• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Thoughts on Discovery Starfleet Uniforms (Trailer Edition)

Challenge accepted:

afk13c.jpg
Very nice! Thank you
 
I'm not digging the chainmail material. Seems to kind of straddle between looking like armor and looking like something you wear out to the disco. Silvery material is also super cliche to use for a sci-fi show (think of the Lost in Space faux flight suits).
Awful and dull. Drab and boring. Talk about dreary.
 
If it's not a big deal then why talk about how Discovery revolves around a pivotal moment in Star Trek history?

That's the paradox of Star Trek. The moment you plop a show down into existing continuity you can't ignore canon. You're taking advantage of existing canon as the inspiration for your show. Then you have to decide how you are going to thread the needle between leveraging what your predecessors built and factoring in the passage of real-world time and all of the fashion trends that have come and gone.
Star Trek is fiction. In other words, it's not a historical documentary. It's not a record of events that happened It's television for fucks sake!
That means, that the producers can: A) do whatever the hell they want with the new show, including making Kirk Spock's half-brother from his mothers side and making Saavek Mcoy's long lost daughter.
That also means you can either A) watch it or B) don't watch it (or C) bitch about it not being "true canon" on the internet)
 
The uniforms and equipment make no sense continuity wise.

It was stated for a fact that the events of The Cage took place 13 years before TOS.
This series supposedly takes place 10 years before TOS.
The events of WNMHGB take place a few months before the events of main TOS.

So, in a short time span, we go from:
  • The Cage-style uniforms and equipment (sweaters, rank braids, see-thru communicators)
  • Discovery-style uniforms and equipment (nylon-jackets, patches with the rank, gold and black plastic comms)
  • Back to The Cage-style uniforms and equipment in WNM (sweaters, braids, see-thru comms)
  • TOS uniforms and equipment.
And before you say the Discovery uniforms match the the uniforms of Enterprise, let me remind you that The Cage takes place between the two series.
 
The uniforms and equipment make no sense continuity wise.

It was stated for a fact that the events of The Cage took place 13 years before TOS.
This series supposedly takes place 10 years before TOS.
The events of WNMHGB take place a few months before the events of main TOS.

So, in a short time span, we go from:
  • The Cage-style uniforms and equipment (sweaters, rank braids, see-thru communicators)
  • Discovery-style uniforms and equipment (nylon-jackets, patches with the rank, gold and black plastic comms)
  • Back to The Cage-style uniforms and equipment in WNM (sweaters, braids, see-thru comms)
  • TOS uniforms and equipment.
And before you say the Discovery uniforms match the the uniforms of Enterprise, let me remind you that The Cage takes place between the two series.

So? Ignore the cage uniforms , they are from a failed plot of a 1960's TV show. They are reflections of the 1960's styling, there is zero reason to use them or even the TOS style uniforms really.
 
So? Ignore the cage uniforms , they are from a failed plot of a 1960's TV show. They are reflections of the 1960's styling, there is zero reason to use them or even the TOS style uniforms really.

Stylistically, you should be in the same ballpark, if you are truly part of the Prime timeline. It would be tough to take seriously material that takes place between Superman and Superman II, where the Superman suit, Metropolis, the styles and technology are completely different from what came before and what came after.

That Discovery is making its own way isn't a deal breaker for me, I can simply treat it as a reboot, which Star Trek generally really needs, in my opinion. I just wished they were brave enough to do an actual reboot. One where we can match Star Trek up with the real world and technology without having to squint and make excuses for why things are different.

Everyone's Mileage May Vary...

EDIT: And you really can't ignore "The Cage" because it is canon due to its inclusion in "The Menagerie".
 
Stylistically, you should be in the same ballpark, if you are truly part of the Prime timeline. It would be tough to take seriously material that takes place between Superman and Superman II, where the Superman suit, Metropolis, the styles and technology are completely different from what came before and what came after.

That Discovery is making its own way isn't a deal breaker for me, I can simply treat it as a reboot, which Star Trek generally really needs, in my opinion. I just wished they were brave enough to do an actual reboot. One where we can match Star Trek up with the real world and technology without having to squint and make excuses for why things are different.

Everyone's Mileage May Vary...

EDIT: And you really can't ignore "The Cage" because it is canon due to its inclusion in "The Menagerie".

I can and have indeed ignored the look of the cage, the events are canon, the style and look used in a TV show changes all the time. This is not a setting reboot, it is a style reboot just like TMP was a massive style reboot. The only reason to make it look like a 1960's TV show it to make a small ever shrinking group of die hard fan boys happy. There are dozens of reasons not to do this, chief among them is the long term success of the series.
 
Whilst I do not really like these uniforms and I do wish that the show would have opted for slightly more TOS inspired look, ignoring the Cage is not a big deal. It is just one episode. Similarly I'd expect producers to ignore various future uniforms we have seen once in a while if there ever would be a post-Nemesis Trek show. If this show ever gets to the proper TOS period and the uniforms still won't look anything like in TOS, then I'd be annoyed (JJ style is close enough for me.)

Though It would be a nice touch if these Discovery uniforms would have the Cage inspired undershirts!
 
The only way I can see this working out is if they meant that it takes place 10 years before TOS, which includes The Cage. Therefore, it takes place in the 2240s.
 
The only way I can see this working out is if they meant that it takes place 10 years before TOS, which includes The Cage. Therefore, it takes place in the 2240s.

Pretty sure they have already gave the years as the 50's. I think you guys are gonna have to accept the 1960's cage look has been retconned out.
 
I have consistently maintained, and I still maintain, that a look inspired by sleek, clean-lined '60s modernism (while not being exactly like TOS) could have been a big hit, considering the huge popularity of Mad Men and everybody now clamoring to do their interior decorating in a style highly reminiscent of that aesthetic.

I'm not going to ignore anything from "The Cage." Starfleet is a big organization, and there is room for variety in different branches of the service. There's no reason different uniforms and ship exterior and interior designs can't coexist in the same timeframe. Even during Kirk's five-year mission, the crew of the Antares (whether actually Starfleet or possibly some kind of merchant marine) was still using Cage-type uniforms. So of course they really existed in-universe. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, and there's no reason to try to retcon them out of existence. :rolleyes:

For ST-DIS, I actually wish they had used USS Kelvin-type uniforms as a precursor to TOS.

Kor
 
Last edited:
If it's not a big deal then why talk about how Discovery revolves around a pivotal moment in Star Trek history?
Uniform choices ≠ pivotal historical events.

Hell, even the details of pivotal historical events have been tweaked to fit a new Trek production while still honoring the overall canon by acknowledging the same general historical events took place.
 
For ST-DIS, I actually wish they had used USS Kelvin-type uniforms as a precursor to TOS.

I actually thought they'd go down a similar route, just tweaking it to look a bit nicer and not like a moustache on a shirt.
 
I've watched the trailer a dozen times now, and I just don't like those uniforms. There is way too much going on with the weird piping and the 'chain mail' sides. I prefer the simplicity of the TOS uniforms.
This is a little too much old school sci-fi for my tastes "Hey guys, let's see how much metal shit we can throw on to these shirts!"

Exactly. Also what makes them go from Yellow and Blue uniforms---to discovery Armour---than back to simple shirts Yellow,Blue and later the Addition of Red???? Again I'm not saying put them in velour shirts. But simple color coded shirts. Something that looks like they were actually trying to honor the asthetics. That's something Abrahms Trek got right were the look of the uniforms??
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top