Star Trek: Voyager - Season 1 (1995)

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), Enterprise (2001 - 2005), Pushing Daisies (2007 - 2009), Mockingbird Lane (2012) )

The much maligned sister series to Deep Space Nine, Voyager was an attempt of sorts to do a more 'traditional' Star Trek show in the manner of the original 60s series and The Next Generation, being more about adventures of the week rather than the more heavy plotting of Deep Space Nine - what distinguished this from other Star Trek series would be that it was about a lost Starfleet vessel in a totally unknown region of space, and thus they would encounter more dangerous enemies and have to work together with former 'Maquis' insurgents and encountered aliens to survive. As costume designer Bob Blackman was working on two shows at the same time, I assume that the strain of having to be working on two shows at the same time would have been taxing, especially with all the Ferengi characters in DS9! The show started off from the 'Maquis' insurgency plotline continued from Deep Space Nine, with Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) contacting the disgraced Starfleet officer and former Maquis member Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), who is currently a prisoner. Paris' prison uniform is a fairly unassuming grey deal that is made notable by the sloped strips of darker and lighter grey around the shoulders - this uniform would be reused in later seasons of Deep Space Nine as well.

The band of Maquis seen in the first episode (and in recurring episodes later on in the series) are led by Chakotay (Robert Beltran) in grubby wear consisting of a jumper and leather tunic with golden trim.

Also among Chakotay's maquis squid is the Vulcan Tuvok (Tim Russ), whose civilian outfit consists of a grey jacket with brown panels on the chest, shoulders and base, worn over a mustard-yellow shirt.

Another maquis member is the Klingon-human hybrid B'elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), who wears a pinkish top worn under a dark red leather waistcoat covered in diagonal strips, worn with brown green pants and leather boots.

Most of the notable costumes in Voyager came in the form of the comedy relief character Neelix (Ethan Phillips), who was almost always clad in ludicrously garish outfits, even by the last few seasons which began to become more muted thanks to the 2000s design sense setting in. Neelix's first outfit isn't quite as colourful but still fairly noteworthy, with the fur coat made up of a golden ring pattern and the geometrical shirt.

Neelix's jackets usually tended to be made of a colourful pattern, usually cut in an curved asymmetrical shape, though this first checkered outfit is coated with tubed pieces criss-crossing the front and back.

This second outfit to be worn by Neelix is far more muted in comparison, being made of a mottled greenish-greyish coloured fabric, but the jacket is of an asymmetrical cut, especially around the deep collar which shows the red shirt underneath. The jacket also has very short sleeves, again allowing the sleeves of the shirt underneath to be seen.

This particular outfit of Neelix's is a bit more reserved like his previous one, but is more striking due to being adorned with shape patternes all over the front and back - this one also sticks out because it is of a fairly more symmetrical design which is a contrast to pretty much almost all his other costumes worn throughout the entire series.

Another very striking suit worn by Neelix would be this particular deal, consisting of another asymmetrically cut jacket and trousers made up of a rainbow diamond patterned fabric - the straps of the jacket are sloping across the side and go around the back of it as well, and it is worn over a patterned red shirt as well.

This jacket was sometimes worn with an orange-lined strip of fabric in its earliest appearances, this being abandoned by the end of the first season.

Also of note is some of Neelix's more casual (or as casual as a mohawked alien who dresses like a watercolour painting can get) wear or his cooking attire where he sports a yellow apron and chef hat coated in patterned shapes.

Another recurring character with regular costume changes throughout the series was the telepath Kes (Jennifer Lien), who usually sported some form of futuristic skirt dress worn with leggings - the first one is a dark blue dress with a ridged lighter blue panel over the chest (what also has a rather stiff open collar), and worn with blue leggings as well.

Kes' second notable outfit is a brown skirt piece of an asymmetrical sloping cut, worn over a dark red shirt, and with leggings of the same brown colour as the skirt.

It's a sort of misnomer to call this Kes' third outfit, as there's variations of this in other colours such as purple, but I'm only choosing this version to have screenshots of, which consists of a peach coloured skirt (with lining on the sides) worn over a beige vest, and mauve leggings and undershirt.

Kes also has another outfit, a brown strapped deal over a green shirt, the straps sloping in an asymmetrical manner as per a lot of Blackman's designs for the series.

There is also this grey strapped deal worn over a beige shirt, with the grey top being in two shades, as well as a curved end to it as well.

