Casual clothes TNG to PIC - from terrible to far too 2020s?

[Phil123]

So it has been said many many times that the casual/civilian clothes the crew wore during TNG was terrible.

And it was. DS9 got a little better. However, it did look quite other-worldly, which was good. Who are we to say those clothes won't be considered the height of fashion in several hundred years. Look what people wore 500 years ago from today - hardly what we'd want to wear now.

Fast-forward to Picard and everything is grey or black with zips and buckles and generally looks like a Superdry catalogue. I haven't seen any of the Earth/Starfleet characters wearing anything I couldn't buy in any mall.

For me, this takes me out of the show more than the terrible TNG satin drapes that passed for clothes, I also feel while it looks very current right now, it will badly date the show in future.

I wondered what others thought? Do you prefer weird clothes meant to look futuristic or small variations on current fashion?

 

[The Wormhole]

Always hated the casual clothes seen in TNG and the other 90s shows and prefer it now that they are wearing actual clothes. I couldn't give a flying fuck if it looks futuristic or otherworldly, clothing should look good and comfortable, and what we see in Picard fits that criteria.

Of course, I also liked the fact that characters in Nu BSG were wearing suits and ties, so there we are.

 

[Lord Garth]

I don't -- for one second -- think how they dress in PIC is how people would dress in 2399...

BUT

... given how seriously the show wants to present itself, I suspend my disbelief because wacky clothing will not make me take the show as seriously as it wants to be taken.

Will it become dated? Everything becomes dated. It's a question of how much. I've noticed less and less change from decade-to-decade in this century so far, so I don't expect it'll become super dated-looking any time soon.

Case in point: the first JJ Abrams Star Trek film came out in 2009 and it still doesn't look dated in 2022. Whereas a film that came out in 1979 would definitely look dated in 1992 and a film that came out in 1989 would look dated in 2002.

 

[YetAnotherSubspaceAnomaly]

Case in point: the first JJ Abrams Star Trek film came out in 2009 and it still doesn't look dated in 2022. Whereas a film that came out in 1979 would definitely look dated in 1992 and a film that came out in 1989 would look dated in 2002.

It’s that true, or is it a function of aging, the way years seem shorter the older you get? Would a 13-year-old right now thing ST09 seemed dated?

In any event, we’re talking about a 55-year-old franchise that’s been in active production in every decade since its debut. It all looks dated to some extent and yet it’s always proved durable. I’ll settle for that.

 

[Dukhat]

Star Trek isn’t about a realistic portrayal of the future. It’s about contemporary people in a futuristic setting. The audience needs to relate to the characters, and they can’t do that if the characters look and act completely different from what they’re used to. For example, let’s make a hypothetical scenario where in reality, in the 24th century it would be completely normal for people to amputate parts of their bodies as a fashion statement. Do you really think a contemporary audience would want to see Picard, Riker, Troi, etc. walking around armless, legless, earless, noseless, fingerless, etc.? Of course not.

Now while that example may be a bit extreme, let’s focus on the clothing styles. Any attempt to deduce what type of clothing a 24th century person might actually wear runs the risk of looking like this:

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Unless you’re Lady Gaga, no one in the year 2000 would be wearing any of that.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I dunno: I rather liked Tasha's off-duty wardrobe in "The Naked Now."

 

[fireproof78]

I wondered what others thought? Do you prefer weird clothes meant to look futuristic or small variations on current fashion?

Small variations on current fashion. Wacky clothes basically takes me out as it screams "The Future" in bold neon letters than feel extremely off putting.

 

[Dukhat]

I dunno: I rather liked Tasha's off-duty wardrobe in "The Naked Now."

She only wore that when she was drunk to get her rocks off with Data.

 

[Kor]

Fashion tends to be cyclical in some respects. So instead of clothes deliberately intended to look futuristic, or something that looks contemporary to today's world, I would prefer weird clothes meant to invoke something historical. Like the Greco-Roman looking stuff in TMP. Or white powder wigs and jabots.

