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An Annotated Inventory of My "Star Trek" Costumes |
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Personal Log, Stardate 2011.01.
After I returned from South Carolina for Winter Break, I noticed that there were problems with some of the many Star Trek costumes or props that I had accumulated over the last couple of years. I was even forced to throw out one of them - and one of the ones I had some fond memories of, to boot - and I wasn't very happy with that.
I also realized that I had never really taken the time to do a detailed "inventory" of all of my stuff, with notes and annotations about where I got everything or what sort of condition all of the stuff is in. I'm going to take the time to fix it and do that here, in the interests of being a good collector and for personal reference.
Costumes
1.) Star Trek: The Experience Burgundy TNG Top (Medium)
2.) Star Trek: The Experience Gold TOS Top (Medium)
3.) Star Trek: The Experience Gold TOS Top (Large)
4.) Star Trek (2009) Rubies Gold Shirt (Medium)
5.) Star Trek (2009) Kellogg's Blue Shirt (Small)
6.) "Design 270" Grey Top/Red from Warp One, Ltd. (Medium)
7.) Gold TOS-style T-Shirt from Utah (Small)
Costume Notes
1.) I got this shirt from Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton shortly before it closed down, when I visited in May 2008 for my 21st birthday. It replaces a similar shirt I ordered from the Experience website about a year earlier that ended up being too large; I had overestimated how much it would shrink. That shirt was given to my roommate (at the time), Zaion_Indulias and remains in his possession.
Sadly, the medium shirt I bought for myself has shrunk as well and is a bit too small for me. It also shows signs of wear and being a little over-stretched. I won't be wearing it to a convention any time soon, but I'm still very fond of it and it fits well enough that I keep it around to wear at home. I usually wear a black "Eddie Bauer" crew-neck or mock-turtleneck shirt under it.
2.) I had not fully come to appreciate TOS when I was visiting the Experience for my 21st birthday, but I was definitely starting to. When I bought this shirt, I originally got it as an "afterthought" or a "counterpart" to my TNG one. However, I quickly came to appreciate the minimalist "working" look of the TOS uniform and began to wear it around at home all the time, even sleeping in it. (I've actually taken naps wearing all of my uniform tops when dealing with tight schedules at university.)
Sadly, this time, I severely underestimated how much it would shrink and how easily the silk-screened Captain's ranking braids fade. It is now in rather bad condition. The shirt has shrunk almost out-of-proportion, the collar has been badly stretched, one of the two tags is rather tattered and illegible, and the rank braids are badly faded on both sleeves. It was because of how bad I felt about this that I purchased the TOS T-shirt that I'll describe later.
But I'm still extremely fond of this old shirt; my emotional attachment to it is like what a child feels toward his or her favorite "blankie." So even though I've since bought a new one as a replacement costume, I have not thrown this one away and continue to wear it. Recently, I've taken to wearing a black Eddie Bauer crew-neck shirt underneath it.
3.) The cotton shirt designs from Star Trek: The Experience were unique to that attraction. After the Experience closed down in September 2008, they ceased to be produced - possibly making them rather valuable as collector's pieces, not just costume shirts. I still wear them as costume shirts and I never ceased to feel terrible about what happened to my medium-sized top (item #2 in this list), so I yearned for a replacement of the same type. However, while they were a common sight in the Experience store when they were being produced, now that they're no longer made, they've become very rare sights at online stores or even on E-bay, which is surprising because you can usually find anything on that site.
But every now and then, they do turn up, and when a seller on E-bay did offer them for almost exactly the same price that I originally paid for it when I visited the Experience, I determined that if I were to do well on my midterm exams for Fall 2010 at Winthrop University, it would make a fitting reward to purchase a larger version of the shirt than the medium one that I'd originally gotten (to account for the fact that a 100% cotton shirt is going to shrink when you wash it) as a replacement for the original, which was now in horrible shape, and to take better care of it. Besides, it seemed like Fall 2010's overall theme was making up for past mistakes.
