Costume Design by:
- Robert Fletcher ( notable efforts: The Scarecrow (1972), The Taming of the Shrew (1976), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), The Last Starfighter (1984), Fright Night (1985), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) )
The third entry in the Star Trek film series, The Search for Spock involved the Enterprise crew returning to the planet created by the 'Genesis Device' at the end of The Wrath of Khan, in order to find the formerly deceased Spock (Leonard Nimoy) who sacrificed himself during that film's finale. Once again, Robert Fletcher would return as costume designer, and this film would not just reuse the various Starfleet uniforms of the previous two movies, but also majorly reuse to the Klingon uniforms that were only very briefly glimpsed in The Motion Picture. One new addition to the Starfleet wardrobe (which would be worn a lot by Scotty (James Doohan) in the following sequel, The Voyage Home) is a red bomber jacket, with piping around the shoulders, and a rank strip (of the same colour as the turtleneck) on one of the shoulder - the rest of the standard uniform is identical.
There is also the variant of the typical Starfleet uniform (introduced in Wrath of Khan) worn by Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), which is identical to the standard uniform except now the trousers are replaced with a lined skirt and high-heeled boots - though this would be seen more clearly in the remaining films (the photos used here are from The Undiscovered Country).
Another new Starfleet uniform that is seen just far too briefly, is this red jumpsuit worn by waiters in the Starfleet officiers lounge, which are red jumpsuits with black sleeves and shoulders, worn over a blue shirt - sadly, this is only seen from a distance.
Kirk and company have to hijack the Enterprise in order to make a final trip to the Genesis planet, and during which have to outsmart a bunch of Starfleet security guards, all clad in powder blue tunics and trousers with dark forest green lining around the shoulders, and a red strip across one arm, worn with a lined white and blue cap that slightly resembles the caps worn by the 'starfighters' in The Last Starfighter, which Robert Fletcher was also costume designer on, and released the same year as The Search for Spock no less! The photo of the full costume was taken from the PropArchives website's auction results for this film, which is where all the prop photos come from.
The armored Starfleet guard uniforms originally seen in The Motion Picture make an appearance in this film as well, totally identical except that now the white uniform has been died dark red, with a turtleneck collar fixed to it as well - the armor however, is unchanged.
The film was perhaps notable in being the first of the Star Trek films to show some notable civilian fashions of the twenty-third century, with Kirk first seen wearing a blue jacket with silver lined grey and white shoulders in a diagonal pattern, with a red zipline - sadly this outfit is only seen from the topside up.
Kirk's second civilian outfit gets more screentime, consisting of a dark red jacket and trousers, worn over a pale shirt with a rather unique curved flap, and worn with a dark brown leather jacket with a large open collar - most of the other main cast members also briefly wear leather jackets, but this is the most notable one in my opinion. This civilian outfit, as well as the ones worn by the rest of the main cast, would be worn by them again in The Voyage Home.
The rest of the cast is all in a variety of rather spiffy getups as part of their civilian attire as well. McCoy (DeForrest Kelley) is an outfit very similar to the one he sported briefly in The Wrath of Khan but with grey patches instead of blue, whilst Sulu (George Takei) is in a brown suit worn over a wraparound teal shirt. More striking however is the pink jacket and trousers worn by Chekov (Walter Koenig) worn with a large white collar, whilst Uhura is in a wonderful blue and red patterned shirt worn with a blue-lined magenta top, with golden necklace - sadly, this outfit is barely even seen in the film at all, only being seen properly in publicity photos.
There is a brief sequence at a futuristic bar in the twenty-third century's San Francisco, where several more futuristic fashions are seen, such as this wonderfully cheesy waitress' dress, that is made up with golden lining across the front, and large pointed shoulders, which themselves have actual electric lights fitted on them, as well as more lights adorning the sides of the dress!
A Starfleet agent is also in the bar, clad in a teal and brown outfit with a raised open collar, though his outfit is only very briefly seen.
