Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 1 (2001)

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), Pushing Daisies (2007 - 2009), Mockingbird Lane (2012) )

The last of the Star Trek shows made before the movie series reboot, Enterprise for sure felt like it's decade of origin in a lot of ways - for one, it had a much more militaristic tone than the previous seasons akin to the Battlestar Galactica reboot, which was reflected in how their spaceship now looked more like a battleship or submarine interior compared to the spacious and pristine rooms that had been in previous series. This more restrained tone was reflected in the uniforms the cast wear, which were all very utilitarian jumpsuits, and 'civilian' outfits all being entirely then-present day clothing. The most notable outfit of any regular cast member was the jumpsuit worn by T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), who was like Seven of Nine on Voyager, an obvious attempt at sex appeal - this first costume however, is rather plain in its colourscheme, being of stony grey fabric, with a cut to the collar in a manner similar to the various Vulcan robes.

'Broken Bow'

The first episode of the series involved the new spaceship Enterprise attemping to bring an injured Klingon back to his homeworld, and in the process established the rather more muted design sense of the show. The Klingons introduced in this episode would set the tone for all their later appearance in the series, wearing much more grubby 'primitive' garb, with the most notable design element being the brass-lined wristguards, which attach to chainmail sleeves. The most notable Klingon outfit of this episode (or season, at that) is worn by this Klingon chancellor who wears a leather tunic with metallic lining around the angular collar - note the furred sleeves and rather patchwork design of the leather-like material, which makes these Klingons look more savage than previous (later? given this is a prequel series) costume designs.

This episode also marked the first appearance of the Suliban terrorists (and if you can guess what the word 'Suliban' is based on, in context of a series based on terrorist attacks, then you probably run rings around the average scifi writer), but I felt it more fitting to mention here - the Suliban operatives all wear red jumpsuits of a rough material, fitted with lined segments over the shoulders and waist.

There are some variations on the Suliban uniform, as seen with the version worn by Silik (John Fleck) which has a trailing coat segment fixed on it, or the 'labcoat' variant which is made of the same material, but cut into a jacket.

Also appearing is the defector Sarin (Melinda Clarke), who wears a hooded jumpsuit with the top half made of a coarse material with white veiny strips that make it look almost organic, attached to high-waisted brown vinyl leggings.

'Unexpected'

In this, ahem, odd episode, the Enterprise crew come across the Xyrillians, a species of alien whose members all wear shiny silver bodysuits with rather organic looking lining criss-crossing them all over - I haven't really bothered to include the various other myriad 1990s and 2000s scifi series that followed in the wake of the Star Trek shows, mostly due to them being either very derivative or shoddy with their costume designs, but I am slightly reminded of the alien outfits from Earth: Final Conflict (which, natch, was based on ideas of Gene Rodenberry, the creator of Star Trek).

'The Andorian Incident'

This episode introduced (or re-introduced? whatever) the Andorians, dressing them much more in line with 2000s 'edge' than any previous outings - which is funny because the actual aliens are 1950s/1860s kitsch relics in term of design, and yet here they are dressing like they've watched The Matrix far too much! Still, the actual jumpsuits are interesting designs, with Shran (Jeffrey Combs) wearing an asymmetrically designed grey and green jumpsuit.

The various soldiers under Shran's command wear a variety of vinyl jumpsuits of red or brown colouration, with them having symmetrical lining on the shoulders or sleeves.

'Civilization'

In this episode, the Enterprise uncovers an unscrupulous prospector named Garos (Wade Andrew Williams), who has disguised himself on a primitive alien planet in order to conduct his mining operations - as per his disguise, he dresses like a medieval noble almost, wearing a black tunic with copper lining over the chest like a 'sunbeam' pattern, worn with a robe as well.

'Fortunate Son'

This episode involved the Enterprise attemping to resolve a conflict between a human freighter crew and some Nausicaan raiders, with the Nausicaans also dressing differently compared to their previous appearances in The Next Generation episode 'Tapestry' - for one, their jackets are symmetrical now, and are entirely leather rather than being a patchwork of materials. Most of the Nausicaan outfits are barely seen at all thanks to a combination of the frenetic direction and moody lighting, so there's only a screenshot of the captain (in the especially rough looking jacket) when on the viewscreen.

'Dear Doctor'

In this episode, the doctor Phlox is called upon to help an alien species after encountering an astronaut of their species that begs them for help - the astronaut is wearing a white jumpsuit with string across the chest and sleeves.

'Shadows of P'Jem'

This episode continued on the plotline focusing on the tension between the Andorians and Vulcans, with us finally seeing what the Vulcan's security forces once wore, which were wraparound jacket, with a lining around the collar - as can be seen from the screenshots, the uniforms came in different variants.

'Fusion'

This episode involved the Enterprise coming across a group of Vulcans who had been ostracized by Vulcan society for accepting emotion, with the eldest Tavin (Robert Pine) wearing a tan jacket made of a coarse material, with specially cut cuffs.

The second of the Vulcans, Tolaris (Enrique Murciano), wears an angular blue tunic with lighter blue panelling down the front and shoulders.

