As one of the “old farts” who has been around for almost all of the franchise’s history, I deeply appreciate that this is one of the first modern KZfaq video perspectives I’ve seen where the author(s) have actually done some genuine historical research into the perspectives and attitudes of women from over fifty years ago-rather than ignorantly condemn The Original Series for its “blatant sexism” FORCING oppressed women to wear those horrible miniskirts, as most young KZfaqrs claim, without any knowledge of historical cultural context. It’s infuriating that they arrogantly condemn a historically revolutionary series without any knowledge that it was the WOMEN themselves who WANTED to wear the miniskirts. They’ve never seen the numerous interviews with the late Grace Lee Whitney where she proudly took credit for “designing” the Starfleet minidress with her own personal sketches in her apartment-because SHE believed the women should look sexier. Young KZfaqrs are surprised by Nichelle Nichols politely asking millennials to stop melting down over her classic costume, because it was what she and her fellow female castmates WANTED to wear as a sexually liberated woman, that it was a reflection of what they did choose to wear in their daily lives in the 1960s. Either you’re old enough to know better or you’ve taken the effort to do some actual research. Either way, well done! 👍

Contrary to popular myths Star Trek was not a low budget TV show of the 1960s however it certainly displays low budget special effects compared to modern day TV and movie productions. In its day Star Trek was one of the most expensive TV one hour production on broadcast television.

As a young boy during TOS, these miniskirts went a long way into my appreciation of women. They OWNED that outfit. Man, Uhura became a standard of beauty for me. Yes, even as a white kid. This show played a significant role for me is seeing people as individual characters, not as tribe members.

As others note, TOS was *not* low budget. While its budget was drastically cut by the third season, it was in fact an extremely high budget show for the time. The special effects may look janky now, but compare them to shows from the same era using FX and you'll find they're ahead of their time.

I would like to personally thank Grace Lee Whitney for suggesting the fashion forward minidress for female crew members!

Lt Uhura always looked classy in anything she wore......I still can't believe she is gone. R.I.P. Michelle Nichols.

One update I'm okay with is SNW adding leggings to the miniskirt design. It still looks about the same without being too "60's". JJ's misunderstanding of Trek is accurate. He was more of a Star Wars fan and attempted to overlay that franchise's sensibilities even though Trek and Wars are fundamentally incompatible. His Kirk is the womanizing space cowboy that most non fans think he is

I was in my teens in the 60s when the show first appeared, and I totally didn't see the miniskirts as sexist or demeaning. Miniskirts were regular wear at the time, and the Star Trek crew wore tights under them so they were not exposed. At the time, the way women were usually portrayed on Star Trek was much more liberated than on most TV shows, though the portrayal was certainly not perfect.

I was 15 in 1966 when I fell in love with Star Trek. I am also a big fan of the TOS mini dresses. As a teen we all wore mini skirts. They were the hight of fashion.

Like so many other topics today, the current generation insists on trying to evaluate television and movies from the past using current social standards, almost as if it never occurred to them that people of all stripes had different values when those shows were made. As this video points out, the original series uniforms were intended to be empowering...the eye candy part was a happy coincidence...

The miniskirt history gets even funnier when you realize just as TOS show was filming its third season, the most popular song in America was Harper Valley P.T.A.

Not gonna lie, those 'militaristic' Starfleet uniforms from the film era are still my favorite. They just look so dang cool and realistic! (And have the best accessories, like Kirk's totally rad coat from Wrath of Khan.) That era's uniforms also have something like NINE distinct division colors, represented by the turtleneck undershirt and a few elements on the jacket. I've always felt that the Voyager/DS9 uniforms were so much nicer than TNG's, too. The visible undershirt gives them more of that quality of realism and practicality that the film era uniforms had. The TNG jumpsuits feel very much more like just a costume in comparison. The Trek '09 female costumes lacking rank insignias due to the shortened sleeves is an interesting observation, and more proof of just how poorly conceived that whole endeavor was. Ugh.

