Your Favorite Bill Theiss Costume

[Spock's Barber]

Considering both the budget and time constraints that he worked under, Bill Theiss was a master in creating TOS costumes for the variety of human and alien characters.

What is your favorite costume that he created?

Here’s mine…

 

[ZapBrannigan]

This is one that lingers in mind:

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/109-what-are-little-girls-made-of/what-are-little-girls-made-of-br-166.jpg

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/109-what-are-little-girls-made-of/what-are-little-girls-made-of-br-196.jpg

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/109-what-are-little-girls-made-of/what-are-little-girls-made-of-br-222.jpg

You have to climb the ladder on Exo III to get more clothes. Dr. Brown got more than Andrea, and Dr. Corby got the most. Andrea wondered for years why she wasn't getting promoted.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Mine are the original Starfleet uniforms from "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before." I like the simplicity of them and the rank stripes (especially in the second pilot). I prefer the more muted division shirt colors, dark gray trousers, and loved those initial wraparound field jackets.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

If he did Rayna's costume, you have my answer.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

On a pure fanservice basis, Diana Ewing's "Droxine" dress. On a more practical level, any and all of the Theiss-designed uniforms.

 

[Esteban]

I liked the dress uniforms. Subtle, but effective.

Not totally sure about Scotty's kilt, but I appreciate the effort.

 

[Orac]

This is one that lingers in mind:

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/109-what-are-little-girls-made-of/what-are-little-girls-made-of-br-166.jpg

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/109-what-are-little-girls-made-of/what-are-little-girls-made-of-br-196.jpg

https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/screencaps/season1/109-what-are-little-girls-made-of/what-are-little-girls-made-of-br-222.jpg

You have to climb the ladder on Exo III to get more clothes. Dr. Brown got more than Andrea, and Dr. Corby got the most. Andrea wondered for years why she wasn't getting promoted.

Andrea and Brown have the same costume, but Brown is allowed to wear a dark undershirt probbly to conceal his aesthetically displeasing physique.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Um.......was Bill Theiss responsible for Jaime Finney's wardrobe?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Andrea and Brown have the same costume, but Brown is allowed to wear a dark undershirt probbly to conceal his aesthetically displeasing physique.

Yes, but also I see Brown's extra garment as a sign of higher status.

I don't know if Theiss was thinking this, but in 1966 you might see a manager wear a coat and tie, a clerk from the mail room wear a short-sleeved shirt and tie, and the girl fetching coffee wear a miniskirt rather than trousers. It seemed as if the lower you were on the ladder, the less covered up you had to be.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Um.......was Bill Theiss responsible for Jaime Finney's wardrobe?

Oh, you must mean this lump of fabric…

 

[Nerys Myk]

Oh, you must mean this lump of fabric…

Sailor Moon

 

[Redfern]

Sailor Moon

Yeah, that dawned upon me some years ago. If one ignores the selection of fabrics, it really is patterned after a sailor style Japanese schoolgirl uniform! I bet even Theiss never imagined that fashion would reach pop culture status years later!

 

[Takeru]

Yeah, that dawned upon me some years ago. If one ignores the selection of fabrics, it really is patterned after a sailor style Japanese schoolgirl uniform! I bet even Theiss never imagined that fashion would reach pop culture status years later!

Japanese school uniform were patterned after european naval uniforms. And children wearing sailor inspired clothing was a thing in europe and probably america too in the 19th and early to mid 20th century. It's way more likely Theiss was simply using a general trend in fashion that had existed for decades and not specifically japanese school uniforms.

 

[Spock's Barber]

I still love the original Klingon costumes. A simple black sweatshirt, tank top, half trousers and long black boots. Cool!

 

[Qonundrum]

Hard decision to choose from these:

• Romulan Commander
• Larry Marvick
• Pretty much all the Vulcans' designs (esp. those used in "Amok Time", they're phenomenal)
• His whirly IDIC design is pretty cool too (https://purplesloth.com/2010/08/20/william-ware-theiss/ see the blue background)
• All the costumes from "Elaan of Troyius" are amazing, especially considering some of the materials used -- Theiss was an absolute genius

Honorable mention: Some of his prototype designs but especially the approved/used TNG Crew uniforms design, he did eighties angles right.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Yes, but also I see Brown's extra garment as a sign of higher status.

What was that word Harry Dean Stanton kept repeating in ALIEN? ''Right'', right? Rrrrright.

Send her to a bad color DRAGNET. She'll fit in fine.

I still love the original Klingon costumes. A simple black sweatshirt, tank top, half trousers and long black boots. Cool!

If IMDB is correct, and I doubt they'd make it up, one of Khan's goons is played by none other than future CONAN/ROBOCOP composer Basil Poledouris. Digressions ended.

 

[Spock's Barber]

If IMDB is correct, and I doubt they'd make it up, one of Khan's goons is played by none other than future CONAN/ROBOCOP composer Basil Poledouris. Digressions ended.

I’m just looking at Kang’s Klingon buddies. The goon to Kang’s left might be him.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

If IMDB is correct, and I doubt they'd make it up, one of Khan's goons is played by none other than future CONAN/ROBOCOP composer Basil Poledouris. Digressions ended.

I don't see him in "Day of the Dove" on IMDB, but it looks like him on the far right, with his head cocked down.

He did play a Klingon soldier in "Errand of Mercy," seen marching in formation. Also an Ekosian soldier in "Patterns of Force," and an ill-fated guard in "Obsession."

 

[Spock's Barber]

I don't see him in "Day of the Dove" on IMDB, but it looks like him on the far right, with his head cocked down.

He did play a Klingon soldier in "Errand of Mercy," seen marching in formation. Also an Ekosian soldier in "Patterns of Force," and an ill-fated guard in "Obsession."

IMDB says Ansara was 6’3” and Poledouris was 5’7”. That’s why I thought the short Klingon next to Kang was him.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

IMDB says Ansara was 6’3” and Poledouris was 5’7”. That’s why I thought the short Klingon next to Kang was him.

Well, I still don't for sure that Basil was even in "Day of the Dove." Probably not. But we've got a pretty good Memory Alpha page here to see his face. I'm not the best with faces in little photos.