Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1 (1966)

Costume Design by William Ware Theiss

Perhaps the most iconic science-fiction series ever made, spawning several movies and sequel series and becoming a household name in science-fiction fandom circles for decades afterwards, what definitely separates the original Star Trek from a good deal of even contemporary American science-fiction series such as Lost in Space was a surprising avoidance of outright cliche with the costumes - sure, there was miniskirts and whatnot, but there was no triangular chest patches, pointed shoulder pads or collar tubing to be seen in William Ware Theiss' costumes for the show's run in all of its three seasons. Theiss had worked in science-fiction productions before taking on Star Trek, granted - he had apparently worked on episodes of My Favorite Martian, and then the stage production 'The World of Ray Bradbury', which earned him the Star Trek gig (the full story can be read on this article, 'William Ware Theiss: In & Out of Uniform' on the official Star Trek website), though between the pilot episode and the actual series he also did an episode of The Farmer's Daughter that involved dream sequences set in the future no less, the costume sketches of which still exist. Of course, for this entry we don't really have to cover his iconic colour-coded Starfleet uniforms - there's enough photos of these online!

'The Cage'

The pilot episode of the series, which starred not the (for better or worse) iconic James T Kirk (William Shatner), but instead the more subdued-in-acting Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) as the captain of the starship Enterprise. The episode's plot involved Pike and his crew - among which was Mr Spock (Leonard Nimoy) - being drawn to an alien planet by a species of telepaths as part of a plot to repopulate their world, with Pike and his crew as slaves. In one of many bizarre sequences where the telepaths create illustions to entice Pike, he is made to sport shiny blue gi-like gown worn with a shiny purple gown and a wiry collar with coloured beads on the end.

This episode also has the first example of what would be jokingly called the 'Theiss Titillation Theory', which was summed up as 'the sexiness of an outfit is directly proportional to the perceived possibility that a vital piece of it might fall off' - basically, outfits that were very revealing, but also covering up enough to not get censored on television. The green-skinned alien in this episode wears an asymmetrically cut dress, with leaf-like segments over it, and a section of the back exposed.

'Charlie X'

In this episode, the titular Charlie (Robert Walker) sports a jacket that also highlights Theiss' design traits, a propensity for rather asymmetrical cuts on jackets and jumpsuits, something that he would do even on the iconic Starfleet jumpsuits he designed for The Next Generation - it is interesting that in a way, the costume design sense from the original 60s series and all its 90s sequels as a consistent motif running through. Charlie's jacket is of green and purple colours, with curved fur lining over the front and shoulders.

'The Naked Time'

This episode also let us see that even Starfleet's hazmat suits are colourful and chintzy, having golden patterns over the orange fabric - if it had just been orange, I probably wouldn't have covered it here!

'Mudd's Women'

This episode introduced the sly conman Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel), who in this episode uses three women - Ruth Bonaventure (Maggie Thrett), Magda Kovacs (Susan Denberg) and Eve McHuron (Karen Steele) - as his accomplices, all of which are wearing glittery dresses. Ruth sports a green dress with an asymmetrical revealing opening on the front, Magda wears a blue shawl and Eve wears a pink deal with cuts around the skirt part.

'What Are Little Girls Made Of?'

A surprisingly dark episode involving a group of androids residing in an underground base, created by the mad scientist Dr Korby (Michael Strong) - the denizens of the base all wear costumes involving an blue and green patterned colour scheme, with Korby wearing a jumpsuit with asymmetrical blue and green strips over the front and back, as well as large holes cut around the leg.

Korby's aide, Dr Brown (Harry Basch) wears a set of overalls of the same with the straps at a diagonal cut (one strap blue, one green), with again the holes for the feet and worn over a black jumper as well.

The sole female android, Andrea (Sherry Jackson) wears another fine example of Theiss' 'titillation theory', wearing a set of asymmetrical overalls of the same blue and green colourscheme and diagonal cut as Brown's, but worn over no shirt at all, with the sides of the overalls cut to also show a bit of the midriff.

The other most infamous costume from this episode, albeit not for being revealing, is this robe worn by the brutish android Ruk (Ted Cassidy), with consists of a large grey cape with padded soldiers and an open collar, the undershirt and inner fabric of the cape being a floral pink pattern no less - hey, if a giant guy was chasing after you in a cave, would you pick apart his fashion sense?

