Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Season 5 (1996)

Costume Design by:

- Robert Blackman ( notable efforts: The Running Man (1987), Star Trek: The Next Generation (Seasons 3 to 7), Voyager (1995 - 2001), Enterprise (2001 - 2005), Pushing Daisies (2007 - 2009), Mockingbird Lane (2012) )

This would be the last season to introduce new regular costumes for Quark (Armin Shimmerman), the first being this reddish patterned tailcoat worn over an angularly cut shirt, and worn with dark red trousers - like most of Quark's coats, this one is fastened with a metallic buckle across the chest, as well as another on the collar.

Quark's second new outfit in this season is also a tailcoat, this one being of a darker red colour coated all over in brown stripes, and worn over a shiny golden shirt - like the previous coat, this one is also fastened with a buckle on the chest. Also of note is how it is worn with different colours of trousers, sometimes red, sometimes blue. The image I used, taken from the New Ferenginar blog, seems to be the dirtied up duplicate worn for a specific episode.

Quark's third outfit is perhaps one of my favorite of the entire show, being a beautiful multicoloured jacket (sometimes likened to 'stained glass', like the jacket he started sporting in the second season)

This season also introduced a new outfit for Leeta (Chase Masterson), consisting of an orange patterned dress with green velvet sleeves, and worn with trousers of the same green fabric. This outfit would be seen regularly in the following two seasons.

'The Ship'

In this episode, yet another Vorta officer appears, Kilana (Kaitlin Hopkins), who like the other Vorta, wears an outfit with an asymmetrical curved cut, made out of a reddish material - this one slightly differs to the previous Vorta outfits in that it seems to be a one-piece jumpsuit rather than a tunic and trousers, has a much deeper collar, as well being covered in piping across the front (a design element that would be reused by Blackman in his designs for the various wacky costumes worn by Neelix in the sister series Voyager).

'Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places'

This episode was a sequel to 'The Hourse of Quark', with Grilka returning whilst sporting a new type of Klingon dress - this one is a tan leather jacket fitted with a tan leather skirt, with grey furred sleeves and an armor plate over the chest as well. Dax also has to sport this dress when training Quark to be able to actually do Klingon fighting!

Also returning alongside Grilka is her advisor Tumek (Joseph Ruskin), who wears a tunic with a brown collar and ruffled sleeves, similar in design to the various Klingon civilian costumes seen in the Next Generation episode 'Birthright'.

Also sporting new costumes would be O'Brien and Keiko, with O'Brien wearing a blue and green wraparound shirt (of a similar cut to the blue and purple one Bashir sported in the third season episode 'Fascination'.

Keiko meanwhile briefly sports a colourful striped top (or is it an effect of the lighting?), as well as a vest made up of seashell-like pieces, and always with leggings as shown clearly by the shot taken from the following season's 'Time's Orphan' (which I felt warranted inclusion here).

This episode also has Kira wearing a gold-patterned shawl due to her being pregnant, worn over leggings of various colours.

'...Nor the Battle to the Strong'

In this episode, we see Starfleet personnel wearing a combat uniform consisting of a thick padded jacket with segmented material around the waist, with a coloured stripe around the top of the sleeves as well.

'Trials and Tribble-ations'

This episode was a loving tribute to the original 1960s Star Trek series, involving the cast travelling back in time to the events of the infamous 'The Trouble with Tribbles' episode, with the original sets and costumes being lovingly recreated. The episode starts with Sisko (Avery Brooks) being interrogated by two Federation agents, Dulmer (Jack Blessing) and Lucsly (James W. Jansen), who both are in pinstriped tunics and vests, a riff on typical pinstriped business suits.

The reason Sisko and company are being interrogated is due to them travelling back in time to stop the embittered Klingon ex-spy Darvin (Charlie Brill) who wears a lined brown jacket over a colourful jumper that was originally worn by the waiter Ben (Bruce Beatty) in The Next Generation episode 'Lower Decks' - the jacket is also reused from The Next Generation, in particular the episode 'The Chase'.

The recreation of the 1960s costume designs, designed by William Ware Theiss, extended to making a few new dresses for the waitresses such as this lovely pink and red striped deal, worn with pink tights and high heels. There is a yellow version of the dress too, that is barely seen in the episode itself sadly.