The last of the three Vulcans, Kov (John Harrington Bland), wears a teal tunic with a panel of tan material over the shoulders, surrounded by orange lines.

'Rogue Planet'

In this episode, Captain Archer decides to help an alien creature who is being hunted by a group of intergalactic big game hunters who wear futuristic camo gear - the pattern is white with grey streaks all over, with square panelling over the chest.

'Acquisition'

This episode was the Ferengi's sole appearance in this series, but even they ended up wearing more muted outfits than usual as per the show's style - yet, still one outfit shines through in the form of the velvet-like red jacket worn by Muk (Clint Howard), the leader of the raider team that attempts to loot the Enterprise. One nice detail is how his red trousers also have brass studs on them, just like on the various Ferengi official's costumes seen in Deep Space Nine.

Grish (Matt Malloy) wears an outfit that is a sort of callback to the 'dandy' outfits worn by the likes of Quark in Deep Space Nine, as he wears a similar sort of 'tailcoat' suit, though with more muted colours compared to previous versions, with the tailcoat being a dark blue leather.

There is also Krem (Jeffrey Combs), the underdog of the group who wears a short furred top and leather trousers with metallic pieces stitched on the sides.

Leading this operation is Ulis (Ethan Phillips), who is dressed perhaps the most plain in a brown wraparound shirt with studs, leather trousers and a large overcoat.

'Oasis'

In this episode, the Enterprise comes across a 'haunted' ship of sorts, whose only living resident is the engineer Ezral (Rene Auberjonois) and his daughter - the other holographic 'ghosts' in this episode are all wearing jumpsuits that were just reused from the Voyager episode 'Random Thoughts', though I feel Ezral's outfit was made for this episode, as it has a coat fixed over the unitard. Both the unitard and coat have lighter panelling around the chest and shoulders.

'Detained'

This episode was set on a prison camp for captured Suliban civilians, who wear a variety of tunics, worn over hooded jumpsuits - interestingly, the costumes look more vibrant in the auction photos than they do on-screen, presumably because of tinting?

The prison camp is ruled by a group of 'Tandaran' military officers, who wear padded coats with brown lining and vinyl collars. It's interesting that the chief officer is played by Dean Stockwell, as he had acted alongside Scott Bakula on Quantum Leap - Al in perhaps his most un-flashy costume yet!

The guards under their command wear similar uniforms but of a more purple-hued fabric, with shorter coats and different collars.

'Vox Sola'

This episode starts off with the Enterprise botching a 'first contact' mission with the Kreetassans, who all wear stiff gowns with high collars, made with shiny fabrics - and worn with a lot of beaded necklaces!

'Fallen Hero'

In this episode, the Enterprise is embroiled in a dispute between a Vulcan ambassador and the 'Mazarites', who wear vinyl jackets that come in a variety of colours, with different patterns of textured accents over the shoulders and front.

'Two Days and Two Nights'

In this episode, the Enterprise's crew takes a vacation on the pleasure planet Risa, where Tucker and Reed are accosted by a pair of alien thieves, both wearing jackets with panelling goind down to the end and made up of textured stripes in various earth tone shades, making the patterns look like camouflage a bit.

'Shockwave'

Another recurring figure in the series was the time traveler Daniels (Matt Winston), a human from Earth's far future, and in a good few of his appearances is wearing a very strange bodysuit of ridged black tubing, that itself is over a more shinier material - also of note is the rounded shape that is formed by other tubes over the chest and back of the suit. I see this costume trashed a lot on various sites, but I think this actually conveys the sense of being bizarre and from a very different culture pretty well!

The Journey Inside (1994)

A very hard to find edutainment science-fiction film made for IMAX theaters, thus requiring a high level of polish and detail. From what I can read up about it, the film was trying to teach children about the value of computer technology (whilst also involving a plot by aliens trying to prevent it from being made), The Journey Inside had its costumes designed by Durinda Wood (costume designer for Battle Beyond the Stars, as well as the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, where she notable was responsible for the creation of the Borg) who I contacted for this entry specifically due to the elusive nature of this film, and was deeply kind enough to provide me with various photos and costume sketches, such as these ones below (which also who the film's original working title).

The costume sketches were adhered to for the final design of the mysterious aliens, which come in two different versions - the leaders (I assume) have an open helmet, with long trailing capes that resemble the wings of insects, with the workers being in sealed jumpsuits and concealed helmets. The aliens in general have a very insect-like look, with the organic helmets and the iridescent material of the costumes, which according to Wood, were constructed out of spandex which had acrylic paint slathered on, in order to prevent the spandex springing back (as it is wont to do). These costumes were partly brought to the screen (and required to be have an impeccable level of detail thanks in part to being shown on IMAX) thanks to the costume supervisor Charmaine Simmons (who had a long career, notable working on the famous sitcom Seinfield), and assisting Wood was costume design assistant Abram Waterhouse, who notably had also been 'co-costume designer' with Robert Blackman on various episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space 9.

Again, I would like to thank Durinda Wood herself for her help in sending me these costume sketches and production photos, and has many more images on her own website's page on the film!