One thing... Star Trek was NOT filmed on a low budget. It may be considered a low budget by today's standards, however it was in fact one of the *MOST* expensive TV productions of it's day.

Weirdly, some people judge the 60s through the lens of the 21st century. Let’s stop prematurely condemning and begin understanding! Thank you for this excellent video which provides a lot of valuable insights! 👏😘

I remember my mom, who grew up in the 60s, saying how once they were out of my grandparents' line of sight, she and my aunts would roll their skirts up to be shorter on the way to school. Also fun fact: girls at my mom's school were not allowed to wear pants until her senior year in 1971/1972. Honestly can't imagine walking to school in just a skirt during those Ohio winters 🥶

Star Trek: The Original Series did include a man in a skirt every single time that Scotty wore his dress uniform. It wasn't a skant, but a traditional dress kilt, but it was very definitely a skirt. It's not the only time I've seen ethnic elements incorporated into the Star Trek uniforms, either; I remember distinctly Native American headdresses, too. This makes me wonder if traditionally male skirts - like the Scottish kilt and Samoan lavalava - might not be a way to ease into more variety in clothing for the males.

Thank you for nailing one of the reasons why the JJ Abrams films are disliked by fans of the series. The lack of sleeves on the women's uniforms means they have no indication of rank. Exactly.

There is a bit of a misunderstanding about the so called "mini-skirt" in this video. The actual idea of the "skant" with leggings is not so much a "dress" or "skirt" as it is a type of clothing called a "tunic." Even the US military "service coat" is basically a tunic. It passes down well passed the waist and well above the knee. It is worn with either trousers or a skirt. What I see in "Strange New Worlds" is a tunic, not a skirt. Even Number One, Una, is wearing a tunic over some trousers.

Regarding the Reboot Kirk's attitude change, remember that the original Kirk we see in TOS 1. is older and 2. was influenced by his father being alive. The youth and lack of fatherly influence definitely makes for a different character.

Great commentary! Thanks for telling it like it is! And you're absolutely right about the miniskirts of the 1960s. Women didn't feel the least bit constrained to wear them. They wore them because they wanted to, just as many women chose to wear bikinis at the beach.

I read somewhere, maybe The Art of Star Trek(?) that William Theiss (TOS costume designer) was under orders to make guest star/alien costumes more sexy, but that he was hampered by censorship rules (ie no visible bellybutton) so he compensated by making them look easy to slip off, which accounts for the amount of Grecian-like costumes, and one shoulder fastenings and things like that. This was fun. Glad you're back. :)

It’s likely my nostalgia talking, but I agree with Nichelle concerning the original show’s minidress uniform and prefer it. Sadly, because our culture has become more negative and perceive the uniform to be sexist (likely projecting their own issues) I doubt we will see that uniform again in a series. SNW at least tried to get close to it’s credit.

You guys are back! I confess I'm not exactly a Trekkie, but I learn so much from your videos whether or not I'm a fan of wherever the costumes originate. Long live Behind the Seams!

amazing analysis! I especially love the end where you talked about how men are portrayed in these shows, how a gender standard can affect how male characters are styled.

have cosplayed in many different outfits, starfleet skant is still THE most comfortable cosplay outfit i've ever had. have never been groped while in my skant, never been cold in my skant (cos it's real velour ;) ), i'd say it's still a pretty girl-power outfit.

You see a mini skirt and tights: I see a variation of doublet (tunic style) and hose. I did a traditionally staged Shakespeare, and found that my male costume of doublet and hose - a particularly heavy velvet thigh length tunic - really liberating. Sure, it'd be difficult to wear a modern version out and about in daily life, but... compare with how many men have long shirts now no longer tucked into their trousers waist band, but just flapping free... so... The Next Gen missed a trick by not putting leggings under them, and having more men wearing them. But I'm a nearly-was of an old thespian, so what do I know? Terrific show, though. thanks. Enjoyable insights.

Best KZfaq gender analysis of Star Trek that I’ve seen. Nuanced while not shying away from a clear, strong critique based on the connection between the imagined future and the present day reality when each series/movie was produced. Thank you!