'Time and Again'

This episode involved the Voyager crew trying to discover why a planet had ended up destroyed by the time they arrived on it, and perhaps involved some of the most colourful costumes seen in the entire franchise - all the denizens of the planet wear long tunics of multicoloured stripes, usually shades of brown, green and orange, with are also worn with corset-like bands of the same striped colours. The tunics end in black tails, and are worn with black tights - this is worn identically by both the men and women on this planet no less!

The security forces of this planet wear much more drab outfits consisting of brown tunics worn with the same brown corset-like bands around it in the same colour, worn with a black headband as well - also note the patch worn on the tunic as well.

'Ex Post Facto'

Once again there are aliens in pinstriped outfits! In this case, the science minister Kray (Francis Guinan), whose pinstriped gown also has a sash cut into it as well.

Other members of Kray's people are dressed in more dull clothes, such as this doctor wearing a wraparound tunic that is worn with a coat as well, and with the same sort of collar as Kray's outfit.

'Emanations'

In this episode, the Voyager crew comes across the funeral rituals of an alien species, whose priest a golden robe over a blue gown, worn with a domed golden headpiece as well - shame that this particular costume is not really seen fully in this episode.

The other mourners are in a variety of oddly designed gowns, with straps going over the shoulders - the exception is seemingly the priest's assistant, who wears a similar conical hat and gown, but of a more simple brown material, and worn over a smock of the same design as the gowns.

An exception to this design sense is worn by Loria (Robin Groves), who sports a pinkish coloured dress of a more typical design, with a ruffled fabric underneath and worn with a translucent veil as well.

Loria is married to Hatil (Jeffrey Alan Chandler), who is due to be euthanized and thus receive the funeral treatment - Hatil sports a two-tone beige coloured tunic made of a coarse-looking material with the blocks of colour seperated by brown lining.

'Prime Factors'

In this episode, the Voyager crew encounter the Sikarians, who are led by Gathoriel (Ronald Guttman), who sports a very, ah, memorable outfit for sure - a green coat fitted with curved panelling of a multicolored pattern, that is used more on one sleeve than the other - and completing the look is the rather odd headdress that Gathoriel sports, that makes me think of an atom's cross-section.

It seems Gathorel was meant to wear a gown that never made it to the screen, this one being of an orange fabric with a block of multicoloured panelling around one of the shoulders.

Gathorel's second on-screen outfit is no less abrasive, being a mottled brown gown with zebra or tiger patterned paneling around collar and shoulders - and also worn with that strange headpiece no less!

The other Sikarians have similar fashion sense, such as Eudana (Yvonne Suhor) who sports a green and orange fabric dress over a mesh bodysuit. Also note the shirt worn by Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), who sports a shirt very similar in the design to the one Picard wore in the episode 'Captain's Holiday' of The Next Generation.

'State of Flux'

In this episode, we finally see the leader of the Kazon tribe chasing after the Voyager crew, Culluh (Anthony De Longis), who wears a red fur-lined tunic worn with a colourful sash that itself is also fitted with circular metallic pieces in an ornamental fashion.

There is also the traitorous Seska (Martha Hackett), who previously was in a tattered Maquis outfit (which we will see better in the next entry on the series) but after switching sides to the Kazon sports an imitation of their dress sense, consisting of a reddish wraparound shirt worn with a fur-lined blue vest.

Culluh's various underlings wear a variety of colourful red and blue fur-lined coats, all wearing similar sashes as his - his main deputy wears a fur-lined dark blue coat.

'Faces'

This episode involved the Vidiians, perhaps one of the more distressingly grotesque creations seen in any Star Trek series - the Vidiians harvest other lifeforms in order to use their bodyparts for their dying bodies, with this process being overseen by medics wearing dark grey overcoats with large collars and asymmetrical orange lining around the sides - the lining seems as if it is going under the material, making it look like the coat is cracking up like the skin of the Vidiians wearing it. Can I say here just how gross these guys are to look at? Ew!

Also rather plain is the uniforms of the Vidiian guards, who wear beige tunics with grey belts that also go around the collar - noticeably, the auction photo seems to have the tunic have a flat end, rather than the indent seen on the onscreen ones. I wonder if it's actually back to front!

'Jetrel'

Another fairly drab, but still interestingly designed costume, is this deal worn by the titular scientist Jetrel (James Sloyan), who wears a brown tunic with a curved panel over the chest and asymmetrical lining going over one of the shoulders.