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Time to Change the 24th Century Uniforms?

^ I have the same problem with most of the uniforms. They're just not practical for anything other than standing around at a station talking technobabble. TMP (with its variants, field jackets, etc.) and the DS9/VGR uniforms went a bit toward addressing that, but even those weren't all that practical for field conditions (especially the footwear).

The current 24th century uniforms are okay for shipboard/garrison use, but I'd like to see a utility uniform for away missions and other conditions where you might get dirty. You know, something functional, with pockets and stuff.

Agreed. They should go to something along the lines of the ENT coverall uniform for general duty/fatigue use.
 
Well, when they go on away missions and landing parties, they should have worn fatigues such as the what the MACOs wore or if its an official duty, then a semi-formal uniform where it doesn't look like a dress nor extremely formal as the white uniforms.

Even though I like the FC uniforms, they do not seem practical and the footwear looks uncomfortable to wear during hours upon hours during duty shifts.
 
What I always really liked about the FC uniforms is that when you remove the jacket, they look like a more practical variation on the TOS uniforms.
 
FC uniforms are the second best after the ENT ones.

in-universe, the TNG S1/2 uniforms lasted for over a decade, they were in use in the 2350s and persisted past S3 for some extras.

the VGR uniforms are clearly a variant of the TNG one, as seen not only in GEN, 'Homefront'/'Paradise Lost', but in 'Birthright I' and a couple of other DS9 eps.

the TNG/VGR versions lasted 6 years. so, between the early TNG version, late TNG version adn the FC uniform, Starfleet changed uniforms three times in 20 years. no worse than switching from the pastel turtlenecks in the 2250s to the bright black-collar unis of the 2260s to the grey and white pyjamas of the 2270s followed by the maroon jackets in the 2280s....
 
^VGR's uniforms were the same as DS9's uniforms, not TNG's. The black jumpsuits with the colored shoulders debuted in DS9: "Emissary" (2369) and were replaced in "Rapture" (mid-2373). So they lasted for four years in standard use, though Voyager continued using them for several more years.

The later TNG uniforms debuted in the third season, 2366, and lasted until mid-2373, so that's over seven years for them.
 
I'm perfectly happy with the continued use of the FC-style uniform. I think it looks modern and classy, and somehow looks more professional than the uniform (early-DS9/VOY) that it replaced. There have been far too many uniform changes throughout the latter half of the 24th century. I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping it around for a while longer.
 
^ I have the same problem with most of the uniforms. They're just not practical for anything other than standing around at a station talking technobabble. TMP (with its variants, field jackets, etc.) and the DS9/VGR uniforms went a bit toward addressing that, but even those weren't all that practical for field conditions (especially the footwear).

The current 24th century uniforms are okay for shipboard/garrison use, but I'd like to see a utility uniform for away missions and other conditions where you might get dirty. You know, something functional, with pockets and stuff.
There were the infantry uniforms (or whatever they were) in Siege of AR-559. I've always been kinda curious what those were, but they've never been seen or referred to again.
As for general uniforms, the FC/DS9 versions are my favorites, so I have no problem with them continuing to use them. Now if we did get some kind of a glimpse of a post-Nemesis Prime Universe where there was a new uniform, I could see changing them. We're not gonna be seeing them regularly so, IMO at least, changing them seems rather pointless.
 
Well... no. Voyager only kept their uniform because they were out of touch with the Alpha quadrant. The only reason they didn't change to the FC uniforms once they got back in touch with the Alpha quadrant was because in real life it was rather expensive to make a whole new outfit for each actor.
 
I don't think cost had much to do with it (after all they made new costumes for guest stars and new alien races all the time). I believe it was just a case that the producers didn't think it was necessary to change the VOY uniforms as it was supposed to be a series about a ship lost in space.

If anything, they may have thought it was appropriate that the Voyager crew were still wearing a now obsolete uniform, IMO...
 
In trying to get a sense of how often the real-life US Navy changes its uniform designs, I was interested to learn that they recently underwent a comprehensive review of their uniforms, and will be phasing out a number of variations at the end of next year.

However, I'm still not sure how often this sort of review actually happens. :/
 
I, too, like the FC uniforms. The layers made them seem like far better "working" uniforms, and I liked how it enabled the characters to remain in uniform but have a more relaxed appearance by removing the jacket, etc.

To me, it doesn't make sense to change the uniforms in the 24th century books. The uniforms have changed often over the life of the TV series and movies because that's the nature of a visual medium; designers and directors are going to want to refine the look of their production. But, in the same way that having 24th century Trek unfold on the page allows us to have tons of cool non-humanoid characters that are too expensive for TV, it should also allow us to keep the same uniforms for longer than 5 or 10 years at a time.
 
I don't think cost had much to do with it (after all they made new costumes for guest stars and new alien races all the time). I believe it was just a case that the producers didn't think it was necessary to change the VOY uniforms as it was supposed to be a series about a ship lost in space.

If anything, they may have thought it was appropriate that the Voyager crew were still wearing a now obsolete uniform, IMO...

The uniforms were actually really expensive. When DS9 switched to the new uniforms, the old ones were given to Voyager where they were really needed. Cost definitely had a lot to do with it.
 
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