Why is command wearing blue?

[M'Sharak]

Kaziarl wrote:

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From your link (its off of a scanned article, so I can't copy/paste, nor can I link the image):

Too dang funny.

This one?

[Kaziarl]

That just goes to the top of the gallery, the same picture as your avatar. The page I'm referring to is in the right hand column, second one down.

[I am not Spock]

It didn't bother me. If the department colours/uniforms changed between TOS season three and TMP; again between TMP and TWOK; and between TUC and TNG; I can accept them changing in the 80 years between ENT and the beginning of XI.

To paraphrase McCoy: 'I know Starfleet uniform designers, they LOVE to change things'!

Actually, the Kelvin uniforms in 2233 reminded me of the future uniforms we saw in TNG's 'All Good Things', DS9's 'The Visitor', and VOY's 'Endgame'.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

cooleddie74 wrote:

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Was it just me, or was Admiral Pike's new dress uniform at the very end of the movie somewhat reminiscent of the one Kirk wore at the start of TMP?

Yep, they did that on purpose.

[JarodRussell]

I always found the constant change in uniforms pretty ridiculous. How many times do uniform designs change in real military?

Voyager was the only ship that had the same uniforms for 7 years, and that's just because she was stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Picard's Enterprise(s) went through 4 uniform designs in 8 years. They even had two different uniforms scattered randomly across the officers at the same time in Generations, which is the peak of unbelievability, I guess.

So the TWOK design is the "most successful" uniform design, it stayed from the 2280s to the 2350s. While all the others barely made it 3-4 years average.

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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Yep, they did that on purpose.

Can you cite a source? I'm all ears for an interview with the costume designer.

[billcosby]

I guess the Kelvin's uniforms did close the "unknown gap" between Enterprise and TOS although only slightly.

M'Sharak's avatar is cool.

[Alpha_Geek]

billcosby wrote:

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It just occured to me on board the Kelvin that command (George Kirk, Robau) are wearing blue.

Was this discussed before?

Maybe Kelvin was primarily a scientific vessel?

[I am not Spock]

JarodRussell wrote:

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I always found the constant change in uniforms pretty ridiculous. How many times do uniform designs change in real military?

Voyager was the only ship that had the same uniforms for 7 years, and that's just because she was stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Picard's Enterprise(s) went through 4 uniform designs in 8 years. They even had two different uniforms scattered randomly across the officers at the same time in Generations, which is the peak of unbelievability, I guess.

So the TWOK design is the "most successful" uniform design, it stayed from the 2280s to the 2350s. While all the others barely made it 3-4 years average.

Can you cite a source? I'm all ears for an interview with the costume designer.

The change in uniforms every couple of years in Starfleet is probably because, I assume, the toy companies wanted to pump out a new line of figurines!

The TWOK era ones, indeed, are the most long-lived, surviving for decades. The First Contact/late DS9 ones lasted for quite a while, too.

I didn't so much mind the crew wearing both TNG season 7 and DS9/VOY jumpsuits in Generations, because it showed a kind of transition period between the two designs. Just like we saw background extras wearing early TNG jumpsuits in later TNG episodes.

[Corinthian7]

gastrof wrote:

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Haven't read all the replies, but the thought hit me right away that the Command uniforms on the Kelvin were based on the fact ALL of Archer's crew (and the crew of its sister ship, late in the ENT series) were BLUE.

Notice that during the TOS film period, the uniforms were all red, and nearly a century later (TNG) when Starfleet went back to a tri-color system, red became the Command color, apparently left over from the earlier (TOS movie) red uniforms.

Makes sense that on the Kelvin, the Archer-era uniform color became the color for Command.

Twenty years later, the three colors used on the Archer-era stripes were used as the basis for the uniform colors on starships, and maybe elsewhere.

I like this theory. I think I might adopt as part of my personal 'canon'!

[I am not Spock]

^ Indeed, that is a good theory. I will subscribe to this one.

[Nerys Myk]

JarodRussell wrote:

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I always found the constant change in uniforms pretty ridiculous. How many times do uniform designs change in real military?

Voyager was the only ship that had the same uniforms for 7 years, and that's just because she was stranded in the Delta Quadrant. Picard's Enterprise(s) went through 4 uniform designs in 8 years. They even had two different uniforms scattered randomly across the officers at the same time in Generations, which is the peak of unbelievability, I guess.

Trek is entertaiment, so when it comes to costuming the real world need not apply. The concerns of a TV show or movie is different than that of a real military.

TOS had four different uniform types (five if you count the pilots) The black collared shirts, jump suits, dress uniforms and the wrap arounds. It wasn't unusual to see two types together. I think the second TNG uniform popped up on DS9 from time to time. So I look upon the DS9 uniforms being in the same "group" as the TNG ones. Sort of like when my dad was in the Aiir Force. He usually wore his kahkis, but on occasion he would dress in his blues or fatigues.

[Kaziarl]

JarodRussell wrote:

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I always found the constant change in uniforms pretty ridiculous. How many times do uniform designs change in real military?

More often then one might think. We just recently switched to using ACU's over the whole of the US military, some units still being phased but for the most part its done. And they are already talking about the next design.

[cooleddie74]

Kaziarl wrote:

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More often then one might think. We just recently switched to using ACU's over the whole of the US military, some units still being phased but for the most part its done. And they are already talking about the next design.

True. I was in Air Force ROTC when the USAF changed its standard blue dress jackets in use since the 1950s and 60s to remove the breast pockets and buttons and a couple of other features, streamlining them somewhat. And since then there've probably been other alterations I'm not aware of.

[Therin of Andor]

I am not Spock wrote:

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The change in uniforms every couple of years in Starfleet is probably because, I assume, the toy companies wanted to pump out a new line of figurines!

Actually, this was stated by the producers. There was an expectation that the toy licensees would have regular "new stuff" to release, otherwise there was no need for them to extend their licenses.

[cooleddie74]

I guess in a multispecies alliance/union like the Federation you'd get some races wanting different uniform styles from time to time and Starfleet would change them based on a majority decision or something.