The purpose of a uniform is the age-old one, namely the desire to foster a strong team identity, while also allowing personnel to recognise each other immediately. The uniform is designed for function, comfort and durability.
The garment worn by all active duty Starfleet personnel is similar to an overall or jumpsuit, but it has a series of vents and cuffs that allows it to be altered into a more fitted outfit. The advantage of the one-piece style is that it can be mass-produced easily in a number of sizes, and then altered to fit by the wearer once he or she has pulled it on.
A long, frontal, centrally mounted zip runs from the top of the straight slightly raised collar all the way down to the lower abdomen. This allows the uniform to be taken off quickly, or put on swiftly, simply by stepping into the trousers, placing the arms into the upper section and the pulling the upper half up and over the shoulders until it is correctly fitted on a male or female crewmember. The zip can be worn high or low for additional comfort round the neck. The color of the uniform is blue, and is manufactured from a hard wearing mixture of materials that provides some protection to the wearer during normal duties, as well as warmth and comfort. The sleeves feature long zips built into the forearms just behind the cuffs, which fold over the wrist to create a relatively close fit above the hands. This combination is particularly useful for engineering personnel or those carrying out maintenance, as the close-fitting sleeves will not get in the way of potentially sensitive equipment while carrying out their duties, and leaves the hands completely exposed while working. If the crew members need to have their upper arms completely exposed when working in wet or extremely hot conditions, the cuffs can be quickly opened with the zips, and the entire lower section of the sleeve rolled up over the bicep.
The right sleeve of the uniform includes a small zipped pocket on the outside of the garment, and is large enough to hold small tools. Pockets are a significant feature on the uniforms of 2150s - the upper chest of the uniform includes a horizontal pocket on the right breast just below the identification piping, along with three narrow vertical stitched flaps into which can be placed narrow tools or implements for immediate access. There is a longer vertical pocket positioned on the left side of the uniform's front, along with two large pockets located on the upper left and right thighs of the garments. This combination provides great opportunity for Starfleet personnel to carry a number of items with them at all times.
Clearly mounted on the upper left sleeve of the uniforms is the mission badge or emblem of the vessel that particular Starfleet belongs to, a tradition that is continued from the early missions of space exploration undertaken by NASA, and dating back to the 20th century. The crew of the Enterprise (NX-01) for example wear the stylized image of their vessel.
Some Starfleet personnel may also wear a black colored baseball cap with the registry number of their ship stitched onto the front in red and silver lettering.
The nature of the interior construction of a starship also calls for comfortable and protective footwear due to the large number of exposed metallic surfaces and ladders, so all personnel wear the same thick soled black zipped ankle boots around which the lower part of the uniform's trouser is fitted to prevent the leg of the uniform being caught while climbing or walking.
In addition to the basic outer uniform, all personnel up to the rank of captain wear a black undershirt fastened by buttons.
Rank is indicated by a series of small rectangular silver pips that are worn on the right shoulder flash, as follows:
* one pip: ensign (the lowest rank; in the British navy the equivalent is midshipman) * two pips: lieutenant * three pips: commander * four pips: captain
Higher ranks, such as admirals, have pips on both the left and right shoulder pads with the piping coloured silver above red. The colored piping running past the collar and over the upper shoulders begins Starfleet's tradition of using colors to denote an individual's function.
* COMMAND including helm and navigation are colored gold * ENGINEERING and WEAPONS/SECURITY are colored red * SCIENCE is colored a turquoise blue-green.
In addition to the standard uniform, a thick jacket can also be worn for situations such as a landing party expecting severe weather conditions. The jacket possesses the colored piping to indicate departmental function and, like the standard outer garment, has a zipped breast pocket, and the vessel's mission emblem on the upper left sleeve. It also has a thick turn-down collar.