nwjedidave
Sr Member
quoted from ash above:
NWJEDI
dave
the absolute BEST Star Trek tunics ?
- Thread starter nwjedidave
- Start date
quoted from ash above:
NWJEDI
dave
Umm yeah?. :lol
Put it this way since Adam has left nobody is making these at all OR the RIGHT way.
The biggest hurdle in making these Tunics after you decide which Season you want to replicate is finding the Material.
The Velour is long long gone.
The Third season Material is still out there and can be dyed by the same place that did them for the Series.
The Collar Material also can be found.
Get yourself a Tailor and you are all set.
Put it this way since Adam has left nobody is making these at all OR the RIGHT way.
The biggest hurdle in making these Tunics after you decide which Season you want to replicate is finding the Material.
The Velour is long long gone.
The Third season Material is still out there and can be dyed by the same place that did them for the Series.
The Collar Material also can be found.
Get yourself a Tailor and you are all set.
GeneralMayhem
Sr Member
I made these back in high school. If they don't come through, drop us a line. I'd have to decide a fair price, though, but I imagine we could do it.
~ GM
~ GM
BB43MAN
Sr Member
The original green colored tunics that turned yellow after drycleaning came from an interview with William Ware Theiss. He also said that the braid was custom made. Give me a little bit and I'll look up the site for you.
The Star Trek TOS fan site guy I mentioned worked with Theiss and was friends with him and got all of the remaining tunic material left on the planet. He also works with the original patterns (and when I mean original, I MEAN ORIGINAL.) to make his shirts for his productions. All the tunics are hand made by him. Amazing. His craftmanship really shows in his internet movies. His reproductions are top-notch.
The Star Trek TOS fan site guy I mentioned worked with Theiss and was friends with him and got all of the remaining tunic material left on the planet. He also works with the original patterns (and when I mean original, I MEAN ORIGINAL.) to make his shirts for his productions. All the tunics are hand made by him. Amazing. His craftmanship really shows in his internet movies. His reproductions are top-notch.
Great caps as always, Karl. :thumbsupOriginally posted by phase pistol@Mar 24 2006, 03:12 PM
As in later seasons, a zipper from the collar to the shoulder assisted in getting the shirt on and off without disturbing the actor's makeup. Note also the black T-shirt, usually worn under the tunic (note to fan films: I don't want to see naked flab when those tunics ride up in fight scenes. )
I'd always thought the zippers went all the way down from the collar to the waist. Even ending at the shoulder, it's an ingenious way to conceal the zipper in the seams of the garment.
Well he should know; Theiss was the costume designer for TOS.
But if he's trying to say that the as-seen-on-screen command tunics were "yellow"... well I think he's oversimplifying the case to say the least. I wouldn't call that color "yellow". But if that's now he saw it, so be it.
Perhaps the fabric was much more obviously green in pre-production.
As to the braid, well we have two conflicting stories; it was pre-existing braid for "The Ten Commandments", and that it was custom made for the show. Well there are possible explainations for this too; different braid was used in the pilot episodes and in pre-production prototype costumes that were ultimately rejected. Or maybe they only had a small supply of "Ten Commandments" braid and had a new batch made up. So it's possible that both stories are in fact true.
Anyway, for further amusement, here are the costumes as seen in the original pilot of Star Trek ("The Cage"):
There were actually three colors; command Gold, a Peach color, and Blue as worn by Mister Spock.
The rank braid system is very rudimentary... even Captain Pike wears only one stripe. So do his senior officers. Crewmen have no stripes.
Different braid was worn on different uniforms; Pike and most of the officers have a smooth flat braid, but the communications officer (left, with printout) has a kind of wavy layered strip of braid.
The delta-shield patch is smaller and simpler too, with a rough gold stitched outline.
The sleazy Starfleet officer (Admiral?) in the Orion Slave Girl fantasy ("Nice place you got here, mister Pike.") seems to be wearing a "green" version of the standard tunic (or green-ER anyway), with some kind of brownish pullover with epaulettes on top.
And of course there were those Jackets for the landing party.
An elaborate harness was worn under the jacket for carrying the laser pistol and communciator, but later Yeoman Colt and Number One wear a sort of abbreviated belt instead of the full harness.
The second pilot ("Where No Man Has Gone Before") retains the same Gold, Peach and Blue color scheme, but shuffled around a bit... now Spock wears Command Gold for example. Service personnel such as Scotty and Navigator Gary Mitchell wear the Peach.
The braid is still very simple, with only Captain Kirk sporting two stripes. All other officers wear one.
This shot is from the opening scene of the show. Here Shatner and Nimoy appear to be wearing the PEACH version of the uniform, but it's hard to be certain (could just be the lighting I guess). In any case it looks a little different than in later scenes.
Here's a good comparison shot of the three colors. Here the color I call "command gold" does have a sort of "avocado" quality I suppose.
Landing party equipment is pretty minimal, and 20th century military belts are worn to support the phaser pistols.
The chest insignia is a litte closer to the final version, but still small and kind of rounder than the final, tall patch.
After the second pilot but before production began, some publicity photos were shot featuring the actors with "futuristic" props (including bunsen burners, flashlights and the 3-foot miniature of the Enteprise.) and wearing transitional prototype costumes. These have wide, rounded black collars and flat braid similar to that in the pilots. The colors and materials are closer to those used in the series however.
