In this final section, we’ll take a look at some of the inevitable uniform imperfections and errors that were bound to happen on such a massive, complex production as Star Trek.
I mention these not as criticisms, but to acknowledge some of the “hiccups” throughout the series as additional points of interest; I can personally attest to how challenging these uniforms can be to properly make, and I’ve never had to do so while under the TV grind!
Mismatched Yokes
One of the more common construction errors early in the show was mismatched yokes at the upper front – perhaps most notably on Tasha Yar’s jumpsuits from the first several episodes.
Observe how in the above examples, she actually had two differently-mismatched uniforms; sometimes the left yoke trim was higher, but sometimes the right side was.
The most egregious example was probably Chief MacDougal’s uniform from “The Naked Now.”
Both Captain Picard and Data also briefly wore uniforms with noticeably mismatched yoke trims early in the series.
Although more common (and more easily noticeable) on the earlier jumpsuits because of the yoke trim, some of the later jumpsuits had slightly mismatched yokes as well.
Undone Closures
Occasionally someone from the production team would forget to redo the hook-and-eye closures above the zippers before filming.
Twisted Collars
During season six, one of Dr. Crusher’s jumpsuit collars was attached slightly off-center; it twisted a bit to her left.
The following year, Ensign Sito’s uniform also had a slightly twisted collar.
Mismatched Seam Lines
I can again personally attest to how challenging the TNG jumpsuit zippers can be to install; invisible zippers on spandex, with asymmetrical paneling across them isn’t for the faint of heart!
Although the costume department usually did a terrific job with these, there were occasional instances of the asymmetrical paneling being a bit “off” across the zipper.
Crooked Waist Seams
Zipper installation aside, even patterning these asymmetrical panels over the center front and back seams was a geometrical challenge.
Studying and patterning directly from several screen-used TNG jumpsuits, I’ve learned that because the trapezoidal lower front panels were often cinched in a bit up toward the waist, the asymmetrical waistline needs to be adjusted to compensate (see the dotted red lines in the example below).
When the waist seam wasn’t adjusted to compensate, instead of flowing smoothly across the center front, it formed a sort of “double-jointed” contour – more cornered and angled than curved.
At least one of Data’s jumpsuits had this unsightly, “double-jointed” front during the first half or so of season one.
One of Captain Picard’s jumpsuits from the first half or so of season two also had this unsightly front angle.
Thankfully, Durinda Rice Wood and her team corrected this issue on his jumpsuits later into the season.
Both Kosinski’s and Lieutenant Logan’s jumpsuits had slightly “double-jointed” fronts.
At least one of Worf’s season two jumpsuits did, as well.
Although this issue was more common earlier in the series (while everyone was still figuratively ironing out the patterning kinks), it did show up on some of the later-style jumpsuits too – such as Nurse Ogawa’s mid-series uniform.
On the other hand, sometimes the patterner would actually overcompensate for the lower front taper, resulting in an asymmetrical front contour that angled slightly upward.
One particular men’s gold jumpsuit had this distinctive, “overcompensated” contour and showed up on multiple extras over the later seasons.
A similar (albeit opposite) “double-jointed” effect could be seen on the back of some jumpsuits.
Even though the upper back was typically cut with its lower edge straight or on a gentle downward curve, the pant legs cinched up the center back toward the waist, forming an angled V-shape at the center back of the waist seam.
Corner Puckers
The apex of the asymmetrical front panel was a major “problem area” on the TNG jumpsuits.
Speaking again from personal experience, even when the corner is sewn perfectly, the clipped and pressed allowances can form an ugly pucker above the upper corner afterward.
Studying multiple screen-used TNG jumpsuits, I learned that a variety of increasingly unholy measures were taken to prevent those ugly puckers.
The Dr. Crusher and male extra (“Scranton”) uniforms I looked at had the left front waist allowances simply pressed open.
However, the Worf uniform I studied had the front waist allowances all pressed upward.
The Tasha Yar and Ensign Sito uniforms I studied had the allowances actually pressed in different directions!
Some of them had the upper front corner area bolstered with a fusible interfacing.
The costume department eventually managed to get the jumbo spandex to behave and the majority of the upper corner areas looked fine, but a few of Dr. Crusher’s jumpsuits from the last couple seasons were unfortunate in this regard.
Assuming it was intentional, Gates McFadden did seem to have a knack for covering the area, though …
Ripped Seams and Stains
With these jumpsuits being as tight as they were, there were occasionally some ripped seams – especially in the upper front armscye (where the sleeves were attached).