Much less vibrant are these wraparound jackets sported by both Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and Worf (Michael Dorn), both a fairly solid imitation of the jacket sported by Cyrano Jones (Stanley Adams) in the original series episode 'The Trouble with Tribbles' that this particular episode splices footage from. Odo's and Worf's outfits feel a bit less shoddy than Cyrano's (no disrespect to William Ware Theiss here!), as well as Worf wearing a hooded cap to hide his ridged forehead.

'Let He Who Is Without Sin...'

This episode involved the Deep Space 9 crew going on holiday to a supposedly idyllic pleasure world, with Quark of course dressing the most loudly in a yellow lined ridged blue top, which itself is very similar in design to the outfit worn by the obnoxious Ferengi in the episode 'Captain's Holiday' of The Next Generation.

Also of note is Jadzia Dax (Terry Farell) and her iridescent swimsuit, as well as Leeta's garish pink swimsuit and rainbow skirt! There's also Bashir's orange print leggings and purple vest as well,

Dressed much more conservatively is the demagogue Fullerton (Monte Markham), who sports a brown overcoat with black strips extending from the collar, and worn over a silvery shirt.

'Things Past'

This episode was partly set in the past, when the Deep Space 9 station was under the rule of the Cardassians, whose internal security officer Thrax (Kurtwood Smith) who sports a grey top with an arrow-like symbol stitched on the front.

'The Ascent'

In this episode, Odo and Quark end up stranded on a barren planet and have to wear cold weather gear made of a ridged silvery material, with darker patches on the arms and legs, as well as a strip around the shoulders in a similar manner to the typical Starfleet uniforms. These suits were worn in full in the Voyager episode 'Timeless' as well.

'Rapture'

This episode has Sisko's lover Kasidy Yates (Penny Johnson Jerald) swapping out her various jumpsuits for a short dress made of a reddish patterned material, worn with red tights as well.

Another character who has marked a fashion change this season is Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton), who was turned in his extremely loud 90s shirts for more muted vests of a variety of patterns - my personal favorite is the vest covered in brown curved lines all over.

Though of course, he still has to wear garish pajamas made of a teal fabric with a brown strip around the collar.

'The Darkness and the Light'

The episode had Major Kira ending up captured by a Cardassian vigilante, the disfigured Silaran (Randy Oglesby), whose outfit isn't seen clearly thanks to being shot mostly in darkness - apparently it is a bulky black jacket with mauve panelling on the sides, elbows and middle.

There is also this deal worn by a Bajoran official (who is only seen on a screen), which is a brown blouse with light panelling designed in a curved fashion.

'The Begotten'

This episode marked the return of Mora Pol (James Sloyan), the scientist last seen in 'The Alternate' returns, wearing a slightly similar outfit to his previous appearance, though here the asymmetrical plaid is more brown in colour.

This episode also involves the pregnant Kira going into labor, with the event being watched over by a Bajoran minister wearing a lovely striped dress with golden panelling down the front and back.

'In Purgatory's Shadow'

This episode marked another appearance from Ziyal (Melanie Smith), who this time wears a new outfit in the form of a purple dress with pinkish lining down the front, as well as a piece of panelling made of ruffled shiny pink material over the chest as well. This costume would be worn again in the characters later appearances in the series.

'By Inferno's Light'

This episode had a good few of the cast imprisoned in a prison camp of the Dominion, overseen by the the Vorta named Deyos (Ray Buktenica) - sadly this costume doesn't get a full shot up close, but what we do see shows a jacket with short sleeves and leather lapels, worn over a ruffled brown mottled shirt. The jacket and shirt are in turn worn with blue pants.

'Doctor Bashir, I Presume?'

In this episode Bashir is visited by his parents - his father just wears tunics reused from The Next Generation episode 'Attached', but his mother wears a jacket made of a padded reddish material with various coloured patches all over - the jacket is also worn over a plain black dress.

'A Simple Investigation'

In this episode, Odo falls in love with a mysterious woman, Arissa (Dey Young), who sports a rather simple grey dress with blue lining over the shoulders and waist, as well as one shoulder being made of a panel of ruffled material to make the design fell less symmetrical.

