Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Enterprise Uniforms

Set more than two centuries before its franchise predecessor Star Trek: Voyager, Enterprise explored humanity's first steps into the final frontier, with a fresh new look for the Star Trek Universe.

Despite co-creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga's desire to set the prequel show apart from the previous series (down to removing "Star Trek" from the title), the producers nevertheless brought numerous veterans from the franchise's behind-the-scenes roster back for Enterprise. Among the returning personnel was costume designer Robert Blackman, the man responsible for every Starfleet uniform since Star Trek: The Next Generation's third season.

Blending NASA's modern day flight suits with Star Trek: The Original Series-style division color piping, Blackman described Enterprise's uniforms as making the characters "look a little bit more like cowboys in space." An almost total departure from the already iconic lineage of costumes he created for TNG, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and the ongoing film series, Enterprise's uniforms were what Blackman called "historic-futuristic" garb.

Easily conveying the show's placement in the Star Trek timeline, Enterprise's uniforms were carefully tailored to 22nd century aesthetics and 21st century sex appeal. From the pocket-covered, blue Starfleet jumpsuits to T'Pol's various Vulcan attire, Enterprise's uniforms were highly detailed, highly stylish, even highly controversial entries into the Star Trek costume canon.

Here are ten sartorial secrets from the 22nd century that you need to know.

Harkening back to Robert Blackman's idea that 22nd-century Starfleet uniforms should hew closer to modern-day flight suits than the sleek, minimalist look of the 24th century, the iconic Combadge of the Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager-era was out.

And NASA-like mission patches were in.

Sewn to the left shoulder of the Enterprise crews' uniforms, the NX-01 mission patch was designed by scenic artist Wendy Drapanas. Featuring the recognizable silhouette of the first warp five starship, Enterprise's mission patch ostensibly replaced the familiar delta established all the way back in Star Trek: The Original Series. However, along with recalling NASA's tradition of creating unique patches for each mission, Enterprise's mission patch also referred back to TOS' occasional dalliance with unique Starfleet insignias for each ship in the 23rd century fleet.

While the Enterprise art department created numerous unique patches for the 22nd century – including patches for the NX-02 Columbia, Starship Intrepid, the MACOs, Starfleet Command, Starfleet Security, etc. – one mission patch was actually a subtle homage to real life space travel. In season one's "Silent Enemy", Starfleet Lieutenant Mark Latrelle can be seen wearing the diamond-shaped patch of NASA's modern day mission control, a sneaky nod to Enterprise's obvious inspirations.