It might be a commercial site, but it’s got a nice info-graphic on the changing styles of Star Trek uniforms over the years. I know that there is a ret-con out there somewhere for why the command and operations changed colours, but I’ve never liked it (and Memory Alpha is suspiciously silent on the issue). Command should be gold and operations red, but I will admit, Sir Patrick looks better in red than gold.

I really, really liked the Enterprise era coveralls; they seemed functional, comfortable and somehow just “right” (in the way the the Babylon 5 Earth Alliance ships seemed “right”). It’s was something I could believe would be worn on a space ship.

The TNG leotards was a 80s thing, and like so many styles from the 80s was an affront to taste. The costume designers learned the error of their ways quickly and the tunic and pants were much better, and Picard’s jacket (seen far far to seldom) was quite stunning.

After that, it was just a variation on a theme. The grey shoulders with the coloured under-tunic of DS9gave a nice militaristic feel, but didn’t really do anything interesting. Voyager, for no discernible reason, had the colours on the shoulder despite being set in the same period as DS9. That, however, was the least of Voyager’s sins.

Though it’s not shown in the chart, I do have to comment on the uniforms designed for Abram’s reboot. The design patterned the tunics with miniature Enterprise emblems that made them look far too busy. Yes, I know, it looked good on the screen, but something more subtle like hexagons might have worked better to give the impression of structure and “stretchiness” that they were going for.

Nothing, however, really beats the original series. I know that’s nostalgia and not costume design.

Star Trek Uniform Guide – Costume SuperCenter

MS