Voyager Uniforms

[STEPhon IT]

As I've mentioned earlier. As interesting as Star Trek Generations. I'm glad Star Fleet got their sh*t together with the First Contact uniforms.
It would've been interesting if Janeway had another uniform, something like Troi's grey suit.

 

[Jedi_Master]

The Voyager uniforms (and the TNG/DS9 uniforms that they were modeled after) look very impractical and flimsy. I liked the Enterprise uniforms because they had pockets, and looked more rugged and durable.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I sense a Star Trek Enterprise uniform appreciation thread brewing.

 

[fireproof78]

As I've mentioned earlier. As interesting as Star Trek Generations. I'm glad Star Fleet got their sh*t together with the First Contact uniforms.
It would've been interesting if Janeway had another uniform, something like Troi's grey suit.

Generations made no sense, since you had officers aboard the same ship wearing two different uniforms or different uniforms from shot to shot. There isn't a lot of rationale to follow who is wearing what,

I personally like the DS9/Movie uniforms better, but that's just me. I didn't mind that VOY or DS9 had different uniforms than TNG, nor do I mind the fact that Sisko used a TNG uniform while on Earth.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Generations made no sense, since you had officers aboard the same ship wearing two different uniforms or different uniforms from shot to shot. There isn't a lot of rationale to follow who is wearing what,

I personally like the DS9/Movie uniforms better, but that's just me. I didn't mind that VOY or DS9 had different uniforms than TNG, nor do I mind the fact that Sisko used a TNG uniform while on Earth.

Should Janeway have had another variant uniform? Something like what Troi had worn in the episode "Disaster"?

 

[fireproof78]

Should Janeway have had another variant uniform? Something like what Troi had worn in the episode "Disaster"?

I always think uniforms need some variations of some kind, so yes, I think Janeway could have used one, and more than just the undershirt of the jumpsuit.

I think that's one of the reasons I am not as big of a fan of the VOY/DS9 jumpsuits mostly because the undershirts don't allow for a lot of variation. The DS9/movie uniform at least allowed for a vest, and just the undershirt and still have the department color.

 

[A Chimpanzee & 2 Trainees]

But with respect to the DS9/VOY uniforms, I like the way they at least look like everyday duty uniforms, even if they aren't actually all that comfortable.

VOY makes more sense to me in terms of the uniforms than DS9 or TNG. I'd think that everyone not assigned to desk duty or at some formal occasion would be wearing them.

Trying to come up with an in-universe explanation for Generations uniform changes is just an exercise in making logic pretzels. It looked to me like what they were trying to do was change the main characters' uniforms after they had their "big scene" ... and if that's what they were aiming for, it seems pretty silly.

Picard starts wearing it after he has his heart-to-heart with Troi over Robert and Renee
Geordi changes when he returns from his POW experience
Data gets his emotion chip, clowns around in 10-Forward, and then changes...

Worf, Bev, and Troi never do change unis, but then again, their characters didn't really have any big scenes. Troi's biggest scene was actually the Picard one above...

The only one I can think of who really bucks the trend is Riker, who seems to randomly change into a new uniform after..... getting the cold shoulder from Picard?

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Of the 24th century shows, DS9 was actually the most consistent in on what uniforms were assigned for. The idea was that DS9 uniforms would be assigned for space stations, while HQ and starships had the standard formal TNG uniforms. Pre-FC, every time DS9 had visitors from starships they always wore TNG uniforms ("Emissary", "The Maquis", "The Jem'Hadar", "Explorers", etc).

Thus, VOY was the real outlier. Despite what TNG and DS9 established, VOY not only had starship officers in DS9 uniforms (Voyager and Equinox) but would even depict HQ officers wearing them too ("Non Sequitor", "In the Flesh"). If the makers had been consistent with the established uniform structure then we would have had the Voyager crew in proper TNG uniforms.

I would have kept the TNG uniforms, just so that it would have kept the dynamic TNG/DS9 had of having two shows having a different uniform from each other. That didn't really happen until DS9 adopted the FC uniforms.

Of course, once the FC uniforms came into play it was all fair game.

As for GEN, I just write that off as an oddity. It was a strange decision to scramble for both TNG and DS9 uniforms after dumping the aborted uniforms.

 

[fireproof78]

As for GEN, I just write that off as an oddity. It was a strange decision to scramble for both TNG and DS9 uniforms after dumping the aborted uniforms.

If I recall correctly (and I could be wrong) but it was budgetary reasons that involved the mix and a lot of the jumpsuit style were borrowed from DS9 at the time.

Other than that, I agree. I always thought the jumpsuit style of DS9 was for station assignments.

 

[Six of Twelve]

Janeway needed more uniform options, but NO catsuits! I'd model her options more like the various options Picard had or a two piece uniform cut like Pulaski's uniform variation or a short jacket cut like a WWII Ike jacket. A catsuit would have been unprofessional for a ahip's captain - and it was unprofessional for Troi, as Captain Jellico was correct to point out.