'The Conscience of the King'

This episode, which involved somehow an intergalactic war criminal who had disguised himself as the leader of a Shakespearan performance troupe, assisted by his daughter Lenore (Barbara Anderson) who sports a few dresses, the first being this short blue dress with flowers stuck on the front and worn with a black shawl.

Lenore also briefly this green and blue patterned dress with pink streaks on the sleeves and green feather lining on the cuffs as well.

More striking among Lenore's wardrobe is this short furred dress worn with shiny stockings and an oval brooch on the chest as well.

Lenore is the daughter of Kodos (Anton Karidian), who sports a mottled green coat with green fur trim and golden fabric for the insides - and was then reworn in the third season episode 'Whom Gods Destroy', worn by that episode's villain along with a mismatched pair of green and blue boots!

'Balance of Terror'

This was the episode that introduced the Romulans, who would end up becoming recurring antagonists in later series such as The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine - in this first appearance, the Romulans all wear patterned golden sweaters worn with a sash worn over one of the shoulders, the sash being either a patterned blue or pink depending on whether they are an officer or not, and worn with trousers in the same colour as the sash. The soldiers also all wear rounded golden helmets as well. It is interesting that Theiss kept the asymmetrical element when he redesigned the Romulan uniform for the first series of The Next Generation, something which was abandoned in later depictions.

'Shore Leave'

In this rathr surrealistic episode penned by noted science-fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, the Enterprise's crew finds themselves making their fantasies and fears on a strange planet, with Kirk being accosted by the phantom of his former girlfriend Ruth (Shirley Bonne), who sports a lovely black and white dress with flowers fitted on the black side of the dress.

Of course, some of the crew use the planet's abilities to their advantage such as Dr McCoy (DeForrest Kelley) making two girls in very skimpy yellow and pink gear appear, both being clad in a furred bikini and leggings also adorned with furs on them in an asymmetrical fashion, worn with a feather headdress as well.

For most of the episode, Kirk is tormented by the phantom of his academy nemesis Finnegan (Bruce Mars), who wears the same Starfleet uniform with the except that his top is a sparkly silver colour!

'The Galileo Seven'

In this episode, the Enterprise lands on a strange planet, forcing Kirk and the crew to make some very harsh decisions, not helped by the presence of the boorish official Ferris (John Crawford), who sports a futuristic equivalent of a business suit, coloured blue with silver lining with large openings for the shoulders and a diagonal cut at the bottom as well.

'Court Martial'

In this episode, where Kirk is court martialed for a suspected case of manslaughter, another futuristic suit is seen worn by Kirk's attorny Samuel Cogley (Elisha Cook Jr.), who sports a rounded brown jacket with lighter brown patches around the cuffs and pockets, with a deep collar showing the jumper worn underneath it as well.

Leading the prosecution against Kirk is his former flame Areel Shaw (Joan Marshall), who is first seen wearing a green, yellow and purple patterned gown worn over yellowish stockings and sandals.

Also at Kirk's trial is Jame (Alice Rawlings), the daughter of the officer he supposedly killed, who sports this futuristic riff on a typical schoolgirl uniform, with the collar and skirt being made out of a silver-blue material, the rest of the top being made of translucent fabric.

This episode also lets us see the Starfleet dress uniforms in better detail, with the women's being much more striking - essentially the same miniskirt design as the usual, but with diagonal panelling over the front, and with golden lining around the collar as well.

Whilst not really seen in this episode, it is a good time to bring up the casual uniform that Kirk wears in various episodes, consisting of a lime-green wraparound tunic worn over the uniform's black trousers - which, incidentally was the actual colour of the 'gold' uniform top that he usually wore, but due to a combination of the fabric, studio lighting and early television technology, appeared as gold on TV screens all over the world.

'Space Seed'

This episode involved the Enterprise crew running into the escaped Earth dictator Khan (Ricardo Montalbahn), who admittedly isn't dressed as flashy here as he would be in his reapparance in The Wrath of Khan, being just in a red jumpsuit for most of it. Instead, the highlight has to be the golden mesh suits worn by the various women onboard his craft - Khan admittedly also wears such an outfit, but is barely seen properly in the episode itself via the use of closeup shots.

'A Taste of Armageddon'

This episode involved the Enterprise crew arriving on the planet Eminiar IV, as part of a diplomatic mission, bringing the obstinate ambassador Robert Fox (Gene Lyons) with them - Fox is clad in a rather stiff jacket with a large open collar adorned with filigree over the side of it, whilst his aide is in a sleek grey suit with pointed ends and no collar.