The design of Deanna Troi's mini dress in the TNG pilot of Encounter at farpoint was definitely what inspired the short sleeved mini dresses of the female Starfleet uniforms in the Kelvin timeline most notably that worn by Zoe Saldana as Uhura and Alice Eve as Carole Marcus. But to me, the longsleeves of TOS looked much better.

Actually Marina Sirtis gave an interview (which I can provide the source if you want), where she discussed the reason why she switched from her original Counselor costume to a Starfleet uniform in the last 2 seasons of TNG. In the interview, Marina discusses that she's had issues with her weight. She has a tendency to overeat and hates working out. When TNG production took a month long break for the holidays, Marina stopped watching her weight and ate lots of food. When Marina returned from vacation, she found that she could no longer fit in her Troi Costume. She had gained too much weight. So the costume department had to scramble to make her a custom uniform instead. Marina says in the interview that this was a big mark of shame for her. She hated how she was forced to wear the Starfleet uniform because she over-ate too much food during the holidays. She swore to herself that she would lose the weight and put on the Counselor uniform again before the show was done. According to the interview, Marina says she just *barely* managed to drop the weight in time for the final episode of TNG. It's why Counselor Troi switched back to her original Counselor costume during the final episode of the show "All Good things". She was happy she dropped the weight for the final episode, and did not want to be filmed in a starfleet uniform for the last scene. Marina took great pride in being able to wear the Troi costume.

I had read somewhere that both Nichelle Nichols and Grace Whitney would see how far they could hike up their skirts before someone said something. I never found out of this was true or an urban myth. If it's true, that's really cool that they did that.

In TOS, you have to consider production order; many things evolved from original pilot to regular production and over the seasons. The women only wore pants in the two pilots - original unsold pilot "The Cage" and second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before". As of the first regular production episode "The Corbomite Maneuver", we see the introduction of the minidress as worn buy Rand (Whitney) in her first appearance and crew women are never seen in pants again. There is no indication mini vs pants was ever a side-by-side choice in that era (setting and production). One might attribute sexualized uniforms in the TNG/Voyager era to be driven by male production staff, but these were pragmatic business choices in recognition of audience demographics. Seven of Nine was introduced specifically for her sex appeal, so she had to be costumed accordingly. The Abrams movies totally misinterpret original Trek (as you point out with re-booted Kirk), so it's no surprise the women's uniforms come across as culturally tone-deaf.

Yay, I'm glad you're back!! Also, I remember specifically reading that Sirtis HATED the miniskirt she wore in the pilot, as she couldn't sit down normally without the camera getting a clear shot of her underwear.

I appreciate that you went beyond the more simplistic "miniskirts were empowering in the 60s" explanation and critiqued the overall use of costumes throughout the Trek series. Your unambiguous stance on JJ Abrams' take was also a relief to hear! I realize you are a fandom person, but this makes it feel like it's not just me and all the other fandom people out there going "ugh" about that.

I know this was about uniforms, but I'd just like to add what I read years ago. When Bill Theiss was designing female costumes for guest stars, he wanted to make them as revealing as possible but still had to get by censors. The underboob was not a concept then, so that got by in one episode. And, it was said that his concept of what makes a female's costume look sexy was that it had to look like it was ready to fall off at any time.

This was brilliant. Informative and insightful. There is an episode of TNG where Riker and Worf are wearing dress uniforms. Its a frock coat with trousers. In earlier seasons its a frock coat with tight leggings. Worf complains the dress unifrom looks like a dress. Riker tells him he looks good in a dress. Ive always found it to be quite an interesting scene.

Hey, thanks for that 1960s era Star Trek cosplay. I only thought that cosplay started in the 1990s. I also thought Troi looked great in uniform and not in the civilian looking attire she wore for many seasons. She was one of the senior officers of Picard's Enterprise, but you didn't really know it when she wore the civilian attire, and it made her look apart from the crew.

