Wow, and woah are literally the only words that come to mind to describe J.J Abram's latest Star Trek installment. Star Trek: Into the Darkness was beautiful, emotional, fun and high octane. I can dissect this film a million ways and tell you what I love about each bit, but I'd rather not. But one thing that did come to my attention after the second time of seeing Into the Darkness was the wardrobe. Now, I know what you're thinking. "How can Star Trek possibly have a wardrobe worth talking about?" Well, let's just dive right in!
Uniforms- Now if you're an original Trekkie like my grams , you'll know that colors of the uniforms bear significance. Blue is science/medical, gold is command (and bridge crew) and red is for technical and engineering. The standard crew uniforms took a rather stylish upgrade. Take note of the printed Star Fleet insignia on the shirts as well as subtle v necklines. It's details like these that give texture and character to something that could be terribly boring. I'm kinda in love with the idea of owning one of these guys. Think J.J. will give me one off the set?
Utilitarian- One of my favorite things about the design here is that the uniforms appeared on several different scales, serving completely different purposes. Example: Uhora's and Hikaru's wetsuits in the first act of the film.
Zoë Saldana looks spectacular( per usual) in her wet suit. But I'm truly in awe of the attention to detail here. Giving the fabric a breathable, yet latex like appearance and once again bearing the Star Fleet insignia print. Michael Kaplan, the film's costume designer did an amazing job of applying purpose to design here.
Kaplan made it a point to differentiate rank in the fleet's travel gear and keep it consistent to crew colors. Kaplan explains that, "even if you’re wearing a protective flight suit when you beam down to explore an alien planet, everyone will still know you’re a redshirt."-Wired Magazine
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| Note the gold for Kirk's captain jumpsuit. |
Military References- Although Star Fleet has peaceful intentions in it's space exploration, it's still a military service. Kaplan envisioned officer uniforms that would be appropriate outside of the bridge and for formal meetings with higher command officers. I happen to love the slate grey, marine based look of the uniforms. It's a great way to modernize the Star Fleet officers.
Out of Uniform- Spock, Uhura and Kirk had some pretty stellar leather get ups. The second act of the film started off with some bad ass hand to hand (or rather phaser to phaser ) combat. This made prime use of the Interprise crew civilian looks. One of my favorite looks below is Spock's printed jacket. Kaplan's not afraid to play with texture and graphics and it shows.
Leather jackets, combat boots and intergalactic jeans (ok, maybe not), make a beautiful yet utilitarian look for the crew. Unfortunately this didn't prevent the Klingons from attacking them.
Villain Gear- Truly saving the best for last, what tipped this movie to a truly stylish point was Benedict Cumberbatch's character, Khan. By far my favorite character, Khan kills it with his dramatic hooded cloaks, leather trenches and futuristic black Star Fleet uniforms. I wont ruin the storyline for you, but it appears that our villain was once among the Star Fleet officers, and yet his uniform looks eight times better than his fellow fleet members.
Post apocalyptic trench coat? Yes, please. Kaplan admits that Cumberbatch was one of his favorite character to dress, for obvious reasons.
Need I say anything more?