People used to argue (and still do I guess) over precisely what color the hull of the Enterprise really was. Due to poor TV reception, bad film prints and other factors the ship usually looked decidedly blue or green. Now we know the color is actually a shade of gray.
The same is still true of the uniform colors I suppose... it will take some kind of definitive color-matching against the actual materials, to settle the issue.
In the meantime go to the Seattle Science Fiction Museum, where authentinc Command and Science uniform tunics are on display.
- k
I would be careful in mentioning his name as he owes a few things to people.
If I recall correctly he also tells some tall tales on his suppossed conversations with Theiss, I forgot which ones were out and out proved as lies.
He does do nice work under threat of having the law called on him though :unsure
BB43MAN
Sr Member
All the info about the producer of the fan site is on his website. I garnered the info from his discussion boards and seeing him on a television interview. That's all. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him, yet, but if I did I would ask him about his excellent costuming and producing.
The site with the Theiss interview is: www.robsacc.nl/ottens/index.html
I hope posting this address doesn't violate any rules of the forum AND I hope it helps.
Oh, I stand corrected about the drycleaning changing the color of the command tunics. They were green but the filming process changed the colors. Read the article under interviews and then William Theiss and you will see what I mean.
Hope this helps.
The site with the Theiss interview is: www.robsacc.nl/ottens/index.html
I hope posting this address doesn't violate any rules of the forum AND I hope it helps.
Oh, I stand corrected about the drycleaning changing the color of the command tunics. They were green but the filming process changed the colors. Read the article under interviews and then William Theiss and you will see what I mean.
Hope this helps.
WinstonWolf359
Master Member
I've read another interview with Theiss (on phasers.net) where he calls the command tunic material "avacado."
I think the amount of light on the fabric accounts for the degree of "yellow" they appear. The Cage and the early first season episodes were lighted much darker than the rest of the series which accounted for the early uniforms looking much more gold/green or sometimes even brown-ish compared to the BRIGHT yellow/gold appearance of the later episodes.
I also think the publicity still uniforms worn by Spock, Kirk and Rand ARE the same uniforms seen in The Cage and Where No Man... just with a black velour collar sewn OVER the ribbed collar. These uniforms did see some screen time (with the regular patch and braid) in early first season episodes on some of the background actors. The Man Trap comes to mind as one IIRC.
I think the amount of light on the fabric accounts for the degree of "yellow" they appear. The Cage and the early first season episodes were lighted much darker than the rest of the series which accounted for the early uniforms looking much more gold/green or sometimes even brown-ish compared to the BRIGHT yellow/gold appearance of the later episodes.
I also think the publicity still uniforms worn by Spock, Kirk and Rand ARE the same uniforms seen in The Cage and Where No Man... just with a black velour collar sewn OVER the ribbed collar. These uniforms did see some screen time (with the regular patch and braid) in early first season episodes on some of the background actors. The Man Trap comes to mind as one IIRC.
Jimbo890
Well-Known Member
I think most TOS fans would love to have all three 'regular season' tunics; Red, Blue, and "Command" colors. The patterns are not the issue, nor insignia or rank braids. It's the bloody material, and in the right color. To get an accurate replica, means ordering some custom material, and making your own, something a lot of use are not well suited in doing. The material cost alone, custom colors, etc. could be quite expensive. A group purchase would make this more feasable. AND having a professional seamstress make the tunics fit you, AND from an accurate pattern are all hick-ups preventing this project from happening. IMHO.
Heck, even DS9's retro episode missed the colors and fit on these tunics. Too red, too blue and too yellow, poorly fitting, etc. IIRC. I think some of the trouble some of the folks that have made tunics in the past have run into is meeting demand. I once got a quote from JC, and the wait was 6-12 months, and cost was $300 plus depending on what options I wanted.
Without a reliable supplier of accurate tunics, the 1701st is going to have some real problems getting the TOS uniform fans involved. I wish I had some of all these tunics, but sadly, thats not going to happen, any time soon, and I'm wanting an accurate version, not some dressed up T-Shirt.
Heck, even DS9's retro episode missed the colors and fit on these tunics. Too red, too blue and too yellow, poorly fitting, etc. IIRC. I think some of the trouble some of the folks that have made tunics in the past have run into is meeting demand. I once got a quote from JC, and the wait was 6-12 months, and cost was $300 plus depending on what options I wanted.
Without a reliable supplier of accurate tunics, the 1701st is going to have some real problems getting the TOS uniform fans involved. I wish I had some of all these tunics, but sadly, thats not going to happen, any time soon, and I'm wanting an accurate version, not some dressed up T-Shirt.
nwjedidave
Sr Member
jimbo
well said...
NWJEDI
dave
well said...
NWJEDI
dave
And then came tomorrow.
- k
Who's "Jose"? :confused
Crap. Well that sucks. :unsure
nwjedidave
Sr Member
well i've been doing some searching, and if someone can school me in the "correct" fabrics for the different seasons i might be able to present some news... something other than the great screen caps...
phase? anyone?
dave
phase? anyone?
dave
