Pikes Bar Arrival ??

[M'Sharak]

I've always wondered where the hell that one dark bluish-gray sparkly tunic came from that Pike wore in "Cage" with the shoulder boards, and later by Finnegan on the Pleasure Planet. Don't think it's a cadet uniform, as I don't think Pike was supposed to be considered just a cadet in that scene.

Hm? I only remember the one tunic worn by Finnegan. It's got no "shoulder boards" (epaulets?) nor do I remember Pike wearing anything matching the description of Finnegan's tunic, "shoulder boards" or no.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I might be mis-remembering that scene. Maybe it was a guy at Pike's table who was too old looking to be a cadet. I'll try to dig up a screen cap of that one.

 

[J.T.B.]

^ I think you are thinking of the sleazy Starfleet officer on leave in the green Orion dancing girl scene. It looks sort of like a jacket but is apparently a pullover.

Justin

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ Yup! That's the one. I SO mis-remembered that scene. Here's another angle of him with a single cuff stripe. It's actually a pretty interesting variation on the standard uniform design:

I know I saw Finnegan's tunic on someone else during the series run, though. I honestly can't remember where - likely a scene on some Starbase.

Update: God Bless Ex Astris! They define Finnegan's outfit as a cadet uniform, although I don't think there's any definitive proof that this is the case. There was a guy in "Trouble With Tribbles" wearing the tunic in the background.

And there are TWO guys wearing the tunic to the left and right in the opening dance scene in "Wolf in the Fold", along with another guy who appears to be wearing a "Cage"-era tunic, with his back to the camera. There even looks to be someone in the back-left wearing a Garth of Izar-style outfit, too.

The latter two look a tad too old to be cadets to me, but who the hell knows?

 

[J.T.B.]

They define Finnegan's outfit as a cadet uniform, although I don't think there's any definitive proof that this is the case.

Yeah, there's no way to prove it but I'd say it's a pretty good explanation. The breast badge looks like a Starbase daisy but considerably smaller, perhaps indicative of a cadet's (or midshipman's, let's not forget that TOS terminology completely!) in-training status.

The latter two look a tad too old to be cadets to me, but who the hell knows?

Well I don't think Starfleet would discriminate against qualified applicants who wanted a career change later in life! Or they could be officer-candidates who came up from senior enlisted ranks. Scotty's early backstory was that he came up from the ranks after experience in Starfleet and the merchant service.

ETA: Those background players just used available wardrobe so it's not surprising there are some inconsistencies. One of the most glaring is "Court Martial" when Kirk says he is waiting for the members of his court to make their way to Starbase 11, but in the early "Officer's Club" scene they are already there and already in their dress uniforms!


Justin

 

[Timo]

But nothing is at variance in Kirk's case: the rank after commander has 2.5 stripes and is called "captain," and there's no reason to think Kirk is anything else.

Except the apparent existence of two ranks with the word Captain in them in Starfleet, of course, which we have to explain somehow. The trivial explanation would be a perfect analogy with the two ranks with the word Commander in them, or two of the ones with the word Lieutenant in them.

In Generations, there was a visible mixing-and-matching of traditional TNG uniforms and early DS9/Voyager one-piece uniforms being used at the same time, implying a "transition period" in their lifecycle.

No transition of rank marker schemes there, though. And DS9 itself seems to establish that the mixing is not a transition but an example of parallel use, the sort that is witnessed in DS9 episodes throughout the run of the series.

I've always wondered where the hell that one dark bluish-gray sparkly tunic came from

From the consistency viewpoint, we might associate it with the dark grey ones from STXI - that is, Academy instructor. That'd allow for a variety of ranks to be combined with the uniform, including pregraduate student ones.

Timo Saloniemi