Officer's Waistcoat

[J.T.B.]

Re: Officer Waistcoat

Hats also have the major real-world downside of ruining one's heroic hairdo, so there'd have to be extra effort by the hair stylist in every scene involving removing of hats - and the result would be unrealistic by default.

That's true. Occasionally on Hawaii Five-O Steve McGarret would be called back into the Naval Reserve. You'd see Jack Lord in uniform with his cap on, then cut to something else, then he'd be hanging up his cap with his perfect Jack Lord 'do.

 

[od0_ital]

Re: Officer Waistcoat

I figured Picard had it in Star Trek: First Contact because if ya watch the movie, ya may notice that as it progresses, Patrick Stewart has less & less of his costume on. Of course, it can signify that the ship was gettin' hotter or more humid because of the Borg infiltration, and it also provided an extra step between uniform jacket & turtleneck.

And Sisko had it in 'Rapture' because Picard had it in FC, and they showed it again in 'In the Pale Moonlight'. Both times he was off duty, and workin' through his own issues.

No one's going to dress-down the captain for shedding bits of his uniform but imagine the bollocking the security extras would get from Riker if they had fought the Borg in anything less than full-dress.

Riker was on Earth while the security extras were fightin' the Borg.

Also, they did unzip their collars for relief from the humidity emitted by the Borg drones.

 

[JJohnson]

Re: Officer Waistcoat

I guess lack of headgear was to make it futuristic?

Try "cheap". Although I gather hats make lighting of faces difficult. And this goes double for practical headgear, the very function of which often is to alter the amount of light falling on one's face!

Hats also have the major real-world downside of ruining one's heroic hairdo, so there'd have to be extra effort by the hair stylist in every scene involving removing of hats - and the result would be unrealistic by default.

A less pressing concern would be the diminishing ability of the audience to tell characters apart if their heads were even partially covered by pieces of clothing. (The heads of the characters, I mean, but the other way around would also present its share of problems.) Space helmets are an issue Trek managed to avoid for a long time... And those mesh visors instead of glass or plexiglass ones were a clever idea!

Timo Saloniemi

I never got onto a ship, but when on-ship, do officers/enlisted even wear covers inside, whether in their cabins, or at duty stations? All I remember is putting cover on when walking around outside and taking it off inside.