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How do I justify Enterprise MU uniforms?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I'm wanting to get the Enterprise MU uniforms. They look really cool, and I think they look more like military uniforms than some of the other options.

The trouble I'm having is justifying the female characters being so scantily clad. I just can't think of a good reason for the Federation to allow the skimpy tops. Does anyone have any good ideas? The only thing I can really come up with is if the ship captain is Klingon. It seems like Klingon females generally show a little skin. I guess I could just go with the regular Enterprise uniforms, but the MU uniforms really stand out.

I'm not really a roleplayer, but I want things in my personal STO universe to make sense. If that makes any sense. :p
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Simple: galactic warming(global warming on a universal level) has necessitated the use of cooler uniforms.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    prior to TNG......women wore some sexy outfits on the sets of TOS...its apart of the Star Trek culture, hot women in skimpy outfits.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    if you have the cash get both.

    MU for the men, normal ENT for the females?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    I wish I could use the MU shoulder boards on the regular ent uniforms. Like the OP I like the MU look for the males, but hate the skimp on the females. But I like the ranks more... so I am stuck with those midriff baring shirts that make all the chicks look unhealthily skinny. (Being able to see the rib cage is not hot, it is a sign of muscle atrophy and starvation...)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    You could always make them fat.

    But I see the OPs concern. The way I see it.. It is your ship.. and you establish the dress code.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    because your avatar is James Tiberius Kirk. be a man!:p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    During the loading scenes there is a message displayed at the bottom that gives a bit of info or tips about the game, one of them is about the federation changing their dress code to allow officers to choose the look of their uniforms, this could be an excuse to dress your females in skimpy tops. Or as someone said before buy the enterprise uniforms for the females and the MU for the males.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    how about just thinking as your female toons as being comfortable with their sexuality. whats wrong with a woman that say I wear this because I'm rather attractive and this shows it off, they do exist. not everybody in star trek was a prude. look at kirk he tore of his shirt at any opportunity he had and he’s considered a hero of the federation. Then you have planets like risa the people from that planets idea of Modesty would be completely different from lets say Picard. Also just because some of the humans in startrek are staunchy doest mean all humans are, i’d like to think that some human still enjoy life and have libidos. as for the skinny that's all a matter of how you make your toon. you don’t have to make them bony.

    It would be nice to get the male mu costume for female toons though I’d really like to get tos mu shirt for one of my female toons I'd also like to get the female mu enterprise shirt for a male toon I want to make sorta a zapp brannigan / shore leave.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    I'm wanting to get the Enterprise MU uniforms. They look really cool, and I think they look more like military uniforms than some of the other options.

    The trouble I'm having is justifying the female characters being so scantily clad. I just can't think of a good reason for the Federation to allow the skimpy tops. Does anyone have any good ideas?


    Ummmm... you know that MU stands for Mirror Universe? Pretty much equals Evil Twin Universe. Did you see the episode that these are based on?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    You have to think about the MU uniforms like this....

    In the mirror universe, women are seen more as sex symbols than anything else. (This is due to the fact that most of TOS was written in the 60's when times were all about that.) So naturally the costumes tend to be a little more revealing than they were in the 80's and 90's. (Take TNG for instance)

    I watched an interesting TV special about how the various series compare to each other. It was a very interesting watch and compared TOS to TNG to DS9 to Voyager. One of the more interesting stats was about how much Captain Kirk was involving himself with women, and in just 3 seasons of TOS it's pretty high compared to how many times Captain Picard did in the whole 7 sesons TNG was out.

    In all actuality if it were in the 23rd century I highly doubt women would be running around in those types of uniforms. Considering all that's been done about womens rights and equal rights in the military I'd see them more in a Enterprise jumpsuit or something more standard like DS9 or Voyager. (7 of 9 costume excluded.... :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    maybe women in the future choose to be sexy instead of being told by mainstream media and the "feminists" that they cant be sexy because it demeans them.

    all women can be sexy they just need to realise that the mainstream media denies them this through photoshopping and unrealistic asperations, remmeber women that the majority of men in fashion industry lean towards the perfec woman while most men in the real world want somthing better.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    I'm wanting to get the Enterprise MU uniforms. They look really cool, and I think they look more like military uniforms than some of the other options.

