Welcome! As part of its ongoing mission to document the Art and Production History of Star Trek, this site will present technical articles on Star Trek prop and costume authentication - focusing on The Original Series - with detailed photos and episode screenshots to complement the information presented; as well as feature pictorials to showcase Star Trek memorabilia in private & public collections, present rare Behind The Scenes TOS imagery & discuss other topics.
Gerald Gurian is a 40+ year collector of screen used Star Trek memorabilia and a passionate fan of TOS
     
- Star Trek TOS At Auction Part I - Gurian Collection Highlights - Greg Jein TOS Hero Type II Phaser
-Authenticating a TOS Communicator -6 Myths About Star Trek Prop Design -Star Trek 3rd Season Command Tunic
- Design Features of TOS Tricorders -Star Trek Props At National Air & Space - TOS Leatherette Tricorder
- TOS Federation Sciences Dress -Desilu Studio TOS Prop Fabrication - Unreleased Allen/Gurian Prop Photos
- The Beautiful Women of TOS Part I -TOS U.S.S. Enterprise 11' Filming Model - Captain Kirk's Chair from TOS
- Spock Ears -TOS Control Panels & Displays - Mr. Spock's Science Station
- TOS Soundstage at Desilu -TOS Shatner Romulan Pants - The Beautiful Women of TOS Pt. II
- TOS Galileo Shuttlecraft -Greg Jein TOS Cage Laser Pistol - TOS 3rd Season Midgrade Type II Phaser
- Dr. McCoy's Sickbay on TOS -TOS Balok Puppet Head - Captain Kirk "Mirror, Mirror" Tunic
- Greg Jein TOS Hero Tricorder -1992 Smithsonian TOS Cast Video - TOS 1st Season Command Tunic
- TOS "Where No Man" Silver Contact Lenses -TOS Special Effects: The Transporter - The Art of Matt Jefferies
- TOS "Space Seed" Gold Mesh Jumpsuit -Gorn Costume from "Arena" - Rare TOS Behind-the-Scenes Videos
- TOS Stunt Type II Phaser -1993 Bill Theiss Estate Auction - TOS Shatner Command Dress Tunic
- TOS Elasian Royal Guard Tunic -TOS Finnegan Silver "Shore Leave" Tunic - TOS Science Officer Tunic "The Cage"
- TOS Shatner Early 1st Season Command Tunic -William Shatner TOS Tunics At Auction - TOS Shatner Late 1st Season Command Tunic

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Star Trek: The Exhibition In Detroit - Original Series Captain Kirk Uniform

This fourth in a series of posts on Star Trek: The Exhibition; now open at the Detroit Science Center (http://www.detroitsciencecenter.org/) until Sept. 7, 2009; focuses on the Original Series Captain Kirk Uniform. Startrekpropauthority.blogspot.com was allowed to photograph the exhibition on Feb. 14th, 2009 and Feb. 21st, 2009 and is presenting posts on some of the exciting TOS-related components of this comprehensive collection - which features screen used costumes, props, starship filming models and set recreations that span all 5 Star Trek television series and 10 feature films. Many thanks to the staff of the Detroit Science Center for their kind assistance; with special recognition to Kelly Fulford, Kerri Budde, Amanda Jackson, and Todd Slisher for their outstanding support.

The introductory post on Star Trek: The Exhibition which provides a general overview of the event can be seen at: http://startrekpropauthority.blogspot.com/2009/02/star-trek-exhibition-beams-into-detroit.html

Some detailed photos of the Captain Kirk uniform are presented below...






In the following two photos, note the dramatic change in the tunic fabric color when the camera flash was disabled and then utilised. Without flash, the fabric appears lime green in color ...


With flash, an effect similar to the bright Desilu soundstage lights is achieved, and the tunic appears gold in color ...


Similarly, the use of camera flash reveals a subtle detail of the Starfleet pants fabric is not apparent when the costume is viewed under traditional or slightly subdued lighting. Note that the pants, as seen in the following picture, appear to be almost a flat black in color ...


However, under more intense lighting, some details of the fabric's true silver speckled nature are apparent in the following photos ...





Below is a closeup view of the pants fabric that was taken with the camera flash active ...



Some views of the tunics hidden zipper assembly and authentic Original Series patch ...




Note the nylon square weave double knit fabric in the tunic. This pattern and a diamond weave variety were present in the Desilu costume department after the second season of The Original Series. The velour material that was used for the first two seasons proved too problematic as it would shrink, sometimes considerably, as a result of regular cleaning.


The braid below is actually authentic braid from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, produced in 1979. Both the braid and patches were typically removed on a daily basis from all of the costumes during TOS production, before sending them out for dry cleaning; and it is quite rare to come across '60s - era costumes today that still retain both their authentic TOS patch and braid.