Star Trek: Every Starfleet Uniform Ranked From WORST To BEST

2. Monster Maroon - Late 2270s - 2350s

Costume designer Robert Fletcher returned to work on The Wrath Of Khan, working with new director Nicholas Meyer on the so-called Monster Maroons. This is the apocryphal name given to this style of uniform by fans, as they are so difficult to reproduce.

The uniform consists of the double-breasted maroon jacket over a division-specific undershirt. The ribbing on the collar and cuffs of this undershirt was a style of vertical quilting called Trapunto. This was already a rare technique at the time, which itself caused issues and stress among the design team.

These uniforms were more or less standard, though female officers could opt for a skirt. Flag officers were given a gold trim along the black clasp of the jacket, as well as additional gold piping on the sleeve and pant.

The belt, introduced in The Wrath Of Khan, was gradually phased out. The crew of the Enterprise-C, lost in 2345, had abandoned it along with the ribbed undershirt. They had also phased out handheld communicators, instead using the brass Delta on the left breast, as would become standard from the late-2340s onward.

As evidenced by the crew of the USS Bozeman, these uniforms came into service by 2278 and remained standard until at least 2349, as seen in Jack Crusher's holographic message to Wesley in the episode Family.