The top 3 worst uniforms in all of Star Trek

A critical analysis of Starfleet's top 3 worst uniforms and why.

Star Trek: The Original Series courtesy of Titan Books
Star Trek: The Original Series courtesy of Titan Books | Star Trek: The Original Series courtesy of Titan Books
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#1 Worst Uniform - Star Trek: The Motion Picture

On the set of Star Trek: The Motion Picture
On the set of Star Trek: The Motion Picture | Sunset Boulevard/GettyImages

Utility – The uniforms of TMP were designed by customer designer Robert Fletcher, whose director Nicholas Meyer admitted he felt the uniforms were bland. I could not agree more with Meyer. Given TMP was released in 1979, I will allow some consideration for the fashion of that time in the late 70's. However, the flowy athleisure wear of the baseball tunics with the scoop bottom was just too casual for a Federation crew, led by arguably Starfleet's greatest captain - Captain Kirk!

The pastel-like colors of the Starfleet uniforms are neither commanding nor befitting of a military-inspired canon of Star Trek for a crew who’s tangled with the Klingons, Romulans, and the likes of Khan Noonien Singh. Additionally, there were too many different styles of collars in the uniform. Some collars had crew necks, some collars were V-necks, some collars had lapels, some collars had a notched t-shirt under the crew neck collar, and some collars were crew necks with V-neck outlines.  


At one point Captain Kirk even wore a white short-sleeved, crew-neck t-shirt with a V-shaped neck opening. The most unforgiving aspect of the uniform was a seemingly useless black and gold embellished object attached to the waist area of the baseball-like tunics. However, not depicted in TMP theatrical release, confirmed by Gene Roddenberry in his novel “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”, the device is a personal medical scanner that constantly sends individual bio information to Dr. McCoy in sick bay. Lastly, I'm not going to even comment on the stirrup pants with a pleated split at the shin! Utility Score: 1

Military Ranking – Aside from the military-inspired ranking on the sleeve cuff of the tunic, it was difficult to determine the ranking among the crew. I was happy to see the various numbers of gold bars and gold dashes on the sleeve cuff to indicate rank. However, oddly, depending on what type of top was worn, there was no other indication of rank. Sometimes jackets, coats, and other tunics had shoulder insignias to represent rank. Whereas some had no shoulder insignias at all. This inconsistent use of ranking insignias is erratic, confusing, and not based in Star Trek canon. Ranking Score: 1.5

Departmental Colors – Departmental colors in TMP are almost non-existent. Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu all had tan uniforms, while Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Scotty all had pastel blue uniforms. Captain Kirk wore a gray uniform with a gray and white tunic and occasionally he wore a white short-sleeve tunic. Upon a recent rewatch of TMP I noticed the departmental colors were indicated in the color of the circle behind the Starfleet insignia on the left chest. This is poor departmental designee as the sole place to indicate departmental differences as a highly visual depiction would be more congruous with TOS and Star Trek canon. I understand the TMP creator’s intent to streamline the uniform, but in this instance, minimal is extremely lacking in deference to a need for a disciplined and structured crew of highly skilled ensigns, officers, commanders, and lieutenants. Colors Score: 1

TMP's Score: 3.5 out of 15

Which Star Trek crew has the worst uniform?

With the S1 crew of "Enterprise being the third worst, and the S1 crew of TNG being second worst - by far, considering Utility, Rank, and Departmental colors, with a score of 3.5, TMP crew has the WORST uniform in Star Trek canon. Despite the fact that TMP's uniform design was likely reminiscent of the late 1970's when the movie was released - the design is excessively too lightweight for the Starfleet's most famous crew, headed by Captain Kirk. Notwithstanding, there is nothing modern and streamlined about a uniform based on athleisure wear and a baseball tunic with a scoop bottom!