Which do you prefer? The iconic 60s TOS uniforms? The slick jumpsuit of the Enterprise-D? The utilitarian blue of the Archer era? Discovery’s pre-TOS/ 32nd century future style?

Let’s explore some of these uniforms styles, shall we?

With Kirk and crew, the original uniforms were made out of velour, then nylon in the 3^rd season. It was a 2 piece outfit with boots. The pants actually had sparkles too! But it was an unforgiving material in that it easily ripped and a big lunch could definitely show said William Shatner once.

In the TOS Movies, starting with "Star Trek The Motion Picture", gone are the vivid colors of the Series and replaced with white, brown, and grey suits of each department. Some were catsuits with the boots attached! It was overly utilitarian… is ugly utilitarian a thing? I liked Enterprise’s blue uniform because they had (pockets) real-world applications that would be needed on a new type of ship.  But these are just ugly and there’s no good excuse for them. This was not the Starfleet we had come to see through the Original Series. The only costume with any style at all is Spock’s Vulcan garb, with its all black, long cape-like elements it made him stand out amongst the dour drapes of Starfleet. If you love these costumes- please defend them! I look forward to your rebuttal!

In Wrath of Khan, everyone became a red shirt! Nicholas Meyer, the director wanted uniforms that were inspired by  “The Prisoner of Zenda”. As the budget was much smaller, they reused the bland uniforms of the first film and had the option to dye them blue-grey, gold, or dark red. They went with the dark red. The uniform went over a white turtleneck shirt and could open up as it was a double-breasted jacket. These uniforms continued with the crew of the Original Series till they retired from the movies. These uniforms are definitely more military-like (as that’s their inspiration) than Roddenberry initially wanted in his design plans. They aren’t overly ugly, I can see Discovery taking a page from them with their uniform. The ability to open gave the actors a way to utilize their uniform as part of their expression of the character. Especially Kirk.

In “The Next Generation”, it was, for many seasons, a one piece jumpsuit or the skant made out of spandex.. Both were extremely form fitting, non-gendered and even more unforgiving than the original series uniforms. It was changed up in later seasons with the two piece wool fabric uniforms,  jacket and pants, along with variations of undershirts.

Deep Space Nine and Voyager’s uniforms had the division colors on the shoulders with a black torso jumpsuit made out of materials kinder to the actors.

In Enterprise, a prequel to the original series, the uniforms looked nothing like the slick ones of the Picard’s time. They wore hardy blue jumpsuits that resembled the materials that armed services personnel wear today. They had the one thing that actors had been begging for: Pockets!

Discovery’s original uniform was blue giving link to what it was in Enterprise; a blue jacket with a shirt and pants combination but it was more sleek and futuristic than it was practical. The uniform later transitioned into one similar to the original series. After finding the remains of the Federation and Starfleet in the 32^nd century the uniforms changed to a grey uniform with command colors with a vertical stripe.

In Star Trek Picard, the uniforms had details in their uniforms not seen before. Present on the fabric are tiny delta insignias. Very cool detail. Overall the uniforms were all very similar.

Which uniform style was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!!