Star Trek The Motion Picture Uniforms - Episode 96

70s Trek: Star Trek in the 1970s

One of the hallmarks of The Original Series was its use of color. In the mid to late 60s, color TVs were finally available and Star Trek went out of its way to make use of that new technology with colorful uniforms, sets and lighting.

But as pre-production was under way on The Motion Picture, director Robert Wise decided to take the film in a very different direction.

He introduced a very monochromatic look. He used shades of gray and silver everywhere and played down bright colors. He decided to do the same with the new Starfleet uniforms, as well.

His view was that the multi-colored uniforms were OK for the small TV screen, but replicating that look on the big screen, might be unrealistic to moviegoers.

He wanted the new uniforms to be simple and lack color. What we ended up seeing on the screen showed up only once. But they have become symbolic of this time in Star Trek’s history.

Some people love them and some people hate them. But no matter how you felt about them they’ve become part of Star Trek’s history and lore. When you see them, you know they’re from The Motion Picture.

Robert Fletcher

Bill Theiss worked on the uniforms and costumes on The Original Series and was asked to come back to work on Phase II. But when The Motion Picture became a reality, and Bob Wise was hired to direct, Theiss was let go.

Wise wanted to go in a different direction with costumes. So he brought in designer Robert Fletcher. The costume designer was pretty established by 1978. He had created costumes for ballet, opera, Broadway plays and TV shows.

His job was to come up with a totally new look for the crew. Mini-skirts were no longer in fashion in 1978, and producers were afraid that if they included them, it might appear sexist. As we mentioned earlier, the brightly colored uniforms were also out. Wise was afraid they would detract from the story when they were seen on the big screen.

So Fletcher wanted to make sure his new uniforms didn’t detract from the action and the relationships, but also needed to make sure they looked like an evolution from the TV show.

That was his challenge when he began designing them in 1978.