It seems more like only a correlation between the change in Troi's wardrobe and her getting better writing, not causation. It seemed more like the switch was meant to confirm her status as a line Starfleet officer first, and not some kind of civilian specialist assigned to the ship, or something like that (it wasn't until she ended up in command of the ship in "Disaster" that she was a Lieutenant Commander, unless you went back and looked at her uniform in "Farpoint"). In any event she was treated as a respected professional and a trusted member of the crew, whether she wore a conventional uniform, one of her jumpsuits, or one of her dresses. In fact, I rather liked that she could wear a nice-looking dress to work and everyone was sufficiently grown up that they would see LCdr. Troi as an officer and a person, not as a distraction. And to be honest, the women's uniforms in TNG still were no better than Troi's jumpsuits in that they were still completely form-fitting garments, which were only about half a step less revealing than Seven of Nine's catsuits, even if they did cover a few extra square inches of skin. Furthermore, the ladies were stuck in them even after the men switched over to tunics and trousers from the third season onwards. The women's uniform didn't get that improvement until DS9 and Voyager.

8:30 As a guy who spent many years in the navy, I think Star Trek got it all wrong, I can honestly say, women can pull off a set of working overalls if they put a mind to. Oh yes they can.

That was very interesting. I liked the observation that TOS Kirk was romantic and respectful, while the JJ Abrams Kirk is an opportunistic frat-boy.

I would’ve gone with sleeved mini-dresses and sleeveless ones, making it a “you get to pick what is comfortable” kind of choice; however, I would’ve have tried to add some sort of universal design for rank that allow the dresses to still show who is what rank. The pips of TNG was great for that, but maybe it could be done with the iconography on the left side of the chest? Who knows. I always thought that the mini dress and tights thing was just a reflection of the 60’s fashion. I never, as a child in the 80’s/90’s, or as an adult, thought it to be overtly sexual. Were they sexy? Sure. It’s Hollywood, so it’s kind of par for course that they be attractive. That said though, I didn’t feel as though they were being exploited in any way. Though the actress who played Troi (can’t remember how to spell her name, off hand) had constantly complained about her appearance on the show, I always thought it was a great idea to have her dressed that way, but maybe not for the reason you might think. Again, was it sexy? Yes. Did I feel like it was exploitation? No. What I always did feel about her character, based off her appearance and demeanor, was that she was the more approachable person on the bridge. She dressed, in my opinion, more casually and more relaxed. She looked like the mom (or the cool aunt) you could go to and tell your worries and concerns to her. Granted I was somewhere between 8 and 10 when I first started watching the show in the early 90’s, so take that how you will. The only character I ever felt was dressed in an overtly sexualized costume was Seven of Nine. Looking back on it, I think it was less to do with what she was wearing and how people talked about it, acted around it, and drew attention to it-within the show itself, that made it feel more overt than anything Troi wore. And, maybe, the shiny quality of the costume affected my opinion too? Like Seven often looked wet, like she was in the middle of a wet t-shirt contest, but didn’t understand the rules and wore a body sock instead… where as Troi always had matte clothes, with few exceptions, that just seemed more calming by comparison… idk.

I love the mini dress, Star Trek should bring it back.

One thing about Troi's roles - Guinan often got them. Whoopi Goldberg wanted to be on the show because of Uhura. However, the 90's was also Goldberg's most in demand years, so her schedule wasn't easily planned. She was available when she was available. So often scripts intended for Troi were re-written for Guinan when Whoopi had time.

Ah! I was just thinking of this series the other day and hoping you hadn't given it up. Glad to see your return! And with such a thoroughly researched topic, too~ 🖖

The sleeveless uniforms may have not had rank insignia (I didn't even notice they don't have "pips"), but trust me, in the service, you only mistake someone's rank (especially an officer) ONCE.

Personally I thought Marina Sirtis looked better in the uniform than what she had been wearing the first six seasons.

This is a terribly pedantic point but is it really a uni-form if there are multiple versions for the same crew? Perhaps it's a multiform? 🙂

Glad you mentioned short hair, as I didn't really think about it. In the modern world men are now allowed to wear long hair and pony tails, though it was controversial decades ago.

