60 years of Star Trek uniforms: Looking back at the everchanging wardrobe of Starfleet

To boldly dress as no one has dressed before… In another universe, that could have been the " Star Trek " mission statement.

Sure, the veteran franchise has spent much of its 60-year lifetime seeking out new life and new civilisations, but it's also been preoccupied with keeping crews fashionable as they explore the final frontier.

It seems that nobody wants to make first contact sporting last year's jumpsuit.

The sheer volume of uniforms worn on Federation duty is mind-boggling, as Starfleet has turned regular style updates into one of its prime directives.

So, as "Trek" celebrates its 60th anniversary, we take a warp-speed tour through the outfits Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and the rest have hung in their wardrobes.

Make it sew, number one! Watch Star Trek on Paramount+: Essential (ads): $8.99/mo or $89.99/yr Premium (no ads): $13.99/mo or $139.99/yr The Original Series era Captain Kirk and his crew, sporting their iconic uniforms on "Star Trek: The Original Series". (Image credit: Star Trek: The Original Series) Departments denoted by: Logos in Starfleet delta, color of sweater ( Command: Gold/Green, Science/Medical: Blue, Operations: Red ) Rank denoted by: Bands on sleeve cuffs Although the ranks were lifted directly from the Navy, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry didn't want the Enterprise to feel militaristic — this was the enlightened 23rd century, after all, when exploration was more important than war.

As such, the uniforms worn by Kirk and co were rather more casual than standard forces' issue.

By the time the Enterprise started its five-year mission in earnest, the outfits had been through a couple of subtly different evolutionary stages (in pilot episodes "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before") before costume designer William Ware Theiss zeroed in on those now-iconic designs.

Captain Pike and his bridge crew in the "Star Trek: The Original Series" pilot episode "The Cage". (Image credit: Star Trek: The Original Series) They featured sweaters and black pants for the men, peak-'60s minidresses for the women, and all of them were color-coded blue (Science/Medical), red (Operations), or green (Command) to show off the wonders of those new-fangled color television sets.

And yes, we did say green.

The command sweaters worn by Kirk, Sulu, and Chekov were actually green in real life, but a combination of studio lights, early color TV tech, and the velour fabric made them appear gold on screen.

Captain Kirk wearing his occasionally used green wraparound top in "Star Trek: The Original Series". (Image credit: Star Trek: The Original Series) The casual wraparound number occasionally worn by Kirk was made from a different material, and hints at the green Theiss originally intended.