Should Voyager have started using the new uniforms?

[MatthiasRussell]

After First Contact, DS9 started using the FC uniforms. After the Pathfinder Project established regular contact between Voyager and Starfleet, there would be communications between officers in different uniform styles. Should Starfleet have sent the uniform pattern to Voyager? Should Command or Janeway have required the crew to wear the updated uniforms to maintain uniformity across the fleet? Were the new uniforms never used simply to save on Voyager’s budget?

 

[Guy Gardener]

from mortal Coil
It seems like every time I turn around I'm recycling her clothes back into the replicator.

From TNG In Theory
KEIKO: Every night, Miles leaves his socks on the floor. When we got married, I made the mistake of picking them up a few times. Then I realised, if I kept it up I'd be doing it the rest of my life. So I stopped, figuring he'd get the point and do it himself. One night goes by, two, a week, ten days. By now there's a pile of socks half a metre high.
O'BRIEN: Come on, it wasn't half a metre.
KEIKO: After two weeks I couldn't stand it any more. I bundled them up and put them in the cleaning processor. And I'm still doing it.
O'BRIEN: And a very good job she does of it, too.

The only thing stopping them was J... Actually? Chakotay, whosoever is in the XO position, is more directly in control of the crew than Janeway.

 

[Timewalker]

I thought the First Contact uniforms were ugly. And there was nothing wrong with keeping the old uniforms. At least they were uniforms.

As for cleaning/replicating clothing, I suppose that depends on the item, what resources are available, and what the individual's personal preferences are. I gotta wonder how Seven could possibly be "fresh as a daisy", considering she never removed her catsuit except on the holodeck - not even between work/regeneration/work shifts. Maybe Borg nanoprobes kept her clean?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I always assumed that the cleaning process included, by definition, 'breaking down' the old uniforms and replicating new ones, every time. Thus it would be a trivial task to get Voyager's computers to use the new uniform patterns vs. the old ones.

Although I don't really care that they didn't do this. I thought that VOY used the old unis just so the show could maintain its unique style. And that's OK. I wouldn't have *expected* them to adopt the new ones, but it'd make in-universe sense if they had.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Regeneration could clean?

I doubt that Anika only has one set of clothes.

Although, she doesn't seem to have a wardrobe cabinet, and she regenerates in her clothes and then heads directly to work form that position...

Einstein, found a look he liked and then bought 30 identical sets of clothing.

Ditto for Seven?

 

[F. King Daniel]

I thought the FC uniforms looked good in FC, but I got bored of them really quickly in DS9.

Voyager's uniforms have always looked incredibly dull to me (still a step up from Next Gen, which, aside from Picard's jacket, just looked plain BAD). I much preferred some of the designs used in concept art in "A Vision of the Future" (or was it "The Art of Star Trek"?), which seemingly influenced Star Trek Online's costumes.

So, I'd prefer neither, and that they wore good costumes.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I'm surprised Tom didn't acquire 300 "I'm with Stupid" T-Shirts when they were rummaging through Historic LA.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

Irregardless of our personal taste in uniforms (I like the FC uniforms myself), the issue is should they have used them as members of Starfleet.

My thought is, once they established contact with Starfleet via Pathfinder, they would have started using the new uniforms to maintain fleet uniformity and because it would be a morale booster, making the crew feel they were still members of Starfleet and keeping up with their collegues. It was odd seeing Janeway talking to Admiral Paris and company while in different uniforms; I'm surprised Paris didn't order a change.

It wouldn't have required any extra effort to use the new uniforms since Starfleet could send the replicator program in the data stream. Then, as uniforms were exchanged in the replicator, they swap them out. In both DS9 and Generations, we saw officers wearing different uniforms during a transition period.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It was most likely just a decision by the show runners. They probably thought viewers would get confused if they saw VOY with the new uniforms.

 

[Guy Gardener]

maybe there was some back slap over on ds9?

The the realy reason is that the show runners wanted a series that could be aired out of order and it still wouldn't offend the casual superficial tourists.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I'm glad they didn't switch to the new uniforms. That was something they could look forward to once they got home and officially rejoined the fleet.

 

[MacLeod]

The change from the DSN style uniform to the FC uniform was the least of the issues VOY had.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

^No argument here. I still thought it was an interesting topic.

We could always move along to where did they keep all those shuttles and how did the Delta Flyer get out the door!?!

 

[exodus]

The change from the DSN style uniform to the FC uniform was the least of the issues VOY had.

Agreed.
If your morale is going to be based on the latest fashion in uniform you wear, then you've got deeper issues that need dealing with.

 

[Timewalker]

I always assumed that the cleaning process included, by definition, 'breaking down' the old uniforms and replicating new ones, every time. Thus it would be a trivial task to get Voyager's computers to use the new uniform patterns vs. the old ones.