This was a great video I'm glad this showed up in my recommendations. You did a great job covering the uniforms and their origins! There's so much bts lore about star trek costumes and design decisions.

I think those miniskirts were a big part of the idea that it was an optimistic future. 🤣🤣🤣

This kind of reminds me of how Thor in the Thor movies is often seen shirtless or exposing his arms and he's often portrayed as a doofus. Basically if you're very physically attractive the assumption is that you're not that smart, because if you can coast on your looks why would you need to be smart? But that wasn't the case with Seven of Nine. She was physically attractive but was by far the smartest person on Voyager. They de-sexyfied her in Picard and she turned into a drunk and a murderer. I prefer old Seven.

Actually red represents support departments which includes the one you mentioned

As general fashion trends, can change greatly over a course of a generation. Trying to actually give a good prediction of 300 years in the future will be impossible. So they will just give a futuristic polish of the current trend. Who knows in 300 years, top hats and hoop skirt would be considered normal again.

The mini skirt or mini dress is never sexist... just sexy

All shows are products of their times so the mini skirt just looked great for the audiences of the 1960's because it was fashionable. Ironically, the women of the two pilots wore pants (with a larger collar tunic) because Rodenberry thought the future would be more unisex. Grace Lee Whitney might have suggested it but from what I've read the network bosses were the ones who wanted the change.

Great vid, I wasn't expecting you to dive into EVERY era of Trek but it was much appreciated!

I want to thank you for a well researched and put together Video. As a fan of TOS you actually documented why I just never much of a desire to watch the new iterations. For me I can say the true measure of any series is the desire to watch the episodes again a few years later and while I watched many episodes of the TOS iterations of TNG, DS9 & Enterprise I have Zero desire to go back and watch ANY episodes ever again. On the other hand I can go back and watch TOS every few years and still get emotional and enjoy it... Except maybe "And the Children Shall Lead". When the scripting and story are done well in any play you look past the dated SFX and look of the stage because the story carries the day and no iteration after TOS can match that. Rather than repeat @Moonjumper I would say [insert here] and add that the desire to project today's themes to something staged in the future is literary malfeasance and ridiculous. Just look at how what was normal 50-60 years ago that suddenly people are "offended", I feel that TOS with it's quality of scripts and themes will far outlast any of it's latter iterations in years to come. Your video was done so well it really drove it home to me why I will use the Atavacron of the DVD to continue to watch the quality programs of the past rather than explore nonsense being put out in the Star Trek universe today.

There are many very valid points made in this video, both about the original Star Trek TV series ("TOS"), and about The Next Generation ("TNG") and more recent offshoots. Still, some observations and arguments made about TOS here are not 100% accurate. In TOS, there were episodes in which female characters were seen wearing either an adaptation of the male/unisex T-shirt-and-trousers Starfleet uniform ("The Man Trap") or the utilitarian coveralls/jumpsuit (Nurse Chapel in "The Naked Time"). This did not happen enough, but it was a nice little touch that the JJ Arams movies and never 23rd-century-setting shows never really picked up on. It was possible for TOS to make female characters look less sexy/exploited and more competent and "reporting for duty" while not undermining the show's entertainment value in that era, but this wasn't done enough. That choice was an obvious mistake, but members of Mr. Roddenberry's generation are forgiven for it. One noticeable TOS omission was never mentioned in this video: no female character in TOS, or TNG, ever wore a spacesuit, much less did they ever even consider a spacewalk. I don't think that happened until the Yoyager series was well underway. (Lt. Torres did a spacewalk.) I really do consider this issue of astronauts-in-spacesuits to be equally important to the configuration of standard-duty-uniforms in the various TV shows and movies. Star Trek characters, in any era, seem to wear spacesuits or engage in spacewalk-like activities outside their ship, far, far, too seldom to be taken seriously as actual career astronauts. And spacesuits are the great equalizer, which can show characters of any background, gender/orientation, etc., as being both competent and brave because they would be engaging in serious work activities in the harsh and risky environment of space as opposed to the shelter and controlled environment of shielded, pressurized and artificial-gravity-laiden spacecraft. If there is a genuine intersection of criticism of how characters are portrayed in Star Trek, where depictions of background/race, gender/orientation, and competence converge, it must be in showing a variety of such characters in utilitarian attire such as work jumpsuits/coveralls and spacesuits. In this regard, all Treks still leave something to be desired.

