When did the Monster Maroons replace the Pyjamas?

[Admiral Archer]

In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, both behind the scenes and in the story, the powers that be decided that the Starfleet Uniform design from TOS (the 2260s in-universe) needed to be updated. Real-world behind the scenes reasoning was probably that the simple design of the TV uniforms wouldn't hold up on a movie screen. So the uniforms were changed to pastel colored utilitarian two-piece outfits and jumpsuits with a more 70s sensibility.

The audience's verdict? They were AWFUL.

I count myself as one of the few who not only love the TMP uniform design, but consider it my favorite and truer to Star Trek in theme and style than any other uniform design. But enough people (including the cast members themselves, who refused to wear them in Star Trek II) convinced the powers that be that the "pyjama" uniforms were in need of another, second upgrade. Enter the Star Trek Movie Proper uniforms, which this time paired a crimson jacket over a division-colored turtleneck with black trousers, AKA the "Monster Maroons" as they came to be known among certain fan circles.

All this is well known today, but here's the point of my post: IN-UNIVERSE, when were the pyjama uniforms of TMP replaced by the Monster Maroons? Specifically, what year? Head canon is required in this instance, as no canon source depicts the switch (although the earliest chronological appearance of the Monster Maroons is 2278, when the Soyuz-class USS Bozeman disappears, only to reappear nearly 90 years later during the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation) and the era in which the change was made is woefully under-explored. So basically the question is, when do YOU think Captain Kirk and the crew of the Refit Enterprise NCC-1701 said "To hell with it, we need new uniforms, we can't even sit in these damn things"?

 

[NCC-73515]

There was also something in the comics where Uhura said she likes the new TMP unis, but I can't find it right now...

 

[Ssosmcin]

There was also something in the comics where Uhura said she likes the new TMP unis, but I can't find it right now...

I think it was in the DC Comics "Final Mission" where she says "try spending 5 years in a mini-skirt." Her point was conceded.

I liked the Monster Maroons but felt they worked best as formal, dress uniforms. Not duty uniforms unless the A/C was cranked up pretty high.

The two piece versions of the TMP wardrobe was, for my money, smashing. Those looked the best. I mean, it was amusing how often Kirk changed his clothes in such a short period of time, but he looked great in the white shirt and the Admiral uniform.

 

[PCz911]

The maroons looked like a high school band uniform. However, I’m sure they were designed to better hide the expanding girth of aging actors.

 

[Ssosmcin]

And yes, it was in the DC Comics Annual #2 - 1986.

Scotty: "I, for one, don't fancy zippin' around space in a pair o' pajamas!"
Uhura: "Is that so? Well, you might feel a little differently if you'd spent the last five years wearing a mini-skirt."
Scotty: "Er...aye...there is that..."

 

[fireproof78]

Doesn't that ignore Nicoles attitude towards the mini-skirts?

 

[Dukhat]

There is no canon information as to when the uniforms were changed between TMP and when the Bozeman was lost.

 

[Relayer1]

I loved the TMP uniforms. I loved the whole look of TMP.

I wish they'd set a new show in that period. Maybe the last episode could answer the question of when the change occurred.

 

[Orac]

^ They did set a show in that period, it was called Space: 1999

 

[Ssosmcin]

Doesn't that ignore Nicoles attitude towards the mini-skirts?

Maybe. It certainly goes counter to Grace Lee Whitney's but what the actor likes doesn't have to mirror the character. It was a fun counterpoint. I suppose they could have used Nurse Chapel.

 

[fireproof78]

Maybe. It certainly goes counter to Grace Lee Whitney's but what the actor likes doesn't have to mirror the character. It was a fun counterpoint. I suppose they could have used Nurse Chapel.

True, but the line just stood out oddly to me in that comic. Scotty and Uhura have this exchange and it's like, I don't know, very meta. Like it didn't feel natural to the character at all.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Yeah, I get it. The comics have a lot of meta comments and re-use of lines from the films which drove me a little nuts. The movies were guilty of being a little meta as well.

