Star Trek Halloween Costumes the Easy Way

Old School or New School? And what's the difference? The answer is, really, not that much, unless you're talking about the spinoff shows. For the purposes of this article, the costumes being discussed are the original series The new movie wardrobe has kicked out a few of the affectations of the sixties - for instance, Uhura wears an ordinary ponytail instead of a wild updo - but your classic Star Trek uniform costume is still essentially a pair of space pajamas. And that's a good thing. Why? Because it's cheap and easy!

The basics of the Star Trek costume for both the original series and the 2009 film are a fitted, solid-color long-sleeve shirt with a black collar, and a pair of black pants. In the older version, the shirt is of a plain weave, the collar is part of it, and the pants are slightly bell-bottomed.

In the film, the collar is actually part of an undershirt: find a half-turtleneck to serve for this purpose. Raglan shoulder seams on the shirt give extra authenticity, as does the crosshatched texture -- an athletic shirt might serve as a good base -- but it's possible to make the costume recognizable without these details.

Women can wear this unisex design or choose the risque minidress version, which is all one color. In the TV series, the miniskirt costume was a dress with long sleeves and a somewhat low neckline; in the 2009 Star Trek film, the costume instead is a simpler dress with short sleeves and a higher neckline. Which version you choose should depend on which era you're trying to evoke.

All of the Star Trek uniforms of this style have black boots; the old ones have shiny black boots with pointed toes. They also have badges with the distinctive arrowhead Starfleet logo on the left side of the chest. Those with long sleeves have metallic bands around the wrists, usually silver, though some of the old-school Star Trek costumes have gold bands instead. The number of bands depends on rank in some designs, and not in others. Make sure to check a picture from the era you're trying to emulate before putting on these finishing touches.

Accessories: A communicator is easy to build: just find an old flip-phone and paint the right details in. For more realism, toy versions are available in major toy stores. Toy phasers are also available.

Starfleet badges! Many options are available: buy a reproduction, or just cut the shape out of cardboard and cover it in silver paint (subtler than tinfoil and more realistic.) For the wristbands, buy silver or gold fabric, cut it into narrow strips, and sew them onto the sleeves of the shirt.

My favorite era has always been the old-school Trek, and that's at least half because of the sixties kitsch value. Space, to me, is the final frontier of retro hairdos and funky clothes. Although the new film costumes may be easier to reproduce, haunting vintage stores can help you find the styles of clothing that can easily be turned into an old school costume. I'd do it just for the chance to wear the beehive hairdo.

Either way, it's easy to make a Star Trek Halloween costume that will be a hit at parties. If you're of the over-21 set, add blue food coloring to a bottle of vodka for ready-made Romulan ale to offer your friends. Energize!