    The trouble I'm having is justifying the female characters being so scantily clad. I just can't think of a good reason for the Federation to allow the skimpy tops. Does anyone have any good ideas? The only thing I can really come up with is if the ship captain is Klingon. It seems like Klingon females generally show a little skin. I guess I could just go with the regular Enterprise uniforms, but the MU uniforms really stand out.

    I'm not really a roleplayer, but I want things in my personal STO universe to make sense. If that makes any sense. :p

    Enterprise's own episode In A Mirror Darkly ha Tholians experimenting with a weapon that tore a hole into the Star Trek Prime univese 115 or so years into the future (relative from ENT's year of 2154) and pulled the 'prime' U.S.S. Defiant into the Mirroe Universe.

    You could easily sat the Terran Empire (under Empress Hoshi Sato) of that era captured the Tholian tech - and have continued to experiment with it - thus you have MU personnel (MU defectors or not) running around on the 25th century ESD (and even using an 'upgraded' NX-01 if you prefer <--- and it fits in established canon ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Kahn wrote: »
    I watched an interesting TV special about how the various series compare to each other. It was a very interesting watch and compared TOS to TNG to DS9 to Voyager.
    Agreed things did change over time, Troi's catsuit aside, I liked that they didn't put as much emphasis on eye-candy in TNG or DS9, Voyager too was pretty even handed until they added Seven and for me that's when I reached my breaking point. When they added introduced the Blue Champagne Room....I mean the Decontamination Chamber on Enterprise, I was done with Star Trek. Not to get all whedonesque here, but you don't have to have a barely clothed woman to be sexy and interesting. Flashing a bit of cleavage does not make a woman sexy, being interesting and well written enough to make the viewer care about you, makes them sexy.
    Kahn wrote: »
    In all actuality if it were in the 23rd century I highly doubt women would be running around in those types of uniforms. Considering all that's been done about women's rights and equal rights in the military I'd see them more in a Enterprise jumpsuit or something more standard like DS9 or Voyager. (7 of 9 costume excluded.... :)

    Exactly. Seven of Nine, catsuit was shameless grab for "Hey we got a hot chick, come see check her out. Awwwwoooooogah!". Its crass and shameless and ultimately degrades the franchise as a whole. Either put everyone in skin-tight catsuits or put no one in them, b/c otherwise its like TV written by 14 year old boys.

    Kira and Dax worked as characters because they were strong characters, who happened to be attractive rather then Hootie McBoobenstein. It is to Jerri Ryan and Jolene Blalock's credit, that saddled with the baggage they were given, they each managed to make their characters interesting and their journey's compelling.

    So here's where Cryptic can take a stand of sorts. Things like the Decontamination Chamber, and the catsuits might have been saddled upon the shows by Executive Meddling, and yeah Cryptic probably still has some sort of investors/bottomline/powers that be; but here is they can take a stand. That stand is, gender equality in Star Trek. Allow a gender-neutral option for some alien races, allow facial hair for females and makeup for males. Make the costumes gender blind. Free the Skant Uniform for male characters! Cryptic you can do this, there's nothing truly stopping you.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    or we could look at it like this....

    We are the Terran Empire.... anyone who says otherwise is a traitor and must be destroyed :O
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    prior to TNG......women wore some sexy outfits on the sets of TOS...its apart of the Star Trek culture, hot women in skimpy outfits.

    Actually the early episodes of TNG had female officers in some very good looking skirts.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Actually the early episodes of TNG had female officers in some very good looking skirts.

    And the men too!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    In the First couple of eps on TNG men wore dresses like the woman it was kinda weird *im 14 years old lol i could of done that
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    jennjahn wrote: »
    Agreed things did change over time, Troi's catsuit aside, I liked that they didn't put as much emphasis on eye-candy in TNG or DS9, Voyager too was pretty even handed until they added Seven and for me that's when I reached my breaking point.