Kor

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I want to look to look at future clothes and think 'that's not exactly what someone would wear today but it looks good'.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I will take dated 2022 clothes over characters dressed like bus seats any day

 

[fireproof78]

I will take dated 2022 clothes over characters dressed like bus seats any day

Agreed. I was recently rewatching a film I loved as a teen that was set on a space station in the 21st century. The clothes were bright and colorful, and some looked extremely ridiculous with the colors. However, the overall cuts and styles were outgrowths of 20th century fashion. It looked like something people would actually wear.

Most Trek future fashion is not designed in that mindset. It's outlandish and impractical. It looks like a costume.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I feel like they can do better than just one or the other, but if it really came down to those two options... I would not be picking bus seat fabric.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

She only wore that when she was drunk to get her rocks off with Data.

Rocks? What rocks?

One of Denise Crosby's stock convention lecture gags at the time was to say, about Data, after looking around:

He has three speeds.

 

[Sci]

I don't think the casual clothing in PIC or on DIS look too 2020s -- they look to me just non-contemporary enough that I can suspend my disbelief. Going for a "realistic" speculation about fashion more than 10-25 years into the future is a fool's errand anyway. By the same token, it's pretty obvious that in 400 years, people won't be speaking any version of contemporary English -- not prescriptivist formal standard English, and not modern vernacular English -- but we don't expect ST characters to speak an English that's as different from us today as our English is from Shakespeare's. At a certain point, you have to suspend disbelief.

 

[Dukhat]

Of all the things to bitch about in Star Trek, clothing styles is at the bottom of my list. If it even made it on the list at all.

 

[Phil123]

Interesting responses. I had a feeling I’d be on my own preferring the whacky stuff! Any others out there who liked it please join me haha.

Star Trek isn’t about a realistic portrayal of the future. It’s about contemporary people in a futuristic setting.

I found this most interesting, and when speaking of modern Trek it has some truth to it.

However, to me (other options are available) Trek was supposed to be a decent guess at our future featuring more evolved humans. TNG in particular. That’s what I always loved about ST - that we would improve.

I suppose in a weird way my clothes preference reflects my preference for the more utopian aspects of Star Trek.

 

[Sci]

I suppose in a weird way my clothes preference reflects my preference for the more utopian aspects of Star Trek.

Which is fair... except that there was nothing utopian about those awful civilian clothes they stuck the ST characters in during the Berman era. Especially poor Jake! They made that poor man wear bad Greyhound bus upholstery!

Honestly I think the best way to depict fashion that registers to the audience as being outside of their contemporary real-life culture but doesn't register as looking ugly or camp is probably to borrow clothing designs from the past.

 

[fireproof78]

However, to me (other options are available) Trek was supposed to be a decent guess at our future featuring more evolved humans. TNG in particular. That’s what I always loved about ST - that we would improve.

I guess I would be curious how fashion reflects that in TNG? Or in Trek in general. Because, a lot of the fashion in Trek either looks uncomfortable or downright impractical. Which, is understandable because it is largely to look good on the actor wearing it.

What is interesting to me when looking at fashion trends, vs. what people tend to wear is fashion tends to value appearance, while the individuals I know tend to value comfort. For instance, when I first started working for a retailer in 2002 the dress code included men wearing ties. Before I left the company the tie was optional, and shoes were allowed to be neutral colored but athletics rather than polishable dress shoes. So, the current trend appears to be one of comfort. Which, honestly, most future fashion in Trek does not look comfortable.

 

[Phil123]

@Sci - I enjoyed that a lot.

@fireproof78 - I’d like to think we get to a point where fabric/textile technology has reached a point that clothes can be extremely comfortable and look smart.

The Disco uniforms (not the brand new ones) looked horrendously uncomfortable to me. Those collars and all the metal bits.