1960's and risqué clothes?

[Neopeius]

Is this the only show made in the sixties that you've seen? As Maurice pointed out it was hardly unusual. This was the era of miniskirts, bikinis and the sexual revolution.
I doubt skin was a factor in the shows cancelation. In fact it may have help it stay around longer than it should have with its high cost and low rating.

This season of Burke's Law (1964-65), there were a couple of episodes I called "Sweeps Week" because all the women were in bikinis or other ridiculously scanty clothes. It was kind of annoying to me and my daughter.

 

[Neopeius]

Andy Griffith and Father Knows Best (which was from the 50s) were very obviously family shows about um... family... so of course they weren't racy.

Not only that, but Andy Griffith, while set in the 60s, was meant to evoke the 30s.

 

[Nakita Akita]

To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the mini, but you couldn't find anything else when I was a teen.

As a kid, I didn't mind as I kind of grew up with it. But I'd have preferred a few more inches on the hemline in my teens. Since it didn't happen, I just dealt.

I was very lucky in that at that age, I looked good and could rock the mini. Many other women didn't look as good in one but had no choice.

So while some liked the style and found it empowering, some of us felt it was a pain in the ass, even if we looked good in it.

As soon as I could wear blue jeans to school (and could talk my father into letting me do so), I said goodbye to skirts and dresses. Blue jeans and t-shirts for the WIN.

Wow, I never even thought about it like that.
I was just a toddler in the 60's.
I probably looked cute in my mini skirts.

 

[T'Bonz]

I was very fortunate that I was slim then. To be honest, most teens were back in the day; obesity in the young wasn't very common.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I don't think those were authentic costume designs from the source, more just instructions on how fans could create reasonably accurate replicas.

You get no argument from me on that.

 

[Phoenix219]

Kirk: Scotty, why don't we have power?
Scotty, played by Yul Brynner: The Klingon disrupters fused our power couplings et cetera et cetera et cetera.
Kirk: How long will it take to fix them?
Scotty: I will have them fixed in four hours! So let it be written! So let it be done!

That just reminded me of Galaxy Quest haha.

 

[Lance]

The conservativeness of older television is often overestimated. I'm often surprised how contemporary some of the jokes on Johnny Carson are. In some ways we've gotten more conservative on TV since the 60s.

Heck, go back even further to pre-Hays Code Hollywood, early movies, ane there are even things there that'd be risque today. Sometimes society gets more conservative and lesa permissive. Just in astonishly different ways.

 

[Commishsleer]

Mary Anne was wholesome though
And they didn't do a lot of butt camera angles on Mary Anne.
Star Trek is rife with create camera angles on the women

Honestly when they do the soft focus and the music when showing a female guest star on screen I automatically dismiss her as a person. She has to make it up to me by doing something awesome as an officer, crewman or arch-villain.I used to dislike Helen Noel until the scene when she escapes and kills the evil henchman without waiting for Kirk or one of the men to save her.
Take Elaan - the camera traced up her scantily clad body in I say a highly sexist manner. If that was all TOS was about I would have never become a fan.

Luckily the series is not all bikini clad babes in soft focus. There were some strong women characters in the series although some of them were insane or "villains" like the Romulan Commander. But there were competent women - T'Pau, Areal Shaw, Charlene Masters, Number One, Vanna.

I thought the best part about Next Generation was that in season three everyone had the same uniforms.(for the most part)
As it should be. Otherwise it's not a uniform at all.
I guess I thought when I was young, that some day women would smarten up and not let themselves or choose to be objectified.

I have been watching Season One of TNG and am pretty shocked that the camera is always centered on Trois boobs when she's in a scene. I never remember noticing that when I originally saw it. I think they did get better later maybe when she wore less racier outfits.
If anyone turned up to my work today wearing something like Troi's, Uhura's. T'Pol's uniforms everyone would look at them weirdly. However in the 60s or the 80s it might have been OK. OK T'Pol outfit would have always been inappropriate but if you looked like her you could wear anything and get away with it.

 

[mb22]

As for the TOS uniforms, those were more mini-culottes or "skorts" than miniskirts per se, so there were brief-cut shorts built into the dress, like leotards with skirtlike flaps added to make them look like minidresses. So it wasn't like the women would actually risk flashing their panties or anything.

Not so sure about the Turkish Star Trek film:
https://ibb.co/W56k9mf

 

[jaime]

Not so sure about the Turkish Star Trek film:
https://pasteboard.co/ISwDbbE.jpg

Looks like a trip to the hairdresser in 1999.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Not so sure about the Turkish Star Trek film:
https://ibb.co/W56k9mf

 

[jaime]

Was just watching some Buffy for the first time in years, and thinking about this thread. I mean there are some examples of current to VOY era Trek fashion you can sort of compare and contrast. Kes in particular would have been fine.

 

[Jayson1]

To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the mini, but you couldn't find anything else when I was a teen.

As a kid, I didn't mind as I kind of grew up with it. But I'd have preferred a few more inches on the hemline in my teens. Since it didn't happen, I just dealt.

