Ask An Outfit: Sci-fi Costumes

A reader asks:

Here’s a question regarding 60’s vs 80’s sci-fi costumes.

They redesigned Star Trek uniforms for the movies:

They also redesigned the Green Lantern around the same time:

Both feature a kind of double-breasted-y jackets with ribbed collars. What’s up with that.

Oh, the answer is easy: Fashion!

In the mid-sixties, everyone is wearing slacks.  Slacks, slacks, slacks!  Mock turtlenecks and slacks, V-neck sweaters and slacks … slacks.

Wearing slacks showed how modern you were.  They weren’t your father’s boring old suit, they were slacks.  You looked casual, you looked smart.  You showed how groovy and neat you were.  Doing hobbies, chatting with girls, maybe dancing a watusi or something…

And so the Star Trek uniforms looked like this:

In the future, everyone wears slacks!  (Except the ladies.  The ladies wear mini-dresses, of course.)



In the mid-eighties, we are suddenly very excited about tailoring again.  American Gigolo, Miami Vice … people are excited about suits.  Re-constructing, de-constructing, doing an architectural take on how a jacket is built.    You’ve heard of the Power Suit?  That comes from then.  And designers are having an especially great time playing around with military jackets.

Taking things like the US Naval Dress Uniform:

And doing things like…
Smart, conservative Ladies Jackets:

Sophisticated, asymmetrical takes on double breasted:

And this fancy Princess Di situation, which is basically a dressed up admiral uniform:

So, suddenly slacks seem lazy and un-hip.  Those guys need to feel like they’ve got some authority.  They better all get some jackets!

Kirk’s looks very much like someone’s version of what Armani would do to a Navy uniform in space.

For your reference, here is some more Armani:

Green Lantern seems like his is more of a green, sleeveless motorcycle jacket.  (The belt is what is really convincing me of that.)

Emotional Labor

I was just reading this interesting article about Emotional Labor.  It’s mostly about prostitutes and nurses, but seems so true about what costume designers do, too.  I’m also thinking about how emotional work is usually lady labor and a big part of why people sometimes like to forget the how hard costume designers are working.  Because a wall is never going to cry and complain to the director if a set designer makes it feel fat and a couch is never going to throw a tantrum about the throw pillows if it is feeling insecure or scared.

“I’m also used to seeing that labor made invisible; when it’s most effective, emotional labor seems effortless. When it stops working, there’s no prescribed fix, and because emotional labor is difficult to measure, it can be hard to figure out where and why it’s broken to begin with. It’s often easier to stomach your feelings than it is to bring feelings into a labor dispute, easier to tell yourself to buck up than to take a needed break, easier to switch off at work than to quit your job.”