Starfleet's obsession with constantly changing uniforms

The new Star Trek film (J. J. Abrams, 2009) messes with the timeline, pissing fans off with such insults as destroying planet Vulcan and having a Nokia phone in a car driven by the child Kirk, but it also shows one thing as constant: Starfleet's obsession with changing uniforms.

The familiar Starfleet uniforms from the original series are practically the same in the new film. There is a significant difference in the texture of the tunic's fabric, but given the vastly superior resolution of modern film compared to television of the 1960s, there is nothing wrong with believing that the uniforms in the original series and those in the new film are the same, just that in the original series we couldn't appreciate all the detail. (I might have to revise this theory once I spring for a Blu-ray player).

However, at the time of James T. Kirk's birth, Starfleet was apparently using uniforms similar to those in TNG "Future Imperfect" that is, with the deparment color (e.g., "blue" = medical/science) over most of the uniform, as shown in the earliest scenes of the new Star Trek film. Then, by the time James T. Kirk becomes captain of the Enterprise (way too quickly in the new film), Starfleet has switched over to the department color tunic with black pants for the starship service uniform, but apparently cadets wear a red uniform. Then, for barely five years, Starfleet switched to dull-looking white and gray uniforms (for Star Trek: The Motion Picture). And then another change, to brighter red uniforms! The real-life explanation is of course since the 1979 film was not quite the success the producers had hoped for, there was no incentive to keep the uniforms.

And since no films or TV shows have been set in the time between the decommissioning of the Enterprise-A and Captain Picard taking command of the Enterprise-D, there was no need to change the uniforms during that time frame. Early in his Starfleet career, Picard wore the same kind of uniform officers aboard the USS Excelsior wore during Sulu's command. But the next twenty years of Starfleet show a renewed manic pace for uniform changes: mild adjustments from Season 1 to Season 7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, then a 'reversal' of colors (e.g., doctors like Dr. Bashir now had teal on the shoulders and black below, instead of black on the shoulders and teal below). Star Trek: Deep Space Nine began during Season 6 of TNG, but apparently the Enterprise crew didn't have to change over to the new uniforms until the crash of the Enterprise-D on Veridian in the seventh film, Star Trek Generations. For the next film, Star Trek: First Contact, new, more 'cinematic' uniforms were once again called for. The dress uniform versions introduced in Star Trek: Insurrection are actually quite nice; if I ever did Star Trek cosplay, that would be my costume.

But before I bore you any further with the whole history of Starfleet uniforms, consider that U. S. Navy uniforms barely changed in the 20th Century. Star Trek: Enterprise suggests Starfleet uniforms in the early days of the Federation are closely modeled on those of our present day U. S. Navy. The Admirals on Earth wear a uniform with a black jacket and a black tie. The uniform worn by Captain Archer aboard the Enterprise NX-01 would not look terribly out of place aboard a present day submarine. Let's also consider the uniforms of U. S. Marines: up to the Vietnam era, the combat uniform was plain green. To improve stealth, the woodland pattern was introduced later. And most recently, 'digital' cammies have been adopted by the Marines and the Army because studies show a significant improvement in camouflage over the earlier woodland pattern, and they just plain blow the old all-green uniforms out of the water in that department. But in space, where Starfleet will operate, what possible advantage could there be to constantly changing the uniforms?