Armscye
Durinda Rice Wood made several changes to the upper body of the TNG jumpsuits for season two.
As you may recall, the season one jumpsuits had deep armscyes, although William Ware Theiss & co. did tighten Captain Picard’s and Commander Riker’s a bit partway into the season.
Since Commander Riker’s season two jumpsuits were very similar to those from the first season, his armscyes generally remained fairly deep.
His jumpsuit from the beginning of the second episode definitely had the earlier-style armscye, but I believe it was literally just one of his season one uniforms being reused.
(Older “hero” costumes were often reused for distressing, extras, stuntpeople, etc.)
At least one of his season two jumpsuits had a tighter armscye, though – more akin to his later season one jumpsuits.
He appears to have worn both styles during season two; observe the early vs. later back armscyes in the examples below:
And because Data’s jumpsuits from the first two-thirds of season two were either just his season one uniforms or a new batch made in a near-identical style, his armscyes were also deep like those from the first season.
On a couple occasions it looked like at least one of his early season two jumpsuits might have had slightly tighter armscyes (the armholes didn’t look as deep as they did in season one), but it’s difficult to say for certain.
The later jumpsuits (that he wore for the last third or so of the season) had significantly tighter armscyes, which Wood seems to have preferred.
Here’s a comparison between Data’s season one and (later) season two jumpsuit front armscyes:
And here’s a comparison between his season one and (later) season two back armscyes:
For the first third or so of the season, Chief O’Brien’s jumpsuit armscyes were also deeper, like the season one uniforms were.
For the latter two-thirds or so of the season, though, his armscyes were tightened to be more akin to the other season two “hero” uniforms.
(I believe they may have otherwise been the same jumpsuits as before, but with the sleeves, side panels, and possibly yoke replaced; note the slight color mismatch between the upper front body and sleeve.)
Here’s a comparison between O’Brien’s early and later (tightened) season two jumpsuit armscyes:
Q appears to have had a new uniform made for season two, although its armscye was definitely the deeper style from season one.
Several other season two guest stars and extras wore jumpsuits with the earlier-style, deeper armscyes, although again, some of these may have been reused costumes from the previous season.
Captain Picard’s season two jumpsuits all appeared to have fairly tight armscyes.
At least in this regard, his season two jumpsuit armscyes appear relatively unchanged from those he wore most of the first season.
Geordi’s season two jumpsuits had tighter armscyes than those from the first season.
In these examples one can also see the tighter side back armscye area:
Worf’s season two jumpsuit armscyes were tighter, too.
In these examples one can also see the tighter side back armscye area:
And here one can clearly see his deeper season one armhole, compared to the raised season two version:
Front Waist Paneling
Perhaps the most significant change that Durinda Rice Wood made to the TNG jumpsuit design was to the asymmetrical waist seam.
Before we take a look at her redesigned torso paneling, we need to keep in mind that the “season one” front styles (as I dubbed them back in part one) were also used throughout season two, albeit less so as the season progressed.
Most notably, Commander Riker’s season two jumpsuits consistently had the “season one” front paneling and proportions that will hopefully look familiar.
It looks like the asymmetrical waist seam on his jumpsuits might have been slightly lower earlier in the season and raised a bit later, but it’s tough to say for certain.
However, the waist seams on some of his jumpsuits did appear to have more pronounced curves (upward toward the apex) than others.
Although Worf’s jumpsuits were newly made for season two, his front torso paneling also appeared to be analogous to the season one style.
Chief O’Brien’s uniforms (which were presumably also made for season two) also had the “season one” fronts.
Several guest characters and many extras throughout the season wore jumpsuits with the familiar, “season one” style fronts – although again, at least some of them may have been the result of older costume recycles.
This was almost certainly the case for the nameless “goldshirts” that season.
And of course, Data’s early-style jumpsuits from the first two-thirds or so of the season all had the “season one” style fronts.
However, for most of her season two jumpsuits, Durinda Rice Wood shifted the apex farther outward (to the left) and softened the angle of the diagonal seam line, which produced a significantly less-pronounced “point.”
Captain Picard’s season two jumpsuits all featured these redesigned proportions:
He actually wore this redesigned uniform style in at least one season two publicity photo, showing us that Wood had been hard at work right from the beginning.
Moving forward, I will refer to this version as the “season 2 front” throughout the remainder of this analysis.
Here are a couple comparisons between his season one and season two jumpsuits:
And in these comparisons, one can also see that in season two, the black side panels were also slightly widened.
Captain Picard’s season two jumpsuits did have a couple minor variants.
During the first third of the season, at least one of his jumpsuits had an apex that wasn’t quite as far to the left.
And during the first half of the season, at least one other jumpsuit had an unfortunately “double-jointed” front waist seam.
Having three minor variants in use concurrently did produce some continuity errors, particularly in the second episode; Captain Picard’s uniforms repeatedly switched between all three styles over the course of the episode.
In any event, Geordi’s season two jumpsuits also had this redesigned front paneling.
Here’s a comparison between the front area on Geordi’s season one and season two jumpsuits:
Data’s later season two jumpsuits (from the last third or so of the season) also had Wood’s redesigned fronts.
Here’s a comparison between the front area on Data’s season one and season two jumpsuits:
Again note the slightly wider black side panels.
Sonya Gomez’s second jumpsuit had Wood’s redesigned front as well.
The front area of Q’s season two jumpsuit wasn’t quite the same as his season one version, but it wasn’t quite as extreme a redesign as the others we’ve seen so far.
It was perhaps more akin to the third Captain Picard jumpsuit I mentioned.
There was one other curious variation in season two, in which the front apex was actually shifted the opposite direction (closer to center), with the diagonal slant again softened.
In lieu of a better label, I subsequently will refer to this specific variant as the “season 2 weird front.”
As with the necklines, all this overlap naturally resulted in multiple front styles being clearly seen simultaneously in the same shot.
Commander Riker, Worf, and O’Brien’s uniforms notwithstanding, I believe Wood’s intent was to eventually phase out Theiss’ original designs and replace them with her own.
By the end of the season, she was well on her way to accomplishing just that.
Captain Picard – the show’s lead – wore her redesigned jumpsuits throughout the entire season, as did Geordi.
By about halfway through the season, most (perhaps all?) of the newly-made jumpsuits featured her redesigned front paneling, including those for Data and Sonya Gomez.
Back Waist Paneling
As for changes to the back of the season two jumpsuits, that’s a mixed bag.
We didn’t see the characters from behind anywhere near as often as the front, so there were few opportunities for observation and comparison.
The back paneling on Worf’s season two jumpsuit(s) appeared to be unchanged.
The back paneling on Commander Riker’s early season two jumpsuits also appeared unchanged.
Later in the season, it looks like Wood may have steepened the back angles slightly on his jumpsuits, but it’s difficult to say for certain.
The diagonal back seams on Geordi’s season two jumpsuits were definitely angled more.
The lower apex on the back of Captain Picard’s jumpsuit(s) was shifted closer to center, and the diagonal seams were again more angled.