2:00 Members of the command crew wesr green! It only looked golf because of the combined effects of the material/texture of the garments, the lighting and the early color cameras. You can see the green better in the ceremonial uniforms that have a different texture and material.

Great video. It's amazing how perspectives change. Jadzia Dax once wore a minidress in an episode where she and Sisko go back in time to the trouble with Tribbles and she gets Kirk to sign a worksheet.

Great video. Very informative and well researched. I remember the premier of TNG quite well. I actually recall thinking way back in '87, how strange it was that the hair and make up, for example, seemed to be the going look of my own era, rather than something different and fresh, as the futuristic era it was suppose to represent. Amd so I definitely appreciate this video for clearly illustrating my thoughts back then.

That was a interesting take on Star Trek. I personally like the original series simply because it didn’t take itself to seriously. Sure it was cheesy but what’s wrong with that. Some of the following series were a bit dour and quite frankly just plain boring and depressing.

Oh no, the hot uniforms are perfectly fine. Star Trek, Miami Vice, and other shows were and are fashion advertising for their eras. 😁

Its often possible to roughly guess what gear a film was made based on hairstyles, clothing, and makeup used by the actors, no matter what the theme of the film, western, scifi, mystery or historical drama. The current culture and level of technology is almost always detectable. Sophistication and technology of electronic devices is another give away. Star Trek does a good job of appearing to be of a more advanced technology even though one can occasionally date the devices construction through limits of the prop department. They can only use what's available and within budget.

This was a sincerely fantastic video!! I love Star Trek, and I love this breakdown so much. It was so cool and very interesting to see the comparisons of the 'fleet uniform and what their meaning or role is in both the shows and in current culture.

In the DS9 'Trials & Tribulations,' episode Jadzea mentions that the vintage space station K-7 or DS 5 or 7 (?) simply packed in personnel. To say the least the 22nd CE Federation locations in space were sardinized. In comparison most starships in Star Trek Online have a crew of about 2,000 personnel. That scenario takes place in the 25th CE. So, K-7 or whatever was always all elbows. The fighting in close quarters would have been eventually inevitable. With a tight crew comes familiarity & comraderie. So yeah the skirt. The Abram's Uhura w/o the gold stripes is indicative of comfort & functionality. She is also very bold & forthcoming. No one aboard serving w her will deny her on the basis of rank, & that is SO. Although admins on STO do what they can about online in game public fashion issues, there are also a growing # of males w female memes. Idk if that is even numerically significant, but it is factual. My main problem is you could probably do at least a whole hour on interstellar fashion xenology. That's obviously a huge can of worms, I think you can & should if you haven't done so already. Also maybe demystify fashion in STO. I'd particularly appreciate that also. I especially wanted to mention the Rebecca skant BC it actually has ancient pagan traditions, the only thing missing is a big hood to shield from a storm. The typical pageantry includes decoration & often colorful tights or pantaloons. Some of our ancestors wore unisex thousands of years ago, likely ending common trend sometime around the 16th & 17th CE. Her long sleeves are unique to the skant it seems relative to Star Trek cannon, & as a pagan I always was confused by it's lack of appearance, despite the fact that such outfits do not meet with modern tradition so much. Today we wear hoodies & shorts, & in the 90s it was common sub culturally to wear that w long johns, which, at least to me was an impressive Zeitgeist of pageantry. Hey! Rad video! Happy belated Star Trek Day! LL&P!!!!!

I think the short dresses were more driven by creating a higher male viewer demographic than anything else. Even today, ratings are everything, that's why its called the Entertainment Industry.

