Thanks to a suggestion from reader Rob Sundquist, today’s entry will boldly go where no BAMF Style post has gone before!
William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek, Episode 1.28: “The City on the Edge of Forever”
Vitals
William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, time-traveling starship captain
New York City, Fall 1930
Series: Star Trek
Episode: “The City on the Edge of Forever” (Episode 1.28)
Air Date: April 6, 1967
Director: Joseph Pevney
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Costume Designer: William Ware Theiss
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Fans of Star Trek who are familiar with BAMF Style may not be surprised to learn that my inaugural post from this groundbreaking series covers “The City on the Edge of Forever”, the penultimate episode of the first season which has endured to be considered among the series’ best.
The episode begins on the USS Enterprise as first officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) reports that the starship’s turbulence is the result of “actually passing through ripples in time”. An accident results in medical officer Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) accidentally injecting himself with a massive dose of cordrazine, an in-universe stimulant that sends the doctor into a paranoid frenzy.
Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) recruits Spock, communications officer Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), chief engineer “Scotty” (James Doohan), and two redshirts onto the mysterious planet where Bones beamed himself, where they discover a time portal with the ability to transport entrants back to any time and place.
Bones leaps through the portal to evade capture, resulting in altering the past so dramatically that the crew’s reality—and ship—cease to exist. Thus, Kirk and Spock thus have no choice but to leap into the gateway in pursuit of Dr. McCoy… landing them in New York City, circa 1930, at the intersection of the Prohibition era and the Great Depression.
What’d He Wear?
“We seem to be costumed a little out of step with the time,” Kirk astutely observes as their futuristic Starfleet uniforms draw attention from passersby. Since BAMF Style didn’t exist yet in 1930 for the captain to research what to wear, Kirk resorts to purloining fresh wardrobes for himself and Spock from a fire escape. “Well, we’ll steal from the rich and give back to the poor later,” Kirk rationalizes to Spock, though he isn’t as easily able to talk their way out of a confrontation with a passing patrolman.
Note that Kirk’s stolen coat—here atop the pile of clothing—is initially a heavier overcoat in a lighter shade of taupe and woven in a more conventionally scaled herringbone.
After distracting the cop just enough to get away, Kirk and Spock duck into the cellar of a nearby soup kitchen operated by pacifist Edith Keeler (Joan Collins) to change into their fresh duds. Little do the pair realize that the comely Ms. Keeler whom Kirk finds “most uncommon” is the focal point in time they’ve been seeking in order to restore their original reality.
Despite Edith’s insistance to Kirk that it’s not “that cold,” the characters’ wardrobe implies a cooler transitional season like spring or fall. (The calendar hanging in the soup kitchen is no help, showing a 30-day month that begins on Thursday… which did not occur in 1930. The closest would be May, which began on a Thursday but, of course, has 31 days. But I digress…)
Kirk’s outer layer is a hip-length double-breasted jacket made from a rust-brown mid-weight wool in a large-scaled herringbone weave. The cut and styling suggest a variation on the classic pea coat, though Kirk’s jacket is not as conventional of an example as the more naval-informed pea coat that he stole for Spock to wear. In fact, the color and cut remind me of the short brown double-breasted coat that Robert De Niro would later wear as a young Vito Corleone in the sequences of The Godfather, Part II (1974) set in post-World War I New York City.
For scenes set outside, a white undershirt with a high crew-neck appears under Kirk’s plaid flannel shirt. We don’t see enough to know if this undershirt is long- or short-sleeved—though that’s hardly the greatest mystery connected to the shirt as it magically appears whenever Kirk steps outside even if he hadn’t been wearing it in the preceding scene.
Kirk’s jacket has very widely notched lapels that end at mid-chest over the top of the two parallel columns of three brass shank buttons, configured in a 6×3-button arrangement. The front has rounded cutaway corners below the lowest row of buttons, and the set-in sleeves are finished with plain cuffs. The welted breast pocket and small set-in hip pockets are more aligned with tailored jackets than pea coats.
Throughout the entire sequence set in 1930 New York City, Kirk wears a red-and-black shadow-plaid flannel work shirt with a narrow collar, front placket, two button-through patch-style chest pockets, and single-button cuffs—all with black plastic buttons.
Kirk’s undershirts disappear when he’s inside, made all the more conspicuous by William Shatner often keeping the top few buttons of his plaid shirt undone.
Kirk’s jeans are a light taupe denim made by Lee, as suggested by the small black label sewn along the top of the back-right pocket as well as the curved front pocket openings. While Lee had indeed been producing its 101 “Cowboy Pant” and zip-fly 101Z jeans, the specific style (and color) worn by Shatner would not have been available decades later until after World War II, though it could be suggested in-universe that the jeans’ original wearer had customized or dyed them before Kirk stole them from the fire escape.
Kirk continues wearing the black leather calf-high boots from his Starfleet uniform, which are less conspicuous under the legs of his jeans. Prolific Hollywood costume house Western Costume produced most of the crew’s boots through the first season, styled with plain vamps and shafts with a long blackened zipper along the inside of each boot.
How to Get the Look
William Shatner with Joan Collins on Star Trek, Episode 1.28: “The City on the Edge of Forever”
No need to find a remote portal to leap back to 1930 to recreate Captain Kirk’s style! Though the jacket could use some stylistic updates, a red-and-black lumberjack shirt and hard-wearing jeans is about as time-tested as fall-friendly workwear gets.
- Rust-brown herringbone wool hip-length jacket with wide-notched lapels, 6×3-button double-breasted front, welted breast pocket, small set-in hip pockets, set-in sleeves with plain cuffs, and ventless back
- Red-and-black shadow plaid flannel long-sleeved shirt with narrow collar, front placket, two button-through chest pockets, and single-button cuffs
- White crew-neck undershirt
- Taupe denim five-pocket Lee jeans
- Black leather calf-high boots
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out Star Trek: The Original Series.
The Quote
Let’s get the hell out of here.
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