# Why do Star Fleet officers/crew wear uniforms? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943 "2020-09-06T16:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/21 "2020-09-07T00:32:57Z")
Star Fleet is just the space navy. From the space mines exploding next to the ship, the run silent, run deep situations where they play dead, and many other situations, space navy. Abandon ship!, See to the safety of all hands! All stop and hold us here! Always oriented like ships on the sea. That is one of the flaws of the whole series. Engineering in the bottom decks. Shore leave. I am surprised that they did not call the shuttle craft PT boats. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/22 "2020-09-07T01:10:50Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I am not suggesting that everyone on the ship should be going around naked, but it seems like a simple bracelet/necklace/belt would be sufficient to hold a modesty/comfort field generator that could simulate the utility of attire without any of the drawbacks. And when Wesley hacks the system to turn the young ladies clothes transparent when he is in range? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/23 "2020-09-07T01:47:30Z")
Why does everyone assume that these devices are networked? The field captures your dead skin (dust problem dealt with) and uses it to generate its own power. It has a built-in fartfender function that captures the sulphrous components of your digestive emanations to reduce the load on the ship’s air freshener. More advanced models can actually capture urine, separate out the parts that it can use and evaporates off the water, so that no one ever has to step off the bridge mid-shift for a quick piddle. Really, with the maintenance and filtration capabilities of the modesty/comfort device, no one ever has to take a shower. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to fully refine the filters, so almost all organic compounds are captured, rendering perfumes and natural olfactory body cues inert. But at least no one smells bad. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/24 "2020-09-07T01:52:31Z")
Of course they’d be networked. How else to handle uniform changes? How else to download the library of clothes? We’ve got the Internet of Things now, think how much stuff would be networked then. Plus you’d do away with the problem of people vanishing from the computer’s view when they take off their badges. The only way to hide would be to run around naked. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/25 "2020-09-07T03:38:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Why not wear slippers or booties in an environment where you are never going to encounter mud or pebbles? What about the Mudd and tribbles? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/26 "2020-09-07T04:53:23Z")
With as often as the holodeck screws up, do you really want the same tech managing your underwear for you? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/27 "2020-09-07T04:55:51Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@Colibri](#): > > > > Why not wear slippers or booties in an environment where you are never going to encounter mud or pebbles? > > What about the Mudd and tribbles? Ok, I agree that boots could have been useful for kicking Mudd and stomping tribbles. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/28 "2020-09-07T05:37:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > What I could never understand is why they wore boots while on the ship. My guess is that would have taken time to get ready to transport. Interesting tidbit about the transporter: a number of infographics/fact sheets about Star Trek inform me that was created merely as a plot device to move the story along. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/29 "2020-09-07T05:46:14Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > My guess is that would have taken time to get ready to transport. Only a few crew members transport to a planet in most episodes. The majority of crew members only rarely leave the ship. And they wear boots even on long stretches when they are nowhere near a planet. > [@](#): > > Interesting tidbit about the transporter: a number of infographics/fact sheets about Star Trek inform me that was created merely as a plot device to move the story along. It’s pretty well known that the transporter was created in large part for budgetary reasons. It was a lot cheaper to use some camera tricks than to film a model shuttlecraft or even a star ship landing. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/30 "2020-09-07T06:28:13Z")
Holographic clothing? Are you all trying to put poor Garak out of business? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/31 "2020-09-07T08:17:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It’s pretty well known that the transporter was created in large part for budgetary reasons. It was a lot cheaper to use some camera tricks than to film a model shuttlecraft or even a star ship landing. It always surprised me that they used a device with such huge plot and worldbuilding issues when they could have just had a reasonably-priced shuttle prop and had the away team step out of it each episode. Wouldn’t have to show it landing, just do a few flight scenes of it leaving the Enterprise using a model and then cut to the crew stepping out on the ground. I think that’s a pretty good sign that they only expected to get a few seasons (TOS only ran for 3) out of the idea and then move on, they didn’t think they’d get a large, long-term fan following and decades of spin-off shows. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/32 "2020-09-07T11:44:52Z")
I thought this was going to be about the hypocrisy of their spouting “We’re not a military” “We’re so egalitarian” propaganda while running around in uniforms, but instead it’s about proposing an absurdly over-engineered solution to a non-existent problem? While that _is_ in keeping with the finest Treknobabble tradition of the show, it’s so extra. And full of potential failure points - they can’t go near strange-energy-field-of-the-week at the best of times without weird shit happening to their tech, now it’s going to vanish their clothes too? I do agree that the full overall+boots arrangement is a bit much for the climate-controlled luxury yacht environment they mostly inhabit. Shorts, Starfleet-branded, branch-coloured polo shirt and canvas plimsolls should be the standard, with more clothes and footwear donned as the job calls for it. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/33 "2020-09-07T12:22:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > they can’t go near strange-energy-field-of-the-week at the best of times without weird shit happening to their tech, now it’s going to vanish their clothes too? You mean you don’t want an X-rated version of Star Trek? 😄 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/34 "2020-09-07T12:27:26Z")
You really want to see O’Brien naked that much? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/35 "2020-09-07T12:39:05Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > > [@Colibri](#): > > > > It’s pretty well known that the transporter was created in large part for budgetary reasons. It was a lot cheaper to use some camera tricks than to film a model shuttlecraft or even a star ship landing. > > It always surprised me that they used a device with such huge plot and worldbuilding issues when they could have just had a reasonably-priced shuttle prop and had the away team step out of it each episode. Wouldn’t have to show it landing, just do a few flight scenes of it leaving the Enterprise using a model and then cut to the crew stepping out on the ground. I think that’s a pretty good sign that they only expected to get a few seasons (TOS only ran for 3) out of the idea and then move on, they didn’t think they’d get a large, long-term fan following and decades of spin-off shows. Apparently, there was no reasonably priced shuttle prop. From what I’ve read, that was too much for their budget, and also they didn’t want to spend the screen time on shuttling. The concept of “world-building Issue” wasn’t in their minds at the time. Arguably, it’s too much in people’s minds now. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/36 "2020-09-07T16:03:17Z")
Because Star Trek is about the present, not the future. The present likes uniforms, understands uniforms, and wants to dress up in uniforms as cosplay. TOS was set in 1967, not any other time. That’s all the explanation for miniskirts we need. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/37 "2020-09-07T16:16:36Z")
Of course, once the show ran for a while, they did eventually have shuttlecraft, depicted pretty much as described (a part of the planetary surface set that we never actually saw moving). ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/38 "2020-09-07T16:18:54Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > If Bo Peep is a good commander, people will respect him. Sexist. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/39 "2020-09-07T16:49:47Z")
Sure, but how do we know that the Starfleet uniforms aren’t some kind of Nomex-style fireproof textile, and/or have some sort of spiffy passive temperature regulation capabilities built-in? Same for the boots; I’d assume they’re handy if the deck is flooded with something bad, or is hot, or someone needs to climb a Jeffries tube or whatever. I mean, that makes as much sense as any other explanation of why they’d all have long pants, boots, and long sleeves aboard ship. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-star-fleet-officers-crew-wear-uniforms/919943/40 "2020-09-07T16:53:36Z")
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