This particular Commander Riker jumpsuit (possibly the same one previously pictured) looked like its armscye had been repaired several times.
One of Captain Picard’s uniforms toward the end of the first season looked like its sleeve had been sewn closed and/or reattached several times; observe the slight contortions in the sleeve fabric.
During (at least?) one scene, there was a tiny rip in the side front seam of this Captain Picard jumpsuit.
There was also a small rip in the lower sleeve of Captain Picard’s jumpsuit during this scene of the series finale.
During one scene, it looks like Brent Spiner spilled some mustard or something on his uniform during lunch.
Loose Threads
Despite the wardrobe team’s best efforts, loose threads were occasionally visible – particularly in remastered HD, and near the sleeve hems.
Mismatched Sleeve Colors
Something bizarre I observed on the screen-used Tasha Yar TNG jumpsuit I studied was that the sleeves were a noticeably different color than the jumpsuit body. (They were slightly greener, whereas the body was more orange.)
I find this perplexing, since one would naturally assume the body panels were all cut, if not by the same person, at least from the same bolt or roll of fabric in one go!
Fabric colors obviously might vary from bolt-to-bolt or roll-to-roll, especially if there’s an appreciable amount of time between runs, but I think we can only speculate as to why, on the same uniform, the color-specific panels weren’t all cut from the same length of fabric for color consistency.
My initial theory was that it may have been a combination of poor lighting, sleep deprivation, and a slapdash effort to have the uniform finished for filming in the mad scramble amidst the show’s launch … but that proved incorrect.
Whatever the reason, this wasn’t an isolated incident; once I was aware of its existence, I began noticing it on other characters as well – as late as season five!
The bright blue lighting during the early seasons (and possibly post-production color-correction) seems to have significantly narrowed the gap between the mismatched colors in the finished show.
It would’ve almost certainly been unnoticeable in VHS-quality on 80s-era TVs, and even in remastered HD one has to both know to look for it and watch like a hawk to spot it … but it was there.
Continuity Errors
Moving on from construction errors, we’ll now take a look at some continuity errors over the course of the series.
Most of these are subtle and relatively minor, but if you’re still reading at this point then it’s probably the kind of thing you’re interested in. 🙂
When Duplicate Picard™ was shot, his jumpsuit’s elastic stirrups were wrapped around his boots like they ordinarily would’ve been, but when the camera cuts away and back to him, his stirrups were undone.
Despite the opening scene being a direct continuation of the previous season’s cliffhanger, Dr. Crusher’s jumpsuit inexplicably changed between the end of the season 3 finale and the beginning of the season 4 premiere.
Observe the differing angles of her jumpsuits’ bust darts.
As you hopefully recall from part 2 of this analysis, Durinda Rice Wood redesigned the jumpsuit front proportions for season two – shifting the apex of the asymmetrical waistline significantly outward.
Although both styles (season 1 and season 2) continued to be used for the remainder of the series, up until then only William Ware Theiss’ original designs were seen, for obvious reasons.
With that in mind, several members of Geordi’s ill-fated away team (from before the show’s launch) all wore Wood’s redesigned season 2-style uniforms, instead of Theiss’ original designs.
In fact, the discrepancy between the “season 1” and “season 2”-style uniforms not only reared its head throughout the present-day show, but for flashback sequences in general.
Later in the show, whenever Captain Picard was seen wearing the early jumpsuit, it was always Wood’s season 2-style (never Theiss’ original design).
When Dr. Crusher relived her memory of a younger Captain Picard (from years before The Next Generation began), he was wearing a uniform specifically from season two.
Observe the yoke depth at the center front, the slightly M-shaped lower yoke contour, and the asymmetrical paneling proportions – all hallmarks of Wood’s redesigned season two uniforms.
(In-universe, we could hypothesize that both were in use concurrently and we just never saw them until season two, or we could forgive Dr. Crusher for the factually incorrect memory since the differences were subtle and it was a flashback induced by a hostile alien.)
We’ll follow up on a more notable example of this in a moment, but making our way onward chronologically, Dr. Crusher’s jumpsuit again inexplicably changed between the last episode of season six and the first of season seven.
Although the most striking difference was the color (Blackman had begun moving away from the mid-series paler, bluer teal and introducing a slightly deeper, more saturated teal during season six), also note the other detailing changes: the collar height and shape, the color of the collar piping, and the yoke depth.
