TNG admiral season 1 uniform analysis

TNG-era Starfleet Admiral Uniform Analysis
(Season 1)

Fabric

Like William Ware Theiss’ other early TNG-era uniforms, his season 1 admiral uniforms were made of jumbo spandex, using the dull side as the “right” side.

Angelo CIfaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Neckline and Yoke

The neckline and front edge of the diagonal panel were accented gold trim.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

This trim was ¼” wide and actually quite similar to standard retail trims still available today.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

In fact, the neckline/front trim was actually two separate trims, with the “curly” one hand-sewn down onto a gold braid underneath.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

The gold trim underneath appears to have been the same trim used in the shoulder/outer sleeve seams, lower yoke seams, and lower sleeve accents.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

On Admiral Jameson’s uniform, the yoke extended over to the top of the sleeve, but not onto it.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

Here, you can see how the shoulder, front yoke, back yoke, front sleeve, and back sleeve seams all formed a nice intersection at the top of the sleeve.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

However, on both of its subsequent appearances, the yoke extended over onto the upper sleeves, in a manner much more akin to that of its counterparts, the TNG jumpsuit and TNG skant.

TNG, 1x19 "Coming of Age"

TNG, 1x19 "Coming of Age"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

TNG season 1 admiral uniform auction photos

Here’s a comparison of the two versions:

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season" (left) and 1x25 "Conspiracy" (right)

In every case, though, the back yoke appears to have been rather shallow.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x19 "Coming of Age"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

On the original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket I examined, the yoke was a mere 2” deep at the center back.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

The lower edges of both the front and back yokes were accented with gold trim, which met at the lower/outer corner and top of the sleeve.

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

Amusingly, this trim often seemed to have a mind of its own, bending every which way …

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

Rank

Of course, a thorough examination of the season 1 admiral uniforms would be incomplete without a look at the infamous brooch worn on the upper right shoulder area! 

Here are some close-up auction photos:

TNG season 1 admiral uniform auction photo

TNG season 1 admiral uniform auction photo

TNG season 1 admiral uniform auction photo

TNG season 1 admiral uniform auction photo

And here’s a photo of the brooch on the original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket I examined:

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Although all “flag officers” appear to have worn the brooch, the actual rank appears to have been indicated by standard TNG-era rank pips worn beneath the brooch.

Rear Admirals Jameson and Quinn, for instance, wore no pips – just the brooch.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

Admiral Vulcan wore a single pip beneath his brooch, and Admiral Whitey wore two.

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

These infamous brooches made a surprising, albeit subtle, return in the series finale – in triplicate, no less! – on alternate future Data’s smoking jacket.

TNG, 7x25 "All Good Things"

TNG, 7x25 "All Good Things"

TNG, 7x25 "All Good Things"

TNG, 7x25 "All Good Things"

I’m uncertain as to what degree (If any) this was an intentional callback by costume designer Robert Blackman; on the one hand, there was the nostalgia element to the episode, leaning heavily on the events of the pilot. 

On the other hand, it’s entirely possible Blackman just found a pile of them in a bucket somewhere in the costume department and slapped them on Data’s costume. 

It’s still a neat little bit of trivia, though – thanks to Michael Cowart for catching it and pointing it out to me!

Jacket Body

The jacket body was comprised of eight panels – five across the front, and three across the back.

(Its “skeleton” is of six-panel construction – front and two side fronts, back and two side backs – but the asymmetrical diagonal panel across the front divides the front into three separate pieces.) 

The side panel seams were difficult to spot (especially amidst all the pleats), but they were there, and similarly positioned to the corresponding seams on the TNG jumpsuits.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

Also note the lower right corner, where the jacket bottom pivoted upward to form the lower front asymmetrical wedge shape.

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

TNG,1x16 "Too Short a Season"

Another characteristic unique to Admiral Jameson’s jacket was a series of pleats across the lower front.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

Admiral Jameson uniform auction photos

Curiously, it appears that (at least?) one of Admiral Jameson’s uniforms had darts along the lower front, rather than pleats!

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

This was the only instance in which I observed darts on his uniform.

Once he was up and about, though, his uniform seems to have always had the pleats, so I’m not sure whether this particular uniform was a mistake only briefly used in the episode, or a variation of the uniform for when he was still confined to his wheelchair.

I did, however, come across these photos of what appears to be that same uniform (with the characteristic darts) in Robert Withrow’s album on Photo Bucket: http://s189.photobucket.com/user/RealGoldfinger/library/?sort=6&page=1

Robert Withrow's costume collection

Robert Withrow's costume collection

However, the subsequent season 1 admiral jackets had no pleats (or darts) across the lower front.

TNG, 1x19 "Coming of Age"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

TNG season 1 admiral uniform auction photos

Both versions of the jacket had pleats across the side and back, though.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x19 "Coming of Age"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

Closure System

The jacket closed up the front via a separating zipper, just inside of the diagonal front trim.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Outside the zipper were a half-dozen small black snaps, presumably to prevent the jacket from pulling open across the front and revealing the zipper.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

These precautions were mostly quite effective, and also quite necessary, as the diagonal front edge was prone to pulling back away from the zipper.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

Beneath the zipper were two more hook-and-eye closures.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Sleeves

Like the other TNG-era uniforms, the shoulder/armscye area on both versions of the season 1 admiral jackets were smooth and rounded, raglan-style.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x19 "Coming of Age"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

Like the screen-used TNG skant I examined, the shoulders were supported by raglan shoulder pads, which appear to have been custom-made.

And boy, were these pads huge! Don’t you miss the 80s?!?

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Unlike the shoulder pads on the ladies’ TNG skant, which had a large surface area but only a slight amount of loft, the shoulder pads on this admiral uniform had quite a bit of loft to them.

They appear to have been constructed in an identical manner: ovular, with padding enclosed in two layers of black lining, a dart establishing the rounded shape, stitched twice around the perimeter, and edges trimmed with pinking shears.

However, they were also considerably larger – approximately 9 ¼” x 6 ½”.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

The shoulder and outer sleeve seams were accented with the same gold trim as the lower yoke, and at the bottom of each sleeve was a small, black, triangular insert, also accented with gold trim.

TNG,1 x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x19 "Coming of Age"

The bottom of the sleeve was also accented with gold trim, wider than that on the rest of the garment.  

TNG, 1x25 "Conspiracy"

The lower sleeve trim was simply sewn onto the sleeve hem.

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

TNG, 1x16 "Too Short a Season"

In actuality, the lower sleeve trim was the same as on the rest of the garment; it appears to have originally been 2” strips which were simply folded in half and sewn into the seams with what amount desired extending outward on the finished garment.

Angelo Cifaldi's original, screen-used Admiral Jameson jacket

In Conclusion

Congratulations on finishing my analysis of the TNG season 1 admiral jackets! 

I know, after that massive info-dump, you probably feel like this:

But don't worry! I've taken all this into consideration for Bad Wolf Costumes' TNG season 1 admiral jacket pattern, and my TNG season 1 admiral jacket sewing tutorial is thorough enough for you to construct a fantastic replica of your own!