I did exactly that, and although I do wear this shirt quite frequently in my dorm at Winthrop University, I am very careful to treat it well and to keep an eye on the silk-screened sleeve stripes to make sure that they do not fade out like the ones on the shirt that this one replaces. It goes well with the two Phaser props, two Communicator props, and Tricorder prop that I have for the Original Series.
4.) I purchased this shirt in May 2009 from E-bay. It is one of a line of costumes Rubies Costume Company produced for the J.J. Abrams Star Trek film - a deluxe version with stitched-on Starfleet delta patch and ranking stripes instead of silk-screened ones and an attached black "dickie" (neck piece). A medium-sized shirt, it's a wee bit too large for me; the sleeves cover half my hands. But overall, it fits well enough and I wore it as a Halloween costume last year as well as when I joined the U.C. Berkeley Anderson Lab when Professor Anderson took us all to watch the film on the big IMAX theater at the Metreon in San Francisco on May 7th, 2009, the night before the official premiere.
This isn't the most comfortable of my costume shirts. Made from 100% polyester, it's got a rather loose fit (which isn't bad), but for some reason - be it the stitching or the embroidered sleeve stripes or whatnot - the sleeves don't feel particularly comfortable and seem to scratch my wrists a bit. Sometimes, it seems like the shirt looks better on someone else than it does on me; my friend and former co-worker Ian McManus wore it particularly well when he visited Star Trek: The Exhibition. But it's still a pretty good costume and it goes well with all the props I've accumulated for the movie.
It was actually the 2nd such shirt I purchased. The first was a large one that proved to be much too big for me. Rubies uses a different sizing chart than most clothing manufacturers such as Eddie Bauer do - one that's relatively larger for all sizes. So even though I usually wear medium or large clothes, I really should have purchased a size "S" costume for this Rubies design. I bought the medium-sized one (I underestimated the sizing again) in a hurry after realizing my mistake with just days to go before the movie - and found a use for the oversized large one by giving it to my professor instead, as he's taller than I am! sweatdrop
5.) The 2009 Star Trek film was accompanied by one of the biggest mass promotion campaigns the franchise has ever seen. Companies from Intel to Burger King and even Kellogg's jumped in. Kellogg's, in particular, offered a whole spate of products through the mail-away offers included on its products such as various cereals and Eggo waffles. Some cereals and Cheez-Its cookies came with an offer for a polyester T-shirt modeled on the Enterprise uniforms seen in the movie, a product only sold through this mail-away order (although now you can find these shirts on E-bay for greatly exaggerated prices, as they were rare promotional items not sold anywhere else).
I purchased two of these shirts because I initially made the same mistake that I'd made with the Star Trek: The Experience TNG top and the Rubies Star Trek (2009) costume shirt: I ordered the shirt based on the sizes that I usually wear from manufacturers like Eddie Bauer, and didn't realize that the shirts are made to an enlarged pattern like the Rubies tops are. The first shirt I'd buy, a Large, was therefore going to be too big, and I ordered a Small one instead. I'd never worn a small sized anything for a long time, so I didn't know if this was going to work out or not, but thankfully, I was right - the small shirt fit me perfectly, and I let Zaion have the big one, as he's a bit taller than I am and it fit him just fine! sweatdrop
I have another interesting story involving a version of this shirt. I knew a few customers during my tenure as a Harvest Market worker who were fellow Trekkies, and I convinced one of them to order another of these shirts - also a blue one - from the mail-away promotion in summer 2009 while Kellogg's was still honoring it. It was a Medium shirt, slightly bigger than the one that I had. But when she ended up deciding that she was never going to actually wear it, I suddenly realized that I needed to figure out what to do with it. I didn't want to keep this shirt for myself because I already had one of my own, and this one was too big for me, anyway - but luckily, by the time she left her shirt with me, my aforementioned friend/former co-worker, Ian, had become a Trek fan himself - so I left it with him. He is slightly taller than I am, so the shirt fit him perfectly; I even left him a Rubies ST:09 Phaser pistol prop to go with it. whee
It should be noted that as of January 1st, 2011, this top is my only Starfleet uniform shirt that is not a Command Division or Captain's uniform. The blue color and badge w/ ring symbol are indicative of the classic Science and Medical division. I did this on purpose because I wanted to commemorate the fact that I am a life scientist-in-training. 3nodding
6.) Now we come to one of the most special of my Starfleet costumes - the "Design 270" top from Warp One, Limited. I purchased this one almost on a whim in early 2009, a few months before the premiere of the 2009 Star Trek film and it arrived one night after I'd come home from performing in a concert with the U.C. Berkeley Wind Ensemble. It is one of the two costumes I have that wasn't "official" or made by a licensed company using official patterns.