Counselor Troi’s jumpsuit also changed between the two seasons, again despite the opening scene being a direct continuation of the previous season’s cliffhanger. (In this case, the obvious indicator is the deeper yoke.)
Toward the end of the season seven episode “Phantasms,” Dr. Crusher pointed at scanner at her arm to observe the Alien Monster™, but there was a brief close-up insert shot that was apparently filmed with a stand-in who was wearing a front-zipping jumpsuit (whereas Dr. Crusher had been wearing the back-zipping “hero” version for nearly four years at that point).
A large portion of the series finale took place during and immediately prior to the pilot, which obviously necessitated a “curtain call” for the early uniforms.
However, both Captain Picard and Data wore season 2-style jumpsuits, rather than the appropriate season 1-style.
Observe their season 2-style asymmetrical fronts:
Note the M-shaped lower yoke contour of Captain Picard’s jumpsuits, characteristic of his season two uniforms.
Also note their respective necklines and yoke depths.
And finally, observe Data’s outer yoke contour, toward the sleeves – a dead ringer for his jumpsuit during the last third or so of season two.
Strangely, Chief O’Brien also wore a season two-style jumpsuit.
This particular uniform appears to have been custom-made for his appearance in the series finale (rather than a direct reuse of his actual uniform from the pilot – assuming it still existed unaltered, and fit him seven years later).
But then, why would it have been made in the season 2-style, rather than the original season 1-style?
We can be reasonably certain this uniform as custom-made at the time because his jumpsuit’s neckline trim bound the neckline rather than extending out from underneath it – another staple of the season two uniforms.
For what it’s worth, Worf’s neckline trim was constructed that way in the series finale as well …
Thankfully, Tasha wore the proper season 1-style jumpsuit for her appearance in the finale – even if it did stand out somewhat for that reason.
(Obviously these are nitpicks; I feel obliged to point out that I adore Robert Blackman’s work on this series, and the franchise as a whole. Again my intent is not to be an “armchair critic,” solely to point out some of the continuity lapses and incongruous detailing that occasionally popped up over the years.)
Assuming you acknowledge its existence, the early TNG jumpsuits made an unexpected, and inappropriate appearance in the Enterprise finale, which was set during The Next Generation’s seventh season – long after those uniforms had been phased out.
It looks like this was a case of recycled TNG footage being dropped into the apocryphal episode, rather than a costuming error by the wardrobe department, so make of it what you will in terms of uniform continuity.
Rank Errors
And finally, there were a few costuming errors regarding characters’ rank insignias.
During one scene from “Hide and Q,” Data wore two black pips and one gold, rather than two gold and one black.
(Were I to attempt to make sense of this in-universe, I’d hypothesize that Q was intentionally toying with the rank pips to be chaotic and annoying, although that level of minutiae does admittedly seem to be beneath him.)
And during this shot from “The Dauphin,” someone forgot to attach Worf’s rank insignia entirely!
(I suppose it’s theoretically possible he was suddenly busted down to “crewmen” and then immediately reinstated to his previous rank, all off-screen …)
We can speculate about Chief O’Brien’s rank situation until holodecks start working properly, but personally, I don’t think there’s any sense to be made of it in-universe.
He wore a single gold pip for his (nameless) appearance in the pilot, but from season two through season five he wore two gold pips, indicative of the rank of a full lieutenant.
It seems that when the producers decided to make him a main character on Deep Space Nine, they also retrospectively decided he was enlisted and not a commissioned officer. As such, he switched to a single black pip until given enlisted-specific rank insignia for DS9’s fourth season.
Of course, by the time of The Next Generation’s final episode (nearly two years into Deep Space Nine), O’Brien had been thoroughly established as an enlisted member of Starfleet and worn a single black pip for about two years.
Apparently The Powers That Be decided that, rather than trying to make sense of it all or retconning some twisted explanation, it was more important to simply match his rank as seen in the pilot for sake of visual continuity.
In-universe, my best guess is that maybe, just maybe, Chief O’Brien actually had a twin brother all along …
Also during the past segments of the series finale, Data was missing a gold pip; he wore one gold pip and one black one (indicating the rank of Lieutenant, junior-grade) instead of his proper rank of Lieutenant Commander.
(As long as we’re grasping at straws here, I think it’s theoretically possible that Data was a Lieutenant, JG when first assigned to the Enterprise and Captain Picard had given him a double-promotion just before the pilot began, foregoing said promotion in the finale in his haste to deal with the crisis.)