 

[fireproof78]

Yeah, I get it. The comics have a lot of meta comments and re-use of lines from the films which drove me a little nuts. The movies were guilty of being a little meta as well.

What's funny to me is that it ignores a lot of the history with the characters to make the meta point.

The movies would do so too, but that one just kind of hung there in the comic. It was not great.

 

[BillJ]

Yeah, I get it. The comics have a lot of meta comments and re-use of lines from the films which drove me a little nuts. The movies were guilty of being a little meta as well.

Yet, buying them new in the 1980's was magical.

 

[XCV330]

There have been times Starfleet had multiple uniform choices.

The Disco Blues and the TOS Colors worn at the same time (maybe the latter relegated to certain ships)

DS9 uniforms/TNG uniforms/Voy uniforms were worn at around the same time at different points.
The California class uniform, for want of a better term, is worn concurrently with other post-movie era unis.

Then there's the whole Kelvin timeline with academy maroons.. and HATS.. glorious hats.

So I'd suspect Maroons and PJ's were both concurrent for at least a little while. Some admiral's bulge or lack thereof or moose knuckle got too much attention in the PJ's and that was the end of it. I mean, we've never seen a petty admiral make fleet universe affecting decisions for personal reasons..

 

[Ssosmcin]

Yet, buying them new in the 1980's was magical.

Agreed! I still have my entire collection. The first run before they reboot in its entirety and most of the second until the art got just too awful to keep going.

But they really captured the feel of the movies for the first few years. They even did a very subtle switch from Kirstie Alley's likeness to Robin Curtis in time for the third movie.

 

[fireproof78]

There have been times Starfleet had multiple uniform choices.

The Disco Blues and the TOS Colors worn at the same time (maybe the latter relegated to certain ships)

DS9 uniforms/TNG uniforms/Voy uniforms were worn at around the same time at different points.
The California class uniform, for want of a better term, is worn concurrently with other post-movie era unis.

Then there's the whole Kelvin timeline with academy maroons.. and HATS.. glorious hats.

So I'd suspect Maroons and PJ's were both concurrent for at least a little while. Some admiral's bulge or lack thereof or moose knuckle got too much attention in the PJ's and that was the end of it. I mean, we've never seen a petty admiral make fleet universe affecting decisions for personal reasons..

Going by footage the Cage uniforms and classic uniforms were used at the same time as well.

And TNG/DS9/VOY were even used on the same command. So, I can imagine there was some use of the TMP uniforms, possibly as field or station based assignments, as the Maroons were introduced. Bearing in mind the first time we saw the Maroons was at the Academy, using the Enterprise as a training vessel. So, the Maroons may have started out as an Earth based uniform of the day that slowly spread out.

 

[Ssosmcin]

In the real world, there's always overlap as uniforms are distributed and deployed personnel catch up. But in a TV and movie world where, even at its most 60's primitive, the computer prepared clothing, what overlap would there have to be?

"Captain, the notice to change to the new uniforms came in."
"Okay, program the computer and have everyone start wearing theirs at the next duty shift."

 

[C.E. Evans]

I tend to think that the TWOK uniforms were first introduced around 2277, a year before we saw the crew of the USS Bozeman had them and maybe a year or two after a conjectural second five-year mission for Kirk's Enterprise. While there's been a lot of real world criticism of the TMP uniforms, there's no real reason to believe any of that was true in-universe. Starfleet is constantly evolving and changing, and nothing reflects that ever-changing nature more than the uniforms, IMO. The TMP uniforms could simply have been retired because of a changing political climate in the Federation at the time or just that they had just run their course like previous uniforms had.

 

[fireproof78]

In the real world, there's always overlap as uniforms are distributed and deployed personnel catch up. But in a TV and movie world where, even at its most 60's primitive, the computer prepared clothing, what overlap would there have to be?

"Captain, the notice to change to the new uniforms came in."
"Okay, program the computer and have everyone start wearing theirs at the next duty shift."

I always imagined there are different commands under different admirals who determine how the uniforms are to be rolled out inside their command, with parameters set out for a time when everyone must comply fully.