Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Next Generation Uniforms

Upon joining the show between TNG's second and third seasons, costume designer Robert Blackman was tasked by producer Rick Berman with redesigning the uncomfortable, smelly, and (worst of all for Berman) actor complaint-causing costumes.

The costume change is immediately apparent in the third season premiere "Evolution", with the command crew of the Enterprise-D now sporting two-piece uniforms with what Blackman considered "more noble" mandarin collars.

Less evident, however, is the fact that the uniforms were still a work in progress when cameras rolled on season three and evolved over the course of the first handful of episodes. According to Blackman:

We started trying to do a two-piece that looked like a one-piece, but made out of wool gabardine [instead of jumbo-weight spandex]. And that just didn't work. With the individual body shapes, there were problems involved. So quickly we had to – while shooting – come up with another concept and revise the garments. You'll actually see the uniform shape morph itself in the first part of the third season during this design process.

Ultimately Blackman settled on an "Eisenhower" jacket and the iconic look of TNG was finally cemented for the rest of the series, Star Trek Generations, and a few appearances in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.