Arissa is actually an agent of the Idanians, who are spying on a criminal syndicate - Arissa's Idanian garb consists of a blue dress with a large hood fixed around the shoulders.

The other Idanians seen in this episode wear dark blue tunics with the same hood design as well.

Arissa is being chased by two alien hitmen, Traidy (John Durbin) and Sorm (Nicholas Worth), both of them wearing grubby brown jackets and leather - it is Sorm who sports the slightly more interesting outfit to me thanks to the weird shirt he sports underneath, which seems to be of a rubbery material with metallic segments around the collar. This shirt was worn again by an alien in the Voyager episode 'Critical Care', as well as by some slovenly aliens in the pilot episode of Space Patrol, which was itself a parody of Star Trek.

'Business as Usual'

In this episode, Quark is visited by his cousin Gaila (Josh Pais), who is wearing a wonderfully elaborate tailcoat of a brown, yellow and orange stripes, and also adorned with silvery bands across the middle, collars and sleeves. This coat is also worn over a greyish shirt that has a rounded end, rather than the typically angular cuts that most other Ferengi characters in the series sport with their coats.

Galia's reason for visiting Quark is to try and get him to join the arms dealing industry, introducing him to the weapons merchant Hagath (Steven Berkoff), who sports a wraparound maroon tunic made of a slightly shiny material.

Hagath also always travels with a sultry female assistant, whose outfit consists of a tight purplish-black bodysuit with patterns around the waist and chest.

One of his clients, the Regent of Palamar (Lawrence Tierney) sports a black robe of a coarse material that was meant to be worn with a crown fixed to a hood (also note the outfit worn by his advisor as well).

Meanwhile one of Hagath's associates, Farrakk (Tim Halligan) is shown sporting a tunic with black panelling around the shoulders.

The most interesting costume in this episode past Galia's is worn by this alien customer, who is clad in an asymmetrically designed black and white furred jacket with padded panels over the shoulders, as well as silvery lining down the front of the coat, with silvery panelling around the collar as well.

'Ties of Blood and Water'

In this episode, Kira meets up with the Cardassian defector Tekeny Ghemor (Lawrence Pressman), who sports a tunic with a large panel of woolly material down the front.

'Ferengi Love Songs'

Briefly appearing in this episode is Leeta once more, who sports a blue and purple dress, the purple skirt being cut into segments, and worn over purple tights.

This episode marked the reappearance of Quark's mother Ishka (Cecily Adams), who is apparently now in love with the Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn) - Ishka sports a variety of new gowns in this episode, with the first one being this floral patterned gown with jewellery fixed on the same direction as the flap sealing it - sadly, this outfit doesn't get too much in the way of screentime. It gets a bit more screentime than the other gown Ishka sports, which is a bit similar in design to the one she sported in her previous appearance but is made of slightly different coloured materials - a crying shame there isn't any images of these two gowns online either!

Ishka's third outfit meanwhile is a polka dot patterned black gown, fixed with circular jewellery pieces going around the front and back, and one of the front lines going all the way up to the collar - this outfit thankfully would be seen a lot more thanks to being reused in the character's following appearance in the next season.

Zek, as usual, is clad in a variety of colourfully ornate suits, his first new one being this lilac deal with black segments all over it, as well as large collar lapels going down the front - the fabric seems to be of circular patterns, and is worn over a beige patterned shirt, as well as with purple trousers. The vest underneath it is fixed with silvery buckles as well.

Zek's second outfit is no less elaborate, being another tailed coat of a red spotted blue tailcoat, with reddish fabric that is shown clearly with the mocm hood that is fixed to the coat. The coat is designed to be sealed with narrow panelling, fixed with golden buckles, and worn over a golden vest, as well as his usual trousers fixed with golden studs down the side.

'Children of Time'

In this episode, the Deep Space 9 crew end up in an alternate timeline where they meet their descendants, who have all settled on a rural colony and wear a variety of wooly vests and gowns in colourful patterns, worn over jumpsuits.

'In the Cards'

The penultimate episode of the season involved Jake and Nog getting involved with the mad scientist Elias Giger (Brian Markinson), who wears a grey jacket with piping on the sides, worn over a brown shirt that itself has a lighter brown panel over the chest, though it is obscured by the jacket and then coat that Giger wears later in the episode.