Warp One, Limited is - or probably was - a formerly licensed, small manufacturer of high quality Star Trek-themed costume clothing based in England. The little shop produced and sold all manner of Star Trek uniforms from the Enterprise jumpsuit to the TOS tops to the TWOK "Monster Maroon" coats and even the special admiralty uniforms worn by Admirals Leyton and Ross in Deep Space Nine.
Design 270 is based on the grey-and-black "Dominion War" uniform of the 2370s seen in Deep Space Nine, a few Voyager episodes, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis, but it isn't entirely show-accurate. It's completely one-piece whereas the original uniform consisted of a colored undershirt with a centerline zipper underneath a black jacket with a grey ribbed yoke on the shoulders, so when I put it on and fully zip it, it looks like I've got the grey "jacket" part fully zipped, when officers on screen liked to leave it partially unzipped for a "V-neck" look.
However, although the seller offered to give me the much more expensive, show-accurate 2-piece set he made for the same price I paid for Design 270 (it set me back almost $100.00), I stuck with the one-piece jacket because it was less hassle to put on, take off and clean. Also, I had the feeling that fewer people bought the less-accurate design, which suited me just fine.
The costume is incredibly well-made, easily the best quality uniform I own. It's tough, with a smooth inner lining and a somewhat sparkling fabric on the outside, and it feels like a sport coat. The zipper is quite durable, and I've even taken to wearing the costume partially unzipped because wearing the uniform in a "non-regulation" way like that seems to give a sort of "cool/rebellious" look. I've worn this one to Halloween at my old workplace and also brought it out during my family's 2010 Christmas party, getting quite a few compliments on it both times. I think it's the one that looks best on me, but it does have one problem: the zipper doesn't extend down to the elastic band on the bottom of the jacket, forcing me to wear it like a pullover. And that elastic band is REALLY tight, so it's difficult to put it on or take it off! gonk
I have a number of accessories to go with this costume. I have two sets of rank pips. One flat, gold set was purchased from Star Trek: The Experience during my 21st birthday by Zaion_Indulias and given to me as a birthday gift, and the other is a full set (one set of pips for every possible rank) of thick, button-like, higher quality silver rank pips from an unknown manufacturer that I got through E-bay. The only problem with the silver set is that the butterfly closures provided aren't very good, and many of the pips can't stay on once I've pinned them on, but because the silver pips look so nice, they're the ones I usually wear. (And yes, I always have this uniform, which was made with red Command Division colors, decked out with 4 solid pips as a Captain.)
I also have several different badges, including a half-sized Hollywood Pins badge that's equally rare (it's been out-of-production for a number of years now), and a less rare but larger and more fragile pin version that originally came with Rubies' own Deep Space Nine uniforms; this is the one I normally leave on my uniform because it's not as "special" as the half-size pin and more "expendable." I am hoping to purchase a Playmates toy version of the 2370s' Comm Badge that can make lights and sounds from their Star Trek: Generations line to use as a prop sometime, as well.