Another outfit that is sadly only too briefly seen is the one worn by the enigmatic alien pilot who McCoy tries to charter a flight from, who is clad in a beautifully ornate tunic fitted with shiny coloured patches all over the front, back and collar, and combined with the material, almost call to mind some for of beetle - this outfit is only seen properly thanks to the aforementioned PropArchive website, as in the film it is just closeups that prevent any good look - and seemingly must have had a double made of it, as two tunics are worn by some alien delegates in the Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country a few years later.
This applies to the various other bar patrons, such as this studded blue jumpsuit that was barely seen in the final film.
Another civilian outfit that didn't get any screentime at all in the final film was this tan jumpsuit with pads around the shoulders...
Kirk's son David (Merritt Butrick) appears again in this film, clad in a white-lined pale green jumpsuit, with curved padded over the sleeves and one of the shoulders in an asymmetrical fashion (and slightly resembles the outfit worn by the titular character of The Powers of Matthew Starr, a series which Fletcher was also costume designer on) - sadly, again this outfit doesn't really get a full shot, and is then worn with a leather jacket and beige trousers.
(As a bonus, here is the spandex bodysuit Fletcher designed for The Powers of Matthew Starr - you see the similarity, don't you?)
Appearing in this films for the first time since his debut in the original series, is Spock's father Sarek (Mark Lenard), whose first outfit is only too briefly seen in this particular film, but would get more screentime in The Voyage Home - this outfit is similar in design to the Vulcan outfits that Robert Fletcher had designed for The Motion Picture, but is brown with black lining, as well as silvery lining to the collar and sleeves, and metallic pieces over the front.
Sarek also is briefly seen wearing a cloak with this outfit, which is only notable for the shiny metallic pieces over the front, as well as the silvery fabric inside the sleeves.
Sarek's secondary main outfit, is rather similar to his first one, but is far more ornate, with slightly golden lining in lieu of black, as well as a usually being worn with a large livery collar of sorts over his front, this being made up of jewel-like segments all over - mostly seen in the sequence where Spock is reborn, it also made brief appearances in The Voyage Home, worn without the large livery collar, a much smaller necklace being worn instead.
Spock's rebirth is attended to by several Vulcan priests, of which the High Priestess (Dame Judish Anderson) is clad in the most striking outfit, consisting of a hooded red gown worn with a slightly glittery tabard-like garment worn over it, the tabard having a large crest on the back, and worn with a skullcap fixed with two crystal-like pieces on the front. The tabard-like garment has holes cut into the front of it to show the red gown underneath, and similar robes are worn by the other monks seen behind the High Priestess, with their tabards fixed with hoods.
Several Vulcan guards are seen, but usually out of shot - these guards are in purple sashes (fixed with a gemstone-like buckle even!) and black cloaks, worn with gold-lined metallic chest armor also adorned with jewel-like pieces, as well as being worn with a pointed golden helmet.
The other Vulcans attending the ceremony are in a variety of garments - the gong player (who sadly, gets very little screentime) is in a large red gown and patterned headband, whilst the High Priestess' handmaidens are all in white dresses worn with golden necklaces and headdresses, and various other Vulcans are in gowns of various colours, worn with headwear that slightly resemble phrygian caps.
Spock himself is reborn, and is clad in something akin to a futuristic version of a monk's habit, with the garment over the gown having large shoulders and a triangular pattern adorning the front, and the sleeves of the gown having piped cuffs - also of note is the priestess who is in an outfit reused from the priestess seen in The Motion Picture, but this time with the pronged crystal-like headdress worn with the veil.
Of course, the villains in this film are the Klingons, the first of which we see is the Klingon spy Valkriss (Cathie Shiriff), who is seen wearing a (rather, um, revealing) silvery dress worn with a blue belt and fastened with a silver decoration, as well as a high-collared silver vest worn over it - sadly this outfit is never seen in full even in publicity photos. Also of note are the doomed crew of her vessel, the captain of which is in a tan jacket with holes cut in the sleeves.
Lastly, is the uniform worn by the Klingon commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), who wears a uniform almost identical to these of his underlings, except that his has a more open collar, with a metallic fabric acting as a vest, and is worn with a brown cloak of sorts, which other Klingon commanders wear in the remaining films, as well as in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