One of the best essays on Trek I have watched. Congrats.

so we're just not going to mention the fact that the TNG uniforms changed after the second season because they were literally impacting the actors bodies? Like Patrick Stewart actually got a doctor's note to change the costume because it was destroying his back. and Marina Surtis - Deanna Troi - has flat out stated that she was told that she was "too fat" to wear the uniform.

I've always thought Star Trek tells us more about what the world was like when it was filmed than what it'll be like in the future

I can still remember watching TNG as a child and thinking it was so liberating to see male crewmembers wearing skirted uniforms. I still find it such a shame that never became a more prominent feature.

Yours is an excellent analysis. Great historical research. Actress Celeste Yarnell ("The Apple") pushed for her skirt to be even shorter than Yeoman Rand's.

I was a Star Trek despite of the Miniskirts. But a lot of my friends claimed they only watched because of the miniskirts. The way Uhura wore the skirt made it become a standard of beauty .

ST: TNG has several occasions where males (especially Picard) wear dress-uniforms for ceremonial/representational reasons (usually banquets, diners etc.) - in one episode Picard actually orders (or may be "declares") dress-uniforms as a dress-code for an occasion (to Riker's annoyance). Not sure what it was supposed to say or how premeditated it was, but it showed these types of uniforms still exist in TNG era, although they might be meant or just used mostly for more social occasions. But then, it might be just a whim of a fashion within that one given decade.

I do think your points, specifically about the male costuming hit the nail right on the head. Women may lament that there isn't clear dress codes for looking professional in the work place, but trying to talk a man into wearing something besides pants and a button up when it's over 100 degrees outside is an exercise in frustration. I have been campaigning for someone in my office to wear shorts or a skirt during the summer for 3 years and still no bites, even from the guy from New Zealand who admitted it would be culturally appropriate for him to do so. I think the next frontier in healing our culture from misogyny is freeing men from the fear that deviating even slightly from their extremely boxed in wardrobe is not going to ruin their lives (because it will make them more feminine somehow).

Really interesting video! I heartily agree that the double standard we have now leaves its fingerprints all over Star Trek which shouldn't be the case. I'd love to see a world where men can be as creative, and playful, with their appearance as women, even in professional spheres (something that has regressed since the 60's). It would be awesome if ST could include that in future to get people, at least, used to the idea.

This was a very well researched and written video. It's obvious that you put a lot of time and effort to make this video.

Great video. It's a shame you skipped over DS9 so quickly because I think it had the least sexist female costumes. But the thing that I really appreciate in the new Trek is that the women finally wear flat shoes!!! If you are serving on a Starfleet ship / base you could be running from an explosion or an alien intruder at a moment's notice. No serious military uniform would include heels. It's nuts

Seeing the TNG men in the miniskirts always cracks me up. Gene Roddenberry thought that everyone in the future would walk around in togas, but if we're being serious it just looks like (and is) a dude in a dress.

There were many reasons Star Trek was popular with school boys back in the 60's and 70's, the phasers, the amazing transporter beam, the heroes, and yes, the very short skirts!!!

so glad the channel is back!

Nothing complicated about it , mini skirts & knee hi boots , the female crew members wore it and those of us who grew up watching trek LOVED seeing them in it

I'm a lifelong Trekkie (I remember when there was just "Star Trek!"). I have to admit the sometimes overtly sexist, by contemporary standards, portrayal of women and their costuming has always bugged me. Thanks for the observations and commentary, it was very good.

GR8 EPISODE! I LOVE that you mentioned men's hair in the new(generally good) TV stuff, AND how stylish the Vulcans are, spcl in TOS(something which even FANS are prone to memoryhole, influenced by Berman's persistent conceptual&philosophical hostility to Vulcans in the 90s, no doubt). Aaaaand I'm Always up for a good driveby Abrams-drag XD XD

I do have a Skant dress uniform, 25 years already, when I was young I wear it with tights now I put leggins and is so comfortable and cool, I love it. yes, I want the Skant uniform back.

