Starfleet uniform (2250s-2260s)

The Starfleet uniforms worn in the mid 23rd century before 2265 shared similarities with later designs. The main difference of this era was a different set of rank stripes and division colors. 

This uniform lasted from before 2254, to provisionally at least 2268. It was used by the crews of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), the Antares , and Deep Space K-7. Beginning in 2265, the uniform began to be replaced by a new design. 

Duty uniform
The duty uniform worn consisted of dark gray trousers and a division color top, following the below color code. The previous Earth Starfleet style of wearing a patch based on assignment continued, but the patch was moved to the chest. Rank was displayed by sleeve stripes. The top's collar initially had a "bubbled" appearance but many of them came straight up on the neck later on. 

Female variant
Women's uniform style had a larger open collar. They also wore black trousers similar to the male uniform. 

Seam variant
A variant worn by certain personnel included a closing seam radiating from the side of the neck. 

Dress jacket
There was a dress jacket, edged with gold trim, with matching epaulets. This was most likely a matching shade to the division color, in this case although it looks brown over gold, they were both actually green. Since no other dress uniforms from this period were ever seen it is impossible to know for sure. 


 * See the dress uniform article for more information.

Excursion jacket
An excursion jacket,in gray, was also part of this issue. A utility harness was worn underneath, and is where the individual's laser and communicator were held. 

Utility jumpsuit
Work coveralls, with assignment patch embroidered on the breast, were issued in all division related colors. Instead of the brighter colors of the duty uniform, they were in muted colors of olive (Command), khaki (Operations) and blue-gray (Sciences). 

Hat
The uniform could be worn with a uniform hat. 

Cadet jumpsuit
In the mid-23rd century, a Starfleet cadet wore a version of the standard duty uniform, with a tunic top made out of a reflective gray material tunic top, a V-shaped black collar, and black trousers. A Starfleet assignment patch insignia, a ten pointed star, was worn on the left breast. 

Assignment patches
Assignment patches were worn on many of the uniform styles, and were individual depending on a serviceperson's posting. A departmental insignia of the person's position was located in the center of many of these patches

During this period, it was not uncommon to see department insignia which did not correspond to a specific departmental color uniform, as was standardized by 2266. In particular the following division color/insignia combinations have been seen: command/operations, operations/sciences, sciences/operations and sciences/command. In addition, security personnel circa 2254 wore blue uniforms with a unique insignia. However, by 2265 this insignia was dropped in favor of the current operations insignia.

Epaulet
In 2254, dress uniforms of high-ranking Starfleet personnel contained a certain epaulet, likely indicative of rank. 

Appearances

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Background information
The Starfleet uniforms worn during Star Trek: The Original Series were designed by William Ware Theiss.

Although the standard command division uniform tunics looked gold on most color TV sets, the costumes were actually lime green. The greenish hue of the command tunics can be seen more clearly in the third season, when the fabric used for the tunics was changed from satin velour to a double-knit nylon that reflected the set lighting differently. The dress uniforms, made of a silk material, were always clearly green by comparison, and some darker green jumpsuits and wraparound tunics that were more clearly seen seemed to confirm that all the "gold-to-green" variations were part of the same color scheme. The so-called "beige" uniforms which originated with were ironically a much more yellow color, but likewise appeared beige or pinkish under the lights.

While this uniform was in use only for the two Star Trek pilots, it would be seen again on the Antares crew in and on background performers in, ,  and. Furthermore, the pants belonging to these uniforms were worn by extras in several early first season episodes, with the new "series version" shirts.

The captain's uniform hat was never worn, but was seen in Pike's quarters. It was originally created as Robert April's officer cap mentioned in an earlier version of the script of "The Cage."

Apocrypha
In the IDW comic series Crew, engineering officers were depicted as wearing a red uniform, with a red collar, alongside the beige uniforms as depicted in "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before". In particular, these uniforms were depicted as only being worn in engineering, rather than elsewhere on the Enterprise, suggesting that since the engineering section of the Enterprise was never depicted during this era of TOS, such uniforms could have actually existed side-by-side with the beige Operations uniforms, thereby continuing the red division color established in Enterprise.

In the Marvel Comics series Star Trek: Early Voyages, an alternate female duty uniform was depicted as a short dress with a high-necked collar, similar to the variant worn by Nurse Chapel during the late 2260s.