Each member wears the color that corresponds with that specific class or ...
Star Trek 101: 'TNG''s Primary Colors
Blue still means the wearer is in the sciences. The color distinctions are less pronounced than they were in Star Trek: The Original Series. Command red is a muted burgundy, gold is a mustard tone, blue is actually teal. The uniforms are primarily black, the contrasting color changes were instigated by the guys who previously wore red shirts.
Star Trek's Different Uniform Colors And Their Meanings Explained
Hence, in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," a new standard was put into place, and the all-red, Christmas sweater-like uniforms (seen in the picture above) would remain the standard through at ...
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The term originates from the classic Star Trek series (1966-1969), in which characters wearing a red jersey uniform frequently died. The death of such characters is often used to express the potential danger faced by the protagonists (who are destined to survive). In the rest of this article, we are going to further elaborate on the concept ...
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Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan would introduce one of the longest-lived uniforms in Starfleet history. These uniforms consisted of a red jacket, white long sleeved turtleneck and black pants with red piping. It also featured the now-iconic Starfleet insignia on the left breast, as well as new rank insignia on the right shoulder.
Why did Worf wear red in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season 1?
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When did the red shirt careers change to yellow shirts in Star Trek and
In the pilot original series episodes (The Cage and The Man Trap), the science and security personnel wore blue; once the series went into production, engineering and security wore (as you said) red.(Enterprise also used this division colour scheme, but in a subtle line on the otherwise uniform uniforms).In The Motion Picture, the security guards wore white uniforms with brown helmets and ...
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Dive into our Star Trek Uniform Collection for authentic, high-quality uniforms inspired by the iconic series. From classic designs to futuristic styles, our meticulously crafted uniforms ensure comfort and authenticity for conventions, parties, or casually displaying your fandom. Boldly go with us and explore the fina
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One was from 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,' those red uniforms. That was definitely the reference for Burnham, and we wanted it to be as bold as possible. We did two shades in our version.
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Anthony Tran's work on Star Trek: Discovery season 5 included designing the Breen, the villainous couple Moll and L'ak, and Saru and T'Rina's wedding. Tran's design process involved updating the ...