Starfleet uniform (mid 2270s)

The crew of the Enterprise, 2270s — The crew of the starship *Enterprise* in uniform

In the mid 2270s, a new Starfleet uniform design was introduced over the previous design, with many different variations. Most were gray, white, brown, or beige, and came either in a one-piece jumpsuit or with matching trousers and tops.

These uniforms bore rank insignia on the sleeve or on shoulder tabs. The arrowhead emblem was adopted as Starfleet's overall insignia and was worn on the chest by shipboard personnel and flag officers. Base personnel, like those on Epsilon IX, continued to wear duty badges unique to their assigned base.

Distinctive features of this period included a life support monitor belt buckle and shoes attached to the trousers. This style of uniform was phased out by 2278. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; TNG: "Cause and Effect")

In the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the life support monitor belt buckle was non-canonically named the "perscan" device.

Duty uniform

Flag officer uniform

James Kirk, 2270s — James T. Kirk, in a rear admiral's uniform

The flag officer uniform was a two-piece tunic with dark gray pants and a white and dark gray flared shirt with a high collar. Rank was shown by both epaulets and sleeve stripes, and a gold Starfleet Command pin was worn on the chest.

Rear Admiral James T. Kirk wore this type of uniform in his assignment at Starfleet Headquarters on Earth, when he was Chief of Starfleet Operations.

This uniform design was identified by Robert Fletcher as the "Class A Uniform." (Star Trek: Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier, p. 43)
Kirk's uniform was originally the model intended be worn by all cast members. The director, Robert Wise, wanted a more monochromatic look, resulting in the several versions seen on screen. The actual color of this uniform is closer to a loden green than a grey, with white accents. ^{(citation needed • edit)}

In the alternate reality, by 2258 admirals wore a uniform and dress uniform similar to this. In the book Star Trek - The Art of the Film, Star Trek costume designer Michael Kaplan stated that the resemblance was intentional.

Jumpsuit

The duty jumpsuit was a one-piece uniform with integrated footwear, all one color. Rank was shown on the division color epaulets, and a division color assignment patch was attached to the chest. Some of these jumpsuits had large pockets located on the thigh.

Short sleeved tunic

Starfleet short sleeved uniform, mid 2270s — James T. Kirk, in a captain's white duty tunic

A short sleeved version of the standard tunic was also available. This tunic featured either a low V-neck collar, or flared V-neck. Rank was shown by division color epaulets, and a division color assignment patch was attached to the tunic chest. The V-neck tunics were available in same colors as the standard uniform.

This uniform design was identified by Robert Fletcher as the "Class B Uniform." (Star Trek: Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier, p. 41)

Two-piece tunic

The standard Starfleet uniform was a two-piece tunic that came in a blue-grey, beige, brown, or white color, including any combination thereof. The tunic was worn untucked, and had a life support monitor belt buckle. Rank insignia was worn as sleeve stripes, and an assignment patch showing a division color was attached to the tunic chest.

This tunic came with three variations of collars. The standard was a low flat collar, but there was also a V-necked flared collar version. The standard version could also be worn with a higher, more formal collar.

The higher collar worn by Spock looks to be from the same undershirt he wore with his Vulcan robes when he came aboard the Enterprise, suggesting he may have simply put his uniform on over it.

Two-piece tunic with belt

Starfleet civilian tunic, mid 2270s — A belted tunic worn by civilians

This uniform was also two-piece, and seen primarily among the USS Enterprise refit crew while it was in drydock. They were available in the same colors as the standard Starfleet uniforms, however were worn with a belt.

This uniform was worn by extras in the background on the bridge and in the rec room before the Enterprise departed drydock. The assertion that they are civilian uniforms comes from the lack of any Starfleet insignia and that they were absent on extras after the ship departed. The extras who wore these uniforms also considered themselves civilians. ^{(citation needed • edit)}

Wraparound tunic

Crewmembers performing maintenance operations had the option of wearing a wraparound tunic. Its function is similar to the duty jumpsuits of the previous uniform style, and like those jumpsuits, it is worn with a black undershirt.

Engineering attire

Engineering tunic

Engineering suit

USS Enterprise operations engineer 17 — An engineer in an engineering suit

Protective suit

USS Enterprise operations engineer 18 — An engineer in a protective suit

Medical attire

Medical tunic

For use in the medical department, a white tunic with a flared collar was used, with a medical green caduceus in place of the assignment patch.

Patient attire

Spock in sickbay, 2270s — Spock wearing the standard patient attire

Patients in Starfleet sickbays wore a loose fitting white tunic with a hood like flared collar, the interior of which was orange. This was worn with white pants with prominent closers running all the way down to the ankle.

Outer wear

Excursion jacket

Body armor

Starship and base security personnel wore body armor complete with helmets.

EV suits

Pressure suit

Thruster suit

A thruster suit was an environmental suit with the addition of a thruster pack attached to the back.

Embellishments

Assignment patches

These uniforms indicated department by a colored circle behind the assignment patch, according to this code:

Starfleet insignia with color codes

White – Command division
Orange – Sciences division, scientific research and technical branches
Green – Sciences division, medical branch
Red – Operations division, engineering and maintenance branches
Gold – Operations division (communications branch); Command division (helm and navigation branches)
Grey – Operations division, security and services branches

Wardrobe designer Robert Fletcher stated in his personal notes (p. 1) that "the emblem is the same for all divisions, only the background colors change. The standard woven division patch is worn on the left sleeve of the engineering protection suit and some special duty uniforms."

Examples of rank insignia

Sleeve insignia
Petty officer	Chief petty officer	Ensign	Lieutenant
Lieutenant commander	Commander	Captain	Rear admiral
Epaulet insignia

This chart represents the rank insignia seen on screen throughout these uniforms' appearance. Production notes indicated that the rank of lieutenant junior grade might not have been in use during this period. Enlisted ranks apparently had no insignia. No commodore, vice admiral, admiral, or fleet admiral were seen, and any insignia is conjectural.

Starfleet uniform styles

By era:

2140s-Early 2160s • Mid 2160s • 2230s • Late 2230s-2250s • 2250s-Early 2270s • Mid 2270s •
Late 2270s-2350s • 2350s-2370s • Late 2360s-Early 2370s • 2370s • Early 2380s • Mid 2380s • 2390s

By type:

Casual duty attire • Patient wear • Fictional uniforms
Alternate & parallel uniforms • Alternate reality uniforms • Terran Empire uniforms

Appendices

Background information

Overall, these uniforms were only used in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, though parts of them were recycled into the lab coats of the Regula personnel in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the red jacket uniforms seen in the next six films and episodes of TNG.

Wardrobe designer Robert Fletcher created a fourteen-page internal document used to depict his designs for the divisions, rank, and insignia seen throughout the movies.

George Takei stated that this version of the uniform was not comfortable, and that because of the way it was designed it required assistance to be removed – even for minor things such as using the restroom. He stated that the redesigned uniform featured in the rest of the films with the original series cast was brought about because of the cast's reluctance to film any further films with this version of the uniform. ^{(citation needed • edit)}

External links

Starfleet uniform (Early 2270s) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
Starfleet uniform (mid 2270s) at Spike's Star Trek Page
22nd and 23rd century Starfleet uniforms at Ex Astris Scientia

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