Star Trek is not exactly fashion-forward. Though the legendary franchise often anticipates technological advancements years or even decades ahead of time, it has a less than stellar mark when it comes to future space wear. That being said, the various television series and feature films from the franchise have provided some very cool looks that fans have loved to cosplay from the beginning.
Star Trek's best costumes run the gamut from numerous versions of Starfleet uniforms to all kinds of alien garb. Just like the best ship designs in the franchise, the best costumes tend to be the simplest and least "busy."
9 Starfleet Uniform (Enterprise Era)
Star Trek: Enterprise didn't make many fans while it was on the air in the early 2000s, capped off by an infamously bad series finale. Still, this chapter in the Trek story has its positives, including producing some of the best costumes in the franchise.
The Enterprise Starfleet uniforms in particular work very well. These blue jumpsuits recall the NASA blue space shuttle suits and are very simple and practical, something that not every Star Trek costume can claim.
8 Q's Judge's Robes
Q is one of the gaudiest characters in Star Trek— a typical Gene Roddenberry-created god toying with us puny humans— but actor John de Lancie imbued him with real life. His costumes also played a part in humanizing him.
Though the robes he wore in the first and last episodes of The Next Generation— among the very best of the series— were ostentatious, they reflected his role as judge and jury. The bright red and dark blacks created an immediate sense of royalty, and also menace.
7 Klingon Armor (Star Trek 2009 — Deleted Scene)
Some of the best costumes of the franchise never made it to the screen. When JJ Abrams rebooted the film franchise in 2009, he re-imagined the visual look of just about everything in the 23rd century. The Klingons were no exception, but they didn't make the final cut.
The Klingons got great helmets that reflected the crests and ridges of their TNG makeup, and big, heavy gray coats that distinguished them from their equally classic '80s and '90s era suits of armor.
6 Starfleet Uniform (TNG Era)
Captain Picard is famous for his many quotable lines. He's also well-known for the "Picard Maneuver." This isn't a military plan of attack, but the curt tug of his tunic down every time he got up. This resulted from the fact his classic The Next Generation costume always rode up. The cut may not have been great, but the costume is one of the best of the franchise.
This version of the costume emerged in the third season of the show. Previously, the crew wore a one-piece spandex costume that was very heavy and unflattering to just about everybody who wore it.
5 Robin Hood Cosplay (TNG)
Star Trek fans have been cosplaying the franchise since the '60s, and the characters themselves often have fun playing dress-up, too. In the awesome TNG episode "Q-Pid," Q transports the crew of the Enterprise to Sherwood Forest. There, they all take on the roles of Robin Hood and his Merry Men— well, Worf isn't a merry man, as per usual.
This episode provides some of the show's best and funniest sight gags. Data is Friar Tuck, Picard is Robin Hood, and Riker is, fittingly, Little John.
4 James Bond Cosplay (Deep Space Nine)
The Deep Space Nine crew got in on the dress-up act as well. One of the running gags on the show was a holodeck program that took place at a '60s nightclub. This eventually led to an episode— one of the series' best— where the entire crew dressed up as James Bond-style spies and assassins.
"Our Man Bashir" sees the crew re-imagined in the holodeck after a transporter accident, with Dr. Bashir in the role of the classic British secret agent.
3 Starfleet Uniform (DS9 And Voyager)
The Next Generation generally ranks higher than its sequel series, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, in terms of popularity. One place those later shows may have TNG beat is in the costume department. DS9 introduced the jumpsuit variant of the Starfleet uniform, which Voyager also adopted. This was a more utilitarian style that made the Starfleet crew more workman-like.
Thanks to the uniform's use across both series, it became the most ubiquitous in all of Star Trek history. It also made it into the feature film Star Trek Generations.
2 Borg
The Borg rank as one of the most terrifying villains in all of Star Trek. Their zombie-like appearance was accentuated with their many cyborg implants. In early appearances on The Next Generation, this tended to manifest in claw-like appendages and ocular implants.
When they appeared in the feature film First Contact, they got a big-budget makeover. The Borg became much more gruesome in appearance, with their body horror cranked up to Cronenberg-esque levels.
1 Starfleet Uniform (Original Cast Movies)
The classic Starfleet uniform from the original series remains one of the best in the franchise and informed all of the uniforms that followed it. But the best Starfleet uniform ever— and the best Star Trek costume, period— is the burgundy outift introduced in The Wrath of Khan and worn through the rest of the film series starring the original crew.
This uniform borrowed some elements from classic naval costumes with its double-breasted red jacket worn over a turtlenecked undershirt. Rank insignia moved to a brass pin and each officer wore the classic Starfleet delta shield on their brass belt buckle.