What Not To Wear--Cardassian Edition

[Nerys Ghemor]

I bet you know exactly what I'm talking about, before you even read the rest of the thread.

I mean that THING Macet and company were wearing on their heads at the start of "The Wounded."

Did anybody from the costume design department ever offer any sort of reason as to what that THING was for? Did it have any functional purpose? Or was it just there to look weird?

Before the stupid responses like "They weren't cool enough for sombreros" roll in, I would love to know, if anybody ever offered any sort of REAL (read "official") reason besides "just because."

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

They were stupid.
I also noticed a wardrobe malfunction in the episode "The Maquis" I believe. When Dukat is being escorrted throguh the promenade, you can see how cheap and flimsy the Cardassian uniform is, and the whole side has detatched and is flopping around helplessly

 

[Michael]

They weren't cool enough for sombreros.

 

[Red Ranger]

Maybe those little head-thingies are some kind of Cardassian S&M regalia! I can see Dukat being a sadistic mofo with a whip! Ouch! -- RR

 

[Chindogu]

Do neck ties have any real function? Different cultures wear different things for different reasons. Some have function, some are purely decorative, and some are religious.

 

[Red Ranger]

^True. But what did you think of that funky Cardassian headgear? -- RR

 

[Holdfast]

I bet you know exactly what I'm talking about, before you even read the rest of the thread.

 

[Red Ranger]

Actually I thought you meant the codpieces! LOL! -- RR

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Maybe those little head-thingies are some kind of Cardassian S&M regalia! I can see Dukat being a sadistic mofo with a whip! Ouch! -- RR

Eeeek...the scary part is, I bet Dukat really WAS into S & M, mainly a lot of S on his part. But for the love of God, let's PLEASE not go there!

(Though I must admit the comparison to S & M gear DID pop into my head before I ever posted this thread...)

Do neck ties have any real function? Different cultures wear different things for different reasons. Some have function, some are purely decorative, and some are religious.

It definitely wouldn't be religious where the Cardassians are concerned. You're right about some things not having any function, though.

But I did notice that as soon as they got off their ship and out of the transporter room, those THINGS came off and never appeared again. I have to wonder if they actually thought they were intimidating somebody by wearing those. Hell of a bizarre way to make one's first impression...

Actually I thought you meant the codpieces! LOL! -- RR

I am about to sound really stupid, but clearly I'm not getting the terminology here. What do you mean by "codpieces"? Are you talking about the cuirass on their normal armor, or something else?

 

[The Old Mixer]

Could they have been monitoring devices or somesuch for use on their ships, like the Vorta used?

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Could they have been monitoring devices or somesuch for use on their ships, like the Vorta used?

That's one thing I thought of. Though I'd be wondering why they would bring them onto the Enterprise and then presumably leave them behind in their quarters (where if I were them, I would NOT be leaving anything that had a data link with my ship).

And where would the input/output functions be? I never saw anything after they took them off that would've suggested an implanted dataport, so it couldn't have worked that way...

 

[Trekker4747]

I bet you know exactly what I'm talking about, before you even read the rest of the thread.

Yep. And I just watched "The Wounded" the other night.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

LOL, yeah, it's kinda hard to remove that from your brain. The WHOLE episode, most of it for great reasons, but that...

You know, I can really hear what Staci and Clint would say about it...

Clint: Sorry to break it to ya, but that doesn't say "kick-ass soldier"--that's a great big "kick me" sign on your face. I can't look at that thing without thinking of that piece of crap my orthodontist made me wear to school in the 6th grade--which got me stuffed into my locker more times than I'd care to count.

Staci: Ouch! Yeah, definitely a cross between a football helmet and an orthodontic nightmare--and I'd say the orthodontia is winning. All of you--chuck those things in the dumpster, right now! [Turns to Daro] See there? That wasn't so painful, was it? That's right, let the ladies see those eyes...

 

[Red Ranger]

Nerys: OK, a codpiece is an old costume part that "fits" over the genitals. Check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codpiece. And as they say, it may be more than you ever wanted to know about medieval clothing. LOL! -- RR

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Uh...wow--and to think men did that on THIS planet. And no, I wasn't even looking THERE when I was watching "The Wounded"!

 

[backstept]

I had to look the episode up . . . yeah what the heck were they thinking?
http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s4/4x12/thewounded039.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/s4/4x12/thewounded066.jpg

 

[Trekker4747]

Going on a limb here... They're soldiers, garb worn by soldiers (more often than not) is worn for protecton, for armor.

So maybe their "spoon heads" are a especailly vulnerable spot in their foreheads? Maybe there's no skull-bone behind it and it's an easy entry point to their brain. So those "helmets" are designed to protect their spoon-head weakness.

They took them off later on the enterprise because they were at no risk there. They never wore them because...

Ummm...

Errrr....

Oh!

Really cool, innovative, and more fashionable and less visilbe surgery to place a plate behind their spoon.

 

[Red Ranger]

The other thing about the costumes was they were an awful shade of brown. Guess they didn't learn from the crappy brown uniforms worn by some crew members in TMP! LOL! -- RR

 

[RaymondJames]

S&M, red ranger? I think you have many stories to tell.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

They were stupid.
I also noticed a wardrobe malfunction in the episode "The Maquis" I believe. When Dukat is being escorrted throguh the promenade, you can see how cheap and flimsy the Cardassian uniform is, and the whole side has detatched and is flopping around helplessly

I noticed that, too. Those uniforms looked really good, though, and knowing how expensive costumes can be, I can easily let it slide.

The brown uniforms from "The Wounded," though, were pretty bad--they reminded me of things you'd see on pre-hiatus Dr. Who. Cardassian make-up, however, is perhaps the all-time best make-up design to come out of Modern Trek.