    TOS - Uhura, every other female on the ship
    TNG - Troi, a little of Crusher, Tasha (until she died :( )
    DS9 - Dax (both), Kira
    Voy - Kes, 7of9
    Ent - T'pol, Sato

    So, yeah...there were "sexy" women on every series. TNG wasn't too bad, but DS9 had plenty of "sexy" scenes with Jadzia, Ezri, and Kira. Some of the Voy / Ent episodes might've been a little worse, but they weren't exceptions to the "rule."
    jennjahn wrote: »
    When they added introduced the Blue Champagne Room....I mean the Decontamination Chamber on Enterprise, I was done with Star Trek. Not to get all whedonesque here, but you don't have to have a barely clothed woman to be sexy and interesting. Flashing a bit of cleavage does not make a woman sexy, being interesting and well written enough to make the viewer care about you, makes them sexy.

    Honestly, the decom-chamber made sense. They didn't have bio-filters yet, since they were new in space. Transporters were a fairly new tech, so they usually used shuttles. It made sense to protect the crew from possible "infections" by sending them through a decom chamber. And as several episodes proved, that decom chamber was not only a sensible step, it was a necessary step in preserving the ship's crew from infection.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    jennjahn wrote: »
    being interesting and well written enough to make the viewer care about you, makes them sexy.

    then why did you watch voyager?:p

    i kid.

    in all seriousness, i always saw it the same way as they did picard's baldness: nobody cares what you look like, as long as you do your job. sure, in the case of the dabo girls it's part of the job, but when you look at people like seven and troy and even dax sometimes, it was obvious, at least to me, that a woman could dress as she pleased and still be respected by her coworkers. even harry kim, who was googley-eyed for seven, still respected her as an engineer/scientist.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    [QUOTE=Cuatela
    Honestly, the decom-chamber made sense. They didn't have bio-filters yet, since they were new in space. Transporters were a fairly new tech, so they usually used shuttles. It made sense to protect the crew from possible "infections" by sending them through a decom chamber. And as several episodes proved, that decom chamber was not only a sensible step, it was a necessary step in preserving the ship's crew from infection.[/QUOTE]

    The chamber itself was a good idea, how they implemented it on the show was another idea.

    To quote another blog who summed it up the best "not only do they strip down, they rub each other with ‘decon gel.’ The pilot episode featured Trip and T’Pol slathering gel all over one another – even though they supposedly dislike each other, and even in spots they could easily reach on their own, like the tips of T’Pol’s ears. Trip gets his hands inside the waistband of her shorts at one point, a suitable excuse for a nerve pinch if ever I saw one. Meanwhile, the camera pans lovingly over his pecs and her thighs. It would have been hot had it not been so glaringly, hilariously obvious."
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    Kahn wrote: »
    I watched an interesting TV special about how the various series compare to each other. It was a very interesting watch and compared TOS to TNG to DS9 to Voyager. One of the more interesting stats was about how much Captain Kirk was involving himself with women, and in just 3 seasons of TOS it's pretty high compared to how many times Captain Picard did in the whole 7 sesons TNG was out.

    A bit of a silly comparison, really. The role of the womanizer in TNG goes to Riker, not Picard. TNG also had a larger ensemble crew that they focused on, while TOS was mostly focused on just 3 characters. So you spent time with Worf, LeForge, and just about everyone else's love interest. There's, what, three or four episodes focused on Troi's mom and her relationships even? And even with that diverse focus, there's plenty of references to Riker's Kirkness even when it isn't the focus of the story.

    Anyway, for the OP:
    I'm not really a roleplayer, but I want things in my personal STO universe to make sense. If that makes any sense

    The Federation is made up from diverse cultures. Given more freedom of choice in uniforms, why wouldn't people from a tropical planet where something more akin to what they wear on that planet? What their culture views as normal.

