What's with the Uniforms?

[Ssosmcin]

Maybe if Uhura had a rank braid on her uniform, they wouldn't have called her "Cadet" and "lieutenant" in the same scene.

Honestly, I didn't notice the non-braid. Zoe Saldana was just too damned hot for me to care.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Maybe if Uhura had a rank braid on her uniform, they wouldn't have called her "Cadet" and "lieutenant" in the same scene.

Honestly, I didn't notice the non-braid. Zoe Saldana was just too damned hot for me to care.

This wasn't a mistake. Uhura was a cadet with the rank of lieutenant - just as Kirk was said to be in TOS (and was according to a barely visible screengraphic in STXI), and Saavik in Wrath of Khan.

 

[Patrickivan]

Just as a side note for the military organization. From Yesterday is Tomorrow, thanks to chakoteya.net. Calling them a military organization alone wouldn't probably fit the views of society in that time period. Even solely saying Exploration wouldn't suffice. And just because ships are armed doesn't equal military as we know them today.

CHRISTOPHER: Must have taken quite a lot to build a ship like this.
KIRK: There are only twelve like it in the fleet.
CHRISTOPHER: I see. Navy?
KIRK: We're a combined service, Captain. Our authority is the United Earth Space Probe Agency.
CHRISTOPHER: United Earth?
KIRK: This is very difficult to explain. We're from your future. A time warp placed us here. It was an accident.
CHRISTOPHER: You seem to have a lot of them. However, I can't deny the fact that you're here. With this ship.

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ I had forgotten about that. I was always under the impression that UESPA eventually became Starfleet after a certain point (maybe the founding of the Federation?) and was never really explored in great detail beyond that reference (although I think Q gave mention to it in the TNG pilot). IIRC, Enterprise completely glossed over that particular reference in its entirety.

 

[ROBE]

On the short sleeved uniforms, I believe the cancelled Star Trek Phase 2 was going to have them for both sexes as an alternative to the long sleeves. Technician "boiler suits" would have had no sleeves.

 

[C.E. Evans]

^^^ I had forgotten about that. I was always under the impression that UESPA eventually became Starfleet after a certain point (maybe the founding of the Federation?) and was never really explored in great detail beyond that reference (although I think Q gave mention to it in the TNG pilot). IIRC, Enterprise completely glossed over that particular reference in its entirety.

Actually, they didn't--although you had to look really hard for it. During ENT's fourth season, various Starfleet banners on Earth sported both Starfleet and UESPA, suggesting possibly the two agencies were linked.
http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/b/b0/Starfleet_UESPA.jpg

 

[The Wormhole]

Anyways, back to the discussion: why have short-sleeved uniforms for women only? The miniskirts I can understand why Kirk and Spock won't be wearing them, but they're all buff chaps, surely they wouldn't mind flashing the biceps.

Good point. However, Kirk and Spock could also skirts. Skirts were worn by male officers while on duty in TNG. And I think Scotty wore a kilt with his dress uniform once on TOS.

 

[ROBE]

The skant in TNG was just being PC.

 

[137th Gebirg]

^^^ I had forgotten about that. I was always under the impression that UESPA eventually became Starfleet after a certain point (maybe the founding of the Federation?) and was never really explored in great detail beyond that reference (although I think Q gave mention to it in the TNG pilot). IIRC, Enterprise completely glossed over that particular reference in its entirety.

Actually, they didn't--although you had to look really hard for it. During ENT's fourth season, various Starfleet banners on Earth sported both Starfleet and UESPA, suggesting possibly the two agencies were linked.
http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/b/b0/Starfleet_UESPA.jpg

Very cool! Nice link to the past there. I guess the did take a stab at maintaining continuity. That one is quite obscure.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Good point. However, Kirk and Spock could also skirts. Skirts were worn by male officers while on duty in TNG. And I think Scotty wore a kilt with his dress uniform once on TOS.

Maybe the male version could be a pair of short shorts

 

[Sindatur]

Good point. However, Kirk and Spock could also skirts. Skirts were worn by male officers while on duty in TNG. And I think Scotty wore a kilt with his dress uniform once on TOS.

Maybe the male version could be a pair of short shorts

Like spandex boxer briefs

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Sounds like a plan.

 

[section9]

In 1964, Roddenberry had conceived of Starfleet as "The Pacific Fleet in Space". He was a WWII vet, if you'll recall, and had adopted the peace activist jingo only later in the Sixties.

 

[Squiggy]

TOS had plenty of female officers, and yeoman is a title, not a rank.

But as for why the female officers in Trek XI wear uniforms with no sleeves and therefore no way to display their rank, it's unfortunately another example of the movie's desire to look good over making sense. Sadly, Abrams and his Cohorts are in this only to make a buck, not to be realistic in any definition of the word.

You do know it's a movie about people doing things in the future in space often times a many times fast than the speed of light because an alien (who looks a lot like a human even though they evolved on different planets on opposite sides of the galaxy) shot a laser beam at them...right?

 

[UFO]

You do know it's a movie about people doing things in the future in space often times a many times fast than the speed of light because an alien (who looks a lot like a human even though they evolved on different planets on opposite sides of the galaxy) shot a laser beam at them...right?

That's the most circuitous version of the "It's only a movie." excuse I've seen.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Good point. However, Kirk and Spock could also skirts. Skirts were worn by male officers while on duty in TNG. And I think Scotty wore a kilt with his dress uniform once on TOS.

Maybe the male version could be a pair of short shorts

Like spandex boxer briefs

A letter writing campaign must begin immediately!!

 

[Sindatur]

Maybe the male version could be a pair of short shorts

Like spandex boxer briefs

A letter writing campaign must begin immediately!!

<scribble, scribble> Stuffs envelope, licks flap, puts on stamp and drops in the mailbox

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Like spandex boxer briefs

A letter writing campaign must begin immediately!!

<scribble, scribble> Stuffs envelope, licks flap, puts on stamp and drops in the mailbox

I'd go and watch that film!

 

[Draculasaurus]

Have you seen the way Riker sits?
You probably have to pass some kind of licensing exam to get issued a skant.

 

[Cicero]

Be glad at least that they're not as bad as what appeared in The Cage and WNMHGB. Those stripe combinations made no damn sense whatsoever, nor did the uniform colors.

In "The Cage," one stripe meant officer, a black and gold stripe meant noncom, and no stripe meant enlisted.

There seems to be more complication than that. Chief Garrison wore a stripe with holes cut out of it (and a solid stripe on his field jacket); several apparent enlisted crewmen wore wide blue stripes on their field jackets; and Yeoman Colt wore nothing on either her jacket or her shirtsleeve.

Reference sources, such as Star Trek.com refer to Colt as an officer. Perhaps she was an Ensign or Lieutenant J.G.? (Memory Alpha lists her rank as Lieutenant, which is also her usual rank in Pike-era books and comics.)

Individual ranks still existed, but they seemed to be regarded more like titles. Position (like who was captain, first officer, chief engineer, etc.) seemed to be more important than the number of stripes on a sleeve, IMO.

I read somewhere (Memory Alpha?) that the original idea for officer ranks was along the lines of Napoleonic-era rank schemes, in which all mid-level and senior officers except the captain were lieutenants by grade, with authority varying by position.