That would be an incredible waste of energy. As long as the item is still intact and serviceable, why not just clean it instead of using up extra energy to recycle it and make a new one?

Regeneration could clean?

I doubt that Anika only has one set of clothes.

Although, she doesn't seem to have a wardrobe cabinet, and she regenerates in her clothes and then heads directly to work form that position...

Einstein, found a look he liked and then bought 30 identical sets of clothing.

Ditto for Seven?

No, of course she didn't only have one set of clothes. She alternated among her brown, blue, and pinkish catsuits for most of her time on the series. She only wore the silver one in the first couple of episodes after she was de-Borgified.

The only place where I've ever seen the issue of her privacy addressed is in a fanfic I recently read: Janeway ordered her to lock the cargo bay door while she was dressing/undressing, to spare any more hapless Ensigns the embarrassment of seeing her naked when they walked in without knocking (no, it wasn't Harry; it was an even more hapless Ensign, whose name escapes me because he wasn't a canon character that I can recall).

^No argument here. I still thought it was an interesting topic.

We could always move along to where did they keep all those shuttles and how did the Delta Flyer get out the door!?!

I simply speculate that over the decades since "By Any Other Name" (TOS episode about the Kelvans), Starfleet figured out how to apply their shrinking stuff into powdered dodecahedrons to the problem of storing large objects in small spaces (inorganic things). So whenever Chakotay crashed another shuttle, they just took a new one out of the supply closet, zapped it, (or added water and stirred, however it worked), and presto!

 

[exodus]

Where on Voyager besides the replicator would clean a uniform?

They don't even have closets or dressers to put away clothes in.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I wonder if for the greater good, Tuvok checks to see which clothing is being replicleaned in the wrong bedrooms?

There's one line from Missing that stayed with me...

'If you can't find the mole in your organization, look who's sleeping with you, and that's usually them."

 

[Timewalker]

Where on Voyager besides the replicator would clean a uniform?

They don't even have closets or dressers to put away clothes in.

I find it ludicrous that even in the 24th century, they don't have some kind of washing machine. After all, given how B'Elanna can flange up just about anything, why couldn't she make a sonic shower/cleaning thingy that works on fabric? Assuming, of course, that the Federation doesn't already use such technology.

And they do so have closets; there are numerous references in the fiction to so-and-so taking their dress uniform or civilian clothing out of their closet. I forget which character on which series (Julian, on DS9?) forgot to pack his dress uniform.

After all, given the way energy was being rationed at times, the crew would need a way to clean their clothing without having to replicate new stuff all the time. Otherwise, they'd be running around naked when they didn't have enough energy to spare.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Back on page one.

from mortal Coil
It seems like every time I turn around I'm recycling her clothes back into the replicator.

From TNG In Theory
KEIKO: Every night, Miles leaves his socks on the floor. When we got married, I made the mistake of picking them up a few times. Then I realised, if I kept it up I'd be doing it the rest of my life. So I stopped, figuring he'd get the point and do it himself. One night goes by, two, a week, ten days. By now there's a pile of socks half a metre high.
O'BRIEN: Come on, it wasn't half a metre.
KEIKO: After two weeks I couldn't stand it any more. I bundled them up and put them in the cleaning processor. And I'm still doing it.
O'BRIEN: And a very good job she does of it, too.

The only thing stopping them was J... Actually? Chakotay, whosoever is in the XO position, is more directly in control of the crew than Janeway.

Also the sonic shower can probably be turned into a sonic washing machine, and the bathtub Neelix used in the pilot could also be turned into a washing tub in a pinch with actual water.

 

[exodus]

They already had a cook, so they were alrea

Where on Voyager besides the replicator would clean a uniform?

They don't even have closets or dressers to put away clothes in.

I find it ludicrous that even in the 24th century, they don't have some kind of washing machine. After all, given how B'Elanna can flange up just about anything, why couldn't she make a sonic shower/cleaning thingy that works on fabric? Assuming, of course, that the Federation doesn't already use such technology.

And they do so have closets; there are numerous references in the fiction to so-and-so taking their dress uniform or civilian clothing out of their closet. I forget which character on which series (Julian, on DS9?) forgot to pack his dress uniform.

After all, given the way energy was being rationed at times, the crew would need a way to clean their clothing without having to replicate new stuff all the time. Otherwise, they'd be running around naked when they didn't have enough energy to spare.

I don't see why when you have such fictional things as a replicator, that you'd need something as stone age as a washing machine or still need to store things in a closet. The uniforms aren't even made from a fabric known to us in the 21st century. Where on the show is a closet mentioned? Wouldn't you guess they'd ration the use of the replicator just so they could use the energy when needed to create a clean uniform. They already had a cook onboard, so half the energy used for food was being saved up. More energy to use for uniforms.