    What we have seen from Trek is primarily ships with human crews. If there are aliens, they typically only have some token bumps or pointy ears. Keeps costs down, as well as saving make up chair time. Well, if all the humans are on those ships, then where are the others? There's got to be some ships out there with a mostly vulcan crew, along with a token human to point out what the illogical course of action would be. Same deal with the Andorians. And if they have it, why not other species? It makes sense, really, for dietary, medical, climate, and cultural reasons.

    What is to say that your particular ship isn't heavily crewed by a specific race in the Federation, a race that prefers, possibly even needs, a hotter than human preferred temperature setting. Or maybe it isn't temperature, but a cultural thing. They view excessive clothing as rude, as if you are hiding something. So wearing something a bit skimpier is akin to showing empty hands, to show that you pose no threat. Maybe they have sensitive skin, so less clothing is more comfortable.

    And, for that matter, who is to say you even have to clothe all your female BOffs that way. Maybe one enjoys dressing that way, but others don't. My primary fed cruiser captain, for example. Her female BOffs wear modified TOS uniforms. The one exception is the Klingon one. She has the top, but wears pants. It felt right that way. And are you going to tell the Klingon she has to wear a mini-skirt if she doesn't want to?

    And then there's other factors. A quasi-humorous approach might be to say that the ship had a run with a Q who decided it'd be funny if that's all the ship's replicators can make for female uniforms or if that's what any female's uniform becomes on that ship. It is annoying to the officers, for sure, but the Federation needs every ship it can get and other than that issue, the ship is fine otherwise.

    In short, you can RP justify most anything.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    I have similar issues at times in deciding on a particular alt's crew uniform. I think you really need to look for balance in how you do things. My main currently uses the MU Enterprise uniforms, in part because I love the shoulder ranks, but when I did so I stopped using skirts on the females, it just seemed a bit... excessive. There isn't anything wrong inherently with the uniforms looking 'sexy' - within reason.

    Hmmm, speaking of skirts, didn't Cryptic say that they were working on more skirt options? (Which I took to mean hopefully something a bit longer because frankly, I can't see how they could go any shorter) Anyone hear anything about that recently?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    NemoSD wrote:
    I wish I could use the MU shoulder boards on the regular ent uniforms. Like the OP I like the MU look for the males, but hate the skimp on the females. But I like the ranks more... so I am stuck with those midriff baring shirts that make all the chicks look unhealthily skinny. (Being able to see the rib cage is not hot, it is a sign of muscle atrophy and starvation...)

    Put a little weight on your toons then.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    The trouble I'm having is justifying the female characters being so scantily clad. I just can't think of a good reason for the Federation to allow the skimpy tops.
    Well. The way I see it, you'd quite simply have to choose between reason and eye-candy.

    I'm very much aware of the "relaxed dresscode", but I think we can all agree that this snippet of pseudo-fluff only made it into the game to justify people wearing what they want, up to uniforms of an enemy(!) faction. However, if you're like me, that doesn't change anything about how it looks and feels - so if you want to replicate the atmosphere of the series, you would have to dress according to the style established in the shows (cloth "pajamas", pants for females, combadge, etc).

    Any explanation to do otherwise would feel too much like an excuse. YMMV.

    Personally, I'm only using parts of the MU-uniform to complement my other costumes - such as the belly-free shirt from TOS MU as a grey undershirt (for sports, training, etc), or the sash to complement the leather-uniform of my Vulcan's Mirror Universe "evil twin" (I don't really play her, but it was fun setting up the costume), or the ENT MU knife sheath to complement my Human Tactical's Hazard Team gear.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited December 2010
    USSDelphin wrote:
    Put a little weight on your toons then.

    I tried... I made one so morbidly obese that I was worried she would not fit throw the doors, but the rib cage thing is the skin texture, not a true skin applied to a skeletal model, which is unheard of in 3D game art by the way. How nice of you to assume that I am the kind of person who made every female on his bridge toothpicks.
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