Bridging the uniform gap between Enterprise and TOS

[Klondike307]

I decided to do some illustrations of uniforms (Command, Science, Security/Engineering, and Cadet) that could be used in the 100 years between the two series. As space travel became safer and more mainstream, the uniforms changed from the utility jumpsuits of Enterprise to more relaxed ones seen in The Original Series

In this one, the Enterprise jumpsuits are now a two piece uniform with a colored undershirt.

In this one, the undershirt becomes the primary uniform. The blue jacket top becomes sort of a bomber jacket (like what kirk and scotty wore in some of the movies) and is not commonly worn.

In this one, you can see the progression towards The Original Series style of uniforms.

Then all you have to do is make the pants black, lose the shoulder strips, and add a black under shirt and you have the TOS uniforms
Let me know what you all think!

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

That's pretty clever...I like how you did that! And very well-drawn, too.

 

[jgdst]

That's pretty cool Makes a lot of sense it would evolve along those lines.

If Trek XI does any kind of flashback stuff for before Pike's time, it'll be interesting to see if they've borrowed any of your ideas

 

[Venardhi]

A very good effort, not the direction I would have gone, but I can see you thought it out thoroughly.

The main problem I see if the lack of consideration for the Pike uniforms. The ribbed 'turtleneck-ish' collars, the field jackets, etc. If you were going to skip over them this would be fairly on the mark, if a rather direct path. . . like evolving Kirk's yellow shirt into Picard's 3 piece film uniform. The TOS, TMP, TWOK and TNG uniforms aren't terribly smooth of a transition, and there are some pretty big changes fairly quickly.

Then again, I pretty much hate the Enterprise uniforms for anything but engineering scrubs. If the ship were less comfortable I could see reason for it, but as portrayed in the series, there was no need for such a utilitarian (and yet so very clean and bright after they stopped acid washing them in the 2rd[?] season) uniform.

Back in the day on the Enterprise forum there was a thread with a lot of uniform ideas for later in the series or down the timeline. Several quite good. I wonder if anyone has them still, I only have my personal design anymore. . . might be a few good ideas to draw from if you intend to work any more on this.

 

[Klondike307]

Thanks for the comments!

...The main problem I see if the lack of consideration for the Pike uniforms. The ribbed 'turtleneck-ish' collars, the field jackets, etc. If you were going to skip over them this would be fairly on the mark, if a rather direct path. . . like evolving Kirk's yellow shirt into Picard's 3 piece film uniform. The TOS, TMP, TWOK and TNG uniforms aren't terribly smooth of a transition, and there are some pretty big changes fairly quickly...

Sorry about skipping over Pike's uniforms earlier, I've since adapted one of the uniforms to fill in the gap (pic below). The uniform transitions are pretty random in the TV series and movies. In TOS, TMP, and TWOK you get 3 radically different uniforms in about a 12 year period. But then TWOK uniforms stick around virtually unchange (except for the turtleneck) for more then 80 years until just before TNG. With the gap between ENT and TOS, I figured that the uniforms were way to different to just change without a few others in between. You don't just go from wearing what looks like a mechanic's jumpsuit to a t-shirt and slacks over-night.

 

[Shawnster]

Sometimes you do though. Sometimes you get some head-honcho who is in charge of the redesign project and he or she simply wants to go a totally different direction.

I like this progression. I wonder if you can easily progress to the TMP uniforms from here. Then Starfleet decides they hate those uniforms and ditches them pretty rapidly in favor of a bold new direction.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Then again, I pretty much hate the Enterprise uniforms for anything but engineering scrubs. If the ship were less comfortable I could see reason for it, but as portrayed in the series, there was no need for such a utilitarian (and yet so very clean and bright after they stopped acid washing them in the 2rd[?] season) uniform.

Well, considering that the people (in-universe) who created them were probably drawing on Air Force and NASA flight suits as their idea of what would be appropriate in space, I found the design plausible even if not the most aesthetically pleasing.

 

[WillsBabe]

I think you did a good job. It all looks very logical to me.

 

[JayTheTrekkie]

That's really amazing Klondike!

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

Nicely done! I particularly like the third uniform in the progression.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The only change I would consider making, would be eliminating the shoulder stripes as quickly as possible. That should be the first step after ENT. Other than that - those uniforms are really cool.

Also, what's the gray colored uniform meant to represent?

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

The only change I would consider making, would be eliminating the shoulder stripes as quickly as possible. That should be the first step after ENT. Other than that - those uniforms are really cool.

I dunno about eliminating the shoulder stripes. Letting them stick around so long kinda helps explain why the uniforms from TNG forward brought back some sort of design element around the shoulders.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The only change I would consider making, would be eliminating the shoulder stripes as quickly as possible. That should be the first step after ENT. Other than that - those uniforms are really cool.

I dunno about eliminating the shoulder stripes. Letting them stick around so long kinda helps explain why the uniforms from TNG forward brought back some sort of design element around the shoulders.

I don't even like the stripes in existing ENT uniforms. Even if TOS colors had to be worked in somehow (which I'm not convinced they should have), I still think they could have done better; for instance, make the 'undershirt' worn under that uniform, colored appropriately. Or, less obviously, a cufflink or collar. Having the stripes on the shoulders like they do, just looks gaudy and rather useless.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

The only inherent issue I have with this approach is that it's an attempt to apply a logical progression to something which doesn't necessarily HAVE a natural, logical basis to it.

In other words, bits of a uniform which are functional in any way (ie, colors to represent departments, rank insignia, etc) probably would need to follow a logical progression, but other than that, there need not be any real relationship between one generation of uniform to the next (as is illustrated from TOS to TMP to TWOK). And in those cases, the colors for department shifted dramatically between TOS and TMP, and the rank insignia shifted dramatically between TMP and TWOK.

I have no problem with imagining TOTALLY UNRELATED uniforms between the ENT and Pike eras... not really very close to either one except perhaps in terms of general insignia, or coloration.

In other words... I think you've done good work here, but I don't think it reflects reality as it might play itself out in this fictional world. More likely, every so often someone would get in a position of authority who just didn't like the prior uniform design and would decide to change it as a matter of personal taste...

After all... if a uniform WORKS, there's no reason to change it significantly. So the change MUST be due to artistic/stylistic reasons... right?

You've just made too much SENSE here... and for that reason, it just doesn't feel "real" to me!

 

[Kadratis]

In this one, the undershirt becomes the primary uniform. The blue jacket top becomes sort of a bomber jacket (like what kirk and scotty wore in some of the movies) and is not commonly worn.

Hmmm, call me crazy, but they have a certain AGT uniform look to them.

 

[Wingsley]

You forgot a known link in the ENT uniform chain that seems like it could contribute to your evolution.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Was that a dress uniform? Or an actual uniform worn shipboard? (Sorry, I ended up missing a lot of Enterprise while it was on the air.)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Was that a dress uniform? Or an actual uniform worn shipboard? (Sorry, I ended up missing a lot of Enterprise while it was on the air.)

It was the dress uniform. Only time we ever saw it.

 

[ThomastheCat]

Like a lot of folks, I think showing such a linear progression for uniforms might make less sense than giant leaps forward. I've done some research on uniforms and uniform development for the Honor Harrington work I do and from what I've read changes in uniforms come about because of complaints that servicemen have about the uniforms they're wearing. Men in charge might get the ball rolling but sometimes it's because a bunch of someones on down the line piped up about something they didn't like.

I'd suggest doing some research on the recently proposed air force uniforms or the navy BDUs to see the kind of things that come up when redesigning a military uniform.

 

[regemet]

I like this idea could you do the same thing with the gap between the films and The Next Generations.