I was very lucky in that at that age, I looked good and could rock the mini. Many other women didn't look as good in one but had no choice.

So while some liked the style and found it empowering, some of us felt it was a pain in the ass, even if we looked good in it.

As soon as I could wear blue jeans to school (and could talk my father into letting me do so), I said goodbye to skirts and dresses. Blue jeans and t-shirts for the WIN.

I am confused about something. Didn't Mary Tyler Moore make pants fashionable as well back then when she wore them on "Dick Van Dyke show?


Jason

 

[Kor]

I am confused about something. Didn't Mary Tyler Moore make pants fashionable as well back then when she wore them on "Dick Van Dyke show?


Jason

According to interviews, she wanted to wear capris around the house instead of dressy skirts because women already did so a lot in real life. Apparently TV was a bit behind the times in this instance. It really was a popular style associated with Audrey Hepburn since the 1950s. Though the TV sponsors thought that the trousers that MTM wore were too snug.

And it would still take several years for denim jeans to be common as casual wear for women.

Kor

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

What if they are doing it of their own free will and don't consider themselves as being objectified?

As some of you may already be aware, I spend my Saturdays docenting at the International Printing Museum. I'm there from roughly 10 in the morning until at least 4 in the afternoon, frequently later, for no pay whatsoever (and indeed, I occasionally make in-kind contributions of paper for specific purposes). Because I do it of my own free will, and would do it (maybe without the in-kind contributions) even if it didn't get me access to the various printing and linecasting equipment there for personal projects*, I am a volunteer. If I were being coerced into doing it, I would be a slave.

Same thing. If apparel intended to incite sexual interest (or to deter it) is worn by choice, it can be liberating and/or empowering. If it is imposed upon an unwilling wearer, it becomes objectifying, whether it's a miniskirt or a burqa.

That said, I find an awful lot of fashion choices utterly inexplicable.

_____
* You read that right. At the Museum, we not only tolerate docents and staff using the equipment for personal projects, during public hours, in full view of visitors, we actively encourage it, because seeing the equipment in use enhances the visitor experience.

 

[Kor]

...

That said, I find an awful lot of fashion choices utterly inexplicable.

Yeah, a friend of mine who has a tendency toward overly literal thinking kept wondering about the functional purposes of certain clothing features. I had to explain that that's not quite how it works.

Kor

 

[Poltargyst]

Same thing. If apparel intended to incite sexual interest (or to deter it) is worn by choice, it can be liberating and/or empowering. If it is imposed upon an unwilling wearer, it becomes objectifying, whether it's a miniskirt or a burqa.

This has been my thinking.

 

[johnnybear]

Can't say I remember the cameras being centred on Troi's boobs? Either that or I was more taken with her black eyes and thinking about how painful they must have been for Marina to wear!
JB

 

[Lance]

As some of you may already be aware, I spend my Saturdays docenting at the International Printing Museum. I'm there from roughly 10 in the morning until at least 4 in the afternoon, frequently later, for no pay whatsoever (and indeed, I occasionally make in-kind contributions of paper for specific purposes). Because I do it of my own free will, and would do it (maybe without the in-kind contributions) even if it didn't get me access to the various printing and linecasting equipment there for personal projects*, I am a volunteer. If I were being coerced into doing it, I would be a slave.

Same thing. If apparel intended to incite sexual interest (or to deter it) is worn by choice, it can be liberating and/or empowering. If it is imposed upon an unwilling wearer, it becomes objectifying, whether it's a miniskirt or a burqa.

That said, I find an awful lot of fashion choices utterly inexplicable.

_____
* You read that right. At the Museum, we not only tolerate docents and staff using the equipment for personal projects, during public hours, in full view of visitors, we actively encourage it, because seeing the equipment in use enhances the visitor experience.

This is exactly it.

Grace Lee Whitney, who played recurring character Janice Rand in the original series, loved the miniskirt uniforms and the glamour. She recalled at conventions being upset about how both were removed from The Motion Picture. She believed her sexuality being on display empowered her. Nichelle "Uhura" Nichols has expressed similar sentiments.

It's incredibly easy to look back on the original Star Trek from the perspective of the 21st century and blast it for this kind of thing, but the reality is it was a different time, and people had their own views. Just like today. Some hated the uniforms, probably found them demeaning. Others adored them and felt empowered by them for the very same reasons.

 

[jaime]

This is exactly it.

Grace Lee Whitney, who played recurring character Janice Rand in the original series, loved the miniskirt uniforms and the glamour. She recalled at conventions being upset about how both were removed from The Motion Picture. She believed her sexuality being on display empowered her. Nichelle "Uhura" Nichols has expressed similar sentiments.

It's incredibly easy to look back on the original Star Trek from the perspective of the 21st century and blast it for this kind of thing, but the reality is it was a different time, and people had their own views. Just like today. Some hated the uniforms, probably found them demeaning. Others adored them and felt empowered by them for the very same reasons.

It’s a poison in media criticism of the 21st century, and a form of cultural imperialism. Not much different to old ‘noble savage’ concepts.