Star Trek Generations (1994)

Costume Design by:

- Robert Blackman ( notable efforts: The Running Man (1987), Star Trek: The Next Generation (Seasons 3 to 7), Deep Space Nine (1993 - 1999), Voyager (1995 - 2001), Enterprise (2001 - 2005), Pushing Daisies (2007 - 2009), Mockingbird Lane (2012) )

However, despite the series ending this would not really be the last appearances of The Next Generation's cast, as there would be several mostly derided movies produced starring the cast, even whilst different shows were airing. The first of the movies starring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series, Star Trek Generations film also served to bridge the gap between The Next Generation and movies starring the cast of the original Star Trek series, though really the few original cast members would be featured only very briefly, these of course being Kirk (William Shatner), Scotty (James Doohan) and Chekov (Walter Koenig). Costumes-wise, the film would be mostly a lot of reused older costumes, especially Starfleet uniforms, despite that the film was originally meant to highlight a new type of uniform as well. This new uniform consisting of a tunic in the Starfleet colours, worn over pants - it seems a bit more cumbersome than the usual uniform designs from this era, which is probably why it was scrapped.

The film was originally intended to start right off the bat with a skydiving sequence, where Kirk would have been wearing a futuristic skydiving suit - this design being an absolute delight, consisting of a bodysuit coated in blue tiles, with a large domed helmet that even has tiles stuck on its collar parts, so it's a crying shame this was entirely cut from the final movie and the footage only survives as fuzzy video reels. There is a sort of happy ending for this suit however, as it was finally seen in its full glory in the Star Trek: Voyager episode 'Extreme Risk', and then was finally auctioned.

In this same deleted sequence, Chekov and Scotty would have been clad in patterned civilian attire. Chekov wears a brown suit with dark red rounded shoulder pads,

Scotty meanwhile wears a light blue jacket with a dark pattern over the front, as well as large collars.

Kirk meanwhile wears a red and black patterned vest over his original uniform's turtleneck, with the black panelling being curved and to the sides.

One particularly notorious sequence in this film involves Picard entering a dreamw in the 'Nexus' where he now has a family is celebrating Christmas - at first I assumed these were just historical outfits, but looking closer at the characters outfits thanks to auction photos, there are several touches that show this is meant to be more an anachronistic 'homage' to Victorian fashion, especially given that Picard is a character from the future. The dress worn by Picard's dream wife indicates shows this thanks to having a jumpsuit underneath the frilly green dress.

The various kids Picard has raised in his dream also wear a variety of 'futuristic' pastiches of Victorian garb, with stiff cuts, no buttons and very colourful patterns - I only realized that the waistcoat of the green suit is the same pattern that was used for the shirt worn by Vir Kotto in Babylon 5!

The film starts with a rescue of El-Aurian refugees, one of them being series stalwart Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), who is first seen wearing a purple gown, cut with an asymmetrical pattern, and worn with a flat-topped cylindrical hat - a design motif based on all her appearances in the Next Generation series.

The other refugees sadly aren't seen properly but seen to be in different coloured versions of Guinan's outfit for the most part, with some in hats more akin to karakul hats - what little are visible are only thanks to production photos I managed to find online. It seems that Guinan was intended to wear another costume, with shiny panelling over the shoulders and chest - sadly, it was never used in the final film, and I wonder if it was ever meant to have her iconic headwear worn with it either.

The villain of the film is another El-Aurian refugee, the scientist Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell), who has been driven mad by his trip to the heaven-like 'Nexus' - in his first appearance, Soran is in a ridged black coat fixed with cut strips in a similar manner to the other El-Aurian refugees, though this outfit is only very briefly glimpsed in the final film, with only auction sites showing the costume in full.

The second outfit worn by Soran is more simple, consisting of a black jumpsuit and trousers, worn with a cravat-like scarf under the jumper, with a simple grey coat worn over it. The jumpsuit seems that it was reused from episodes of The Next Generation, and altered with a collar.