The residents of Eminiar IV, who are embroiled in a false state of war where they still execute all civilians supposedly killed in the false nuclear attacks, all have an asymmetrical design to their dress sense, with the women among their number wearing toga-like dresses cut in such a fashion. The most striking is the patterned blue and grey dress worn by Mea 3 (Barbara Babcock), which is worn with black tights as well. Some other women civilians are seen in similar attire, wearing headgear with it too.

The men of Eminiar IV dress with an even more obvious asymmetrical sense, all wearing black jumpers and trousers but with overalls that have been cut down the side to only be in one half, forming a sort of sash shape that goes from one shoulder down to one foot. This cut sash comes in a variety of colours, and is worn with a variety of headgear as well. The leader of Eminiar IV, Anan 7 (David Opatoshu) is distinguished not just by the colour of his 'sash', but also wearing a sort of shawl-like garment with it too.

'Errand of Mercy'

This was the episode that introduced the Klingons, who would end up as recurring villains in the series, as well as the movies that followed in the wake of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and a constant presence in the various 90s shows. In this episode, and all ensuing ones in the series, the Klingos all wear shiny golden tops over black jumpers, worn with metallic golden trousers with boots - in this episode, the commander Kor (John Colicos) is distinguished by the large golden sash he wears over his uniform.

'The Alternative Factor'

In this episode, the Enterprise's crew come across Lazarus (Robert Brown), a man who cam jump between realities, and wearing a sparkly blue jacket and trousers the whole time - it's hard to see clearly due to the outfit being coated in dirt, presumably to show how much wear and tear his reality-hopping antics have caused.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)

Costume Design by: Dee Robson ( notable efforts: Moonbase 3 (1973), Blake's 7 (Series 3, 1980), Doctor Who 'Arc of Infinity' & 'Terminus' (1983) )

Douglas Adams’ most famous work was adapted for television by the BBC in 1981, and for roughly six episodes in total – as such, the show had a pretty small budget and only a select few costumes were designed for the show in total (it helped that Arthur and Ford are in contemporary Earth clothes as well), but there's still an adherence to a science fiction aesthetic. The most recognisable of the futuristic outfits is the double-headed, triple-armed Zaphod Beeblebrox (Mark Wing-Davey), the brief President of the Galaxy and ‘Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe’ with his purple jacket, orange trousers and striped jumper. Of note is how the jacket has is patterned in the design of a computer chip, fitting in with the scifi motif.

With Zaphod is Trilian (Sandra Dickinson) who technically has the most outfits in the series, though most of them are spins on the same basic design, the top always remains the same throughout meaning only the bottom half is changed – first there are no leggings, then its cut like a dress, then there are leggings, though at all times she has the same snazzy yellow-lined boots. When going out on the surface of Magrathea, she sports a red translucent red top over it.

The various thinkers who created the supercomputer Deep Thought are in a number of outfits. My personal favorites have to be the silver togas fitted with neckpieces made up of pointed metal fragments.

The second last episode of the series feature the cast ending up in Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, whose host, Max Quordlepleen (Colin Jeavons) is in an outfit of purple and gold, with his suit fitted with a pointed collar. Also appearing in various episodes is the reporter of the galactic news, who is always in a white shirt with silver bolt-like markings on each side.

Also at Milliways is the deceased (for tax reasons) space singer Hotblack Desiato, in a lurid blue and silver ‘armor’ outfit – his bodyguard is just in stereotypical gangster getup, so not worth including here.

One other notable outfit that gets only very little screentime is the armored uniform of the Vl'Hurg species, who wears translucent armor pieces, a red leather cape and shorts and a rather imposing mask that feels sightly inspired by the 'Sutton Hoo helmet', which costume designer Dee Robson had previously used as inspiration for the Vanir armor in the Doctor Who serial 'Terminus'. Similar abstract helmets are worn by the Norse gods briefly seen in Milliways.

There are also the endearingly cheesy golden outfits worn by the ancient Galactic explorers, dressed in a classic parody of 'Golden Age' science-fiction garb with a sun motif emblazoned on the front.

Lastly are the useless middlemen of the Golgafrinchans, who crash land on a prehistoric Earth and set up the human species as the bureaucratic mess it is now - the Golgafrinchans are dressed in a variety of futuristic wear such as the asymmetrical zip-up suit worn by another useless white collar midde management type.