Sadly, this incredible store - one of the most visible, best-known, and more reasonably-priced places to get high quality costume reproductions - does not seem to be in business anymore. The last few times I checked the website, the browser couldn't find any content. Warp One is still listed on some professional business search websites, but I think that's only because the owner doesn't seem to have bothered to remove his listing. It's too bad, because I would heartily recommend the shop to any fan wanting a really good costume that's built to last.
7 This TOS-style T-shirt is a bit of a mystery. When I purchased it, I didn't quite know who the heck made it or where it was coming from, aside from the fact that it was coming from Utah. At the time, I wanted a more comfortable, TOS-themed uniform shirt that I could keep in my dorm at Winthrop University and wear around the house. I also wanted a "replacement TOS shirt" because I knew that the shirt I bought from Star Trek: The Experience was almost completely worn down, and I felt horrible about its condition - but there were no replacements for this Experience shirt on E-bay at the time.
It's like a TOS-themed, yellow version of the polyester blue top I got from Kellogg's for the 2009 film. It's built like a baseball jersey and feels very smooth. The screen-printed insignia is tough and very resistant to washing. It's got a tight, black V-shaped collar and black tips to the sleeves, and it's tighter-fitting than the Rubies 2009 movie top but still feels comfortable. True to its purpose, I do wear it around the dorm quite often - so often, in fact, that my suitemates and hallmates consider it my personal "trademark." I have continued to wear it frequently, even after purchasing the true replacement for my Experience top a few months after getting it. 3nodding
Eventually, when the package for this shirt arrived, I thought the shipping label was a bit odd. I looked it up on the Internet, and eventually discovered that apparently, this piece was a custom commissioned piece made by a local, family-owned small business in Utah that specialized in producing sports uniforms for the local school and community sports teams - explaining the similarities between its construction and that of a baseball jersey my suitemate, Zac, noticed. Besides this yellow "Star Captain" top, they also produce a red "Star Engineer" top (read: the infamous Red Shirt) and versions of both without the sharp-looking black collars.
Conclusions:
When I was a little kid first becoming obsessed with the world of Gene Roddenberry's epic vision, I had always wanted to be able to dress up like a Starfleet officer and to do it accurately - in other words, to have an official costume and at least some of the toy props. That dream took forever in coming true. I first became a Trekkie at the age of 4, and it wasn't until I was around 13 or 14 that I got my first costume.
I got my first Star Trek costume in the summer of 2000, when I visited Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton for the first time as part of a family trip. It was a Rubies version of the First Contact uniform shirt, the last such shirt they had - and I was barely able to weasel it out of my mother, being the over-practical scrooge she always was. Even then, I wasn't satisfied with it.
First, it was the wrong color, being the teal of the Science/Medical division instead of the burgundy of the Command division I really wanted. Second, it ended up being too small and I rapidly outgrew it after wearing it to middle school for 8th grade Halloween spirit day. Third, I hated the "dickie" that came with the costume - I wanted a real undershirt and felt the "dickie" was just cheap.
Finally, the Comm Badge pin (ironically the same plastic one I have now) broke, and Mom ended up sewing the display base of my Star Trek: Generations Data figure to the costume as a "badge" instead. Eventually, I gave it to my friend Julia as a sewing reference for some ideas we had for a project that never came to fruition, and never bothered to ask for it back because I knew I'd never fit into it again.
But still... it was my first officer's uniform, and although I only had two pictures ever taken of me wearing it, and was unhappy with it when I owned it, I still felt glad to have it, and while it was there, it was still the realization of a childhood dream. I would sometimes wear it around in the house when Mom wasn't around, just like I do with my costumes today, and it was the "spiritual predecessor" of every uniform that came after it.
As time passed, I accumulated more costumes and more props, loving and wearing each and every one of them. I don't intend to stop, and each piece in my collection is a matter of personal pride for me. Besides, I look better in them than I do in "civilian clothes," anyway. blaugh
Signing off,
Shaolan Lu, Captain (OF-6)
 Shaolan Lu · Sat Jan 01, 2011 @ 11:01pm · 0 Comments |
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