I thank you for this insightful information, I am a man that is in my 60's and I am a fan of TOS and all Star Trek I have never seen the shirt as anything but a uniform. As like most health young boys and teens. I LIKE the skirt and the woman look just fine in them IN COMMAND or other positions

New Trek isn't Trek.

Some years ago I visited a Star Trek convention and could see one of those original miniskirts. And it was really mini! Much shorter than I remembered from the TV.

Wow, this was really well researched and put together. Excellent.

More significant than the mini skirt in the history of women's liberation was perhaps that Elena Piscopia received her PhD in Mathematics in 1678 (!!!) or that by 1920 one-third of all university graduates were women. My grandmother qualified as a medical doctor in 1927. This almost 100 years after Elizabeth Blackwell in 1849 (1st lady medical doctor). Can we please stop all this gender and race nonsense once and for all, learn a little history and get on with life!

Thank you for sharing your perspective on Starfleet uniforms throughout the various shows. This is a good overview. As a man I appreciate hearing a woman’s take on the subject of uniforms as you brought up some topics I wouldn’t have thought of. Some things that occurred to me while watching: -T’Pol and 7 of 9 were both treated in an overly sexualised manner when it came to both costume and storylines. I recently bought ENT series on DVD and after watching so many episodes realised T’Pol was being attacked a lot and it was uncomfortable to watch the frequency. - never noticed the removal of rank w sleeve loss in women’s uniforms in JJ Abram’s movies. I didn’t love anything about those films except for the athletic material used in the shirts. On TOS It struck me as odd, as a kid, wondering how lady engineers would crawl around in Jefferies tubes or ladders in a skirt. Didn’t seem practical or discreet. I don’t recall any women engineers in overalls on TOS. I get it was the 60’s but credulity strained methinks. Thanks again for creating and sharing this video. See you “Out There!”

Thank you for making this video. As Star Trek fella(male), I appreciate the the history behind the costume of Trek. Heck I'd wear a skant...I just don't have the legs for it! hehehe. Once again great video!

Enjoyed this very much. Like the idea of adding pants to the traditional mini dress style, as an option that a crew member could add. Recently I've kind of come to imagine that even in the early days that female crew could choose the version they liked best. When I was watching "Where No Man has Gone Before", I was appreciating Sally Kellerman's cowl neck version of the uniform shirt & either in that episode, or maybe "Balance of Terror". I thought I noticed female crew in a hall sequence wearing BOTH the mini dress & pant/shirt versions of the female uniform. So I've decided that the female crew have always had options to which style to wear. And Uhura, although she rarely has a heavily physical scene, always seems to hold her own in her uniform, & looks great doing it! Thanks for this really interesting video.

William Ware Theiss was my Mother's cousin. I remember watching Star Trek in the 60's and loving the outfits, then to find out later that the designer was a relative.

First time visit, this was so enjoyable! Looking forward to more, keep up the great work!

Recall there was a DS-9 episode where Sisko and Dax go back in time to TOS and Dax has a miniskirt on. Both characters must climb up a ladder, at first Dax ascended first then they decide it might look better if Sisko leads.

I remember when TOS episodes were new! I have, and always will be, a HUGE fan of the miniskirts. I have added, to my list, women's crop tops and women's short shorts. Also, halter tops, tank tops, and body-hugging-form-fitting pants of every description. What can I say,... some women are truly poetry in motion and works of art. No apologies, No regrets.

Thank you for a very interesting video! Educating, fun and thought provoking!

Anson Mount in the skant would be iconic! And would go down in history for sure.

This is a thoughtful and thorough video essay. Thanks.

The "militaristic" TOS film era uniforms were not influenced by Cold War themes.They were a design choice to match the Naval warfare themes that would be woven into the storyline of TWoK. It just happened to be when Cold War themes and tensions with the Klingon Empire became so pronounced in the TOS films beginning with Search For Spock, that the redesigned uniforms from STII seem so perfect,they never needed to be changed.