 

[Jedman67]

Originally, an entire new uniform was commissioned for Generations. Early screen-tests didn't look so great, so the uniform was dropped after a few days of filming - only the new combadge was kept. Since they wanted the movie to stand out, they "borrowed" several costumes from the DS9 cast and kept everyone else in the TNG style. Who wore what uniform boiled down to "who has the same fit and build as a DS9 cast member?"
Frakes got Avery Brooks uniform (and the sleeves were still too big!) Meaney's went to Geordi. Only Spiner and Stewart got the new ones custom-made; had they had an extra two weeks before shooting, they could have outfitted the entire cast with the new ones.
The in-universe reason is that the collared tunic ("Alpha Uniform") was no longer mandatory aboard ship, and crew could wear the jumpsuit uniform ("Beta Uniform") if they so desired.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Picard got a cool jacket towards the end of Next Gen. It wouldn't have suited Janeway but I'm sure they could have come up with something.

Skant Janeway would have been hilarious.

 

[My Name Was Taken Twice]

[QUOTE="we saw Sisko switch back to the TNG-style when he was briefly reassigned back to Earth, and also a few background extras using them in "Rapture"[/QUOTE]

Looking from both a production and in universe standpoint VOY should have used TNG uniforms:

I can recall an interview about planning for DS9 and remember someone stating that new uniforms would be put in place so the viewer knew they were watching a different show (way to treat your audience with contempt!).

The in universe explanation for this would be that DS9 was not an official Starfleet station it was Bajor's station all the way through, Kira's (false) protest about Sisko not vacating at the end of season 5 supports this, therefore they wore non standard Starfleet uniforms being their at Bajor's request operating the station, that everyone including the main cast (Sisko, Bashir, Dax) arrive in TNG universe supports this, as noted Sisko reverts to his TNG uniform when he visits Earth in S4 and both he and O'brien change uniform when boarding the Enterprise in Emissary. Also everyone that I recall visiting the station wears TNG uniforms; Cal Hutchinson, Captain of the USS Odyssey (bridge crew also shown in TNG uniform), Bashir's academy nemesis and Worf both when he arrives on station and throughout Way of the Warrior. Everyone seen in the Homefront 2-parter wore TNG uniforms even the USS Lakota crew, surely not everyone on Earth was under Layton's command or uniform requirements.

Then along comes Voyager and the previous production statement of requiring a different look so the audience isn't "confused" gets overlooked, they even launch the ship from DS9 where it might have helped making the VOY crew stand out. Although Starfleet is barely shown throughout the show they seeming retcon the DS9 uniforms into all Starfleet use as they were worn by the USS Equinox crew and the staff at Utopia Planitia prior to the ships launch.

Generations unfortunately makes ZERO sense. scrapping the new uniform design at short notice seems to have left them short handed for the larger filming schedule. Looking at how the movie played out

• After jumping out of the period sailing attire Riker, Worf and Bev beam over in TNG uniforms with a handful of flunkies who are is DS9 uniforms. On the ship the rest of the senior staff opt for TNG uniforms.
• Returning to the Enterprise Riker switches to DS9 uniform while Worf hasn't changed
• Before beaming to the station Data makes a change to DS9 style while Geordi is unchanged.
• Between the Klingon ship arriving and trying to figure out what's going on by speaking with Guinan Picard swaps uniforms.
• Returning to the trashed Enterprise Picard switches back to TNG uniform

The entire thing in GEN was unfortunately very sloppy

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think in-universe the early DS9/VOY uniforms was just a short-lived interim design, perhaps even initially meant to be a kind of fatigues, and could be worn at the discretion of a commanding officer. In Generations, the Enterprise-D might have been undergoing some upgrades at the time of the Nexus Incident, so that could be a justification for why some personnel were in different uniforms if the newer design were fatigues.

 

[Six of Twelve]

I prefer the DS9/VOY uniforms to the TNG uniforms, as they worked better on a wider variety of body types

 

[Refuge]

Yeah I prefer the mainly black part being on the body and the pop of colour in the 'yoke' part. More slimming.

 

[Six of Twelve]

And they were less form fitting

 

[Refuge]

And they were less form fitting

Agreed. In fact at some stage Seven should have worn a regular uniform too, in my opinion. I know Neelix and Kes didn't either but poor Seven stuck in that catsuit.

 

[My Name Was Taken Twice]

stuck in that catsuit.

She looked good in the jumpsuit in Relativity. Just as as T'pol did when she wasn't wearing the equally ridiculous bright colour catsuits, they looked like something from Lost in Space was shrunk in the laundry!

 

[KelisThePoet]

Of course, the real reason for Deep Space Nine uniforms being different from Next Generation uniforms was to give the new show a different look for the sake of the viewers. This isn't treating viewers with contempt. The implication is not that anyone is literally going to confuse Picard with Dax if they're wearing the same uniform or something of that sort. But in a subtler, more subconscious way, it makes the viewers see the shows as different, which makes both good business sense (because customers don't want more of the same thing when they're offered something new) and good storytelling sense (because a lack of variety is dull).

Maybe it would have made some sense with continuity and in-universe logic for Voyager characters to wear the Next Generation uniforms, but it would have been a horrible production choice, because it would have sent the signal to viewers that Voyager was just a clone of The Next Generation (some people make that argument anyway, for other reasons, but that's a topic for a different thread). They really had to use the Deep Space Nine uniforms or design their own. Giving the Voyager crew its own uniform might have been more logical from an in-universe perspective, but for the viewers, it would have complicated the idea that the two shows were taking place at the same time. Again, this isn't treating viewers with contempt. It's just recognizing the reality that most viewers are not mega-fans who attend with care to in-universe logic; not to mention the more fundamental reality that all viewers process televised fiction differently than they do lived reality. In lived reality, there are all kinds of complexities and nuances. In televised fiction, simplifying them down makes the show visually legible.