This is a different
Star-Gayzing entry in that I don’t look at queer stories of stars and planets,
or at lgbt+ astronomers. Instead I turn to science fiction and fashion.
Today has become popularly
known as Star Wars Day. I like to think that it is day on which we can
celebrate all types of science fiction and science fantasy. I’ve watched
“Doctor Who” from the day it began in 1963 (I was only 3, but my family always
watched it). I’ve been going to Doctor Who conventions since 1978, and have met
many cast members, past and present. For the past 6 years I have also been
cosplaying as a Time Lord in the ceremonial robes from the 1976 story “The
Deadly Assassin”. I wrote about my first time in cosplay here, and here’s an
image from 2023.
As I am dusting off my
costume and making repairs ready for EmCon in Nottingham next month, I thought
about other science fiction franchises. I knew about a couple of lgbt costume
designers from famous franchises and looked around to see if there were more.
Here is a brief look at some on them.
For the purposes of this
article I won’t be looking at monster or alien designs. I will concentrate on
costumes worn by humanoid characters.
As this is Star Wars day,
let’s start there.
Of the dozen or more
costume designers who have made their mark on the Star Wars franchise since the
very beginning, the most prominent among the lgbt designers has been Michael Kaplan. He has been
designing costumes for science fiction films since 1982. The first film on
which he was given screen credit as costume designer was for “Blade Runner”. It
was a very illustrious start, because he received a BAFTA (UK film Oscar) for
it.
Kaplan’s first venture
into the Star Wars franchise was in 2013 when J. J. Abrams chose him as costume
designer for the first film of the sequel trilogy “The Force Awakens”, released
in 2015. Kaplan was invited back for the remaining two films in the trilogy.
As with all long-running
franchises, Kaplan modified previous costume designs to reflect the times and
fashions of the era in which the films were being made and to reflect his own
style and interpretation of the characters.
Among Kaplan’s other film
work are “Flashdance”, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and “Fight
Club”. Perhaps it is best to gloss over one of his earliest films, “Can’t Stop
the Music” (1980), in which he was credited as “costumier – men”. This film is
almost universally panned and was intended to showcase The Village People at
the height of their fame. It also featured Caitlin Jenner and the male lead.
“Star Wars” wasn’t the
first major science fiction franchise for which Kaplan designed costumes. He
had worked for J. J. Abrams before on the first rebooted “Star Trek” film in
2009. One interesting fact merges from this film concerning Mr. Spock actor,
Leonard Nimoy, which I’ll elaborate on later.
As with “Star Wars”, there
are many costume designers in the “Star Trek” franchise, and there are two lgbt
designers who deserve special recognition.
What relaunched “Star
Trek” back onto our television screens in the 1980s was “Star Trek: The Motion
Picture” (1979). The costume designer for this film, and the three that
immediately followed it (“The Wrath of Khan”, “The Search For Spock”, and “The
Voyage Home”) was Robert Fletcher
(1922-2021).
Fletcher’s designs for the
Star Fleet uniforms were quite different to the original distinctive, bold,
colour co-ordinated uniforms of the original series. Fletcher’s uniforms were
in pastel shades. This was deliberate. The film’s director, Robert Wise, didn’t
want the old, bold, colours of the original uniforms to upstage the return of
the original cast. For Fletcher’s subsequent three films the Star Fleet
uniforms began to regain some of their colour-coding.
For the costumes of many
of the alien humanoid races, Fletcher used a lot of fabric that had been used
by blockbuster pioneer Cecil B. DeMille that had been in storage since the
1950s, including some of the redesigned Klingon uniforms.
With the success of the
films came the return of the television series, starting with “Star Trek: The
Next Generation”. For this, the creator of the franchise, Gene Rodenberry,
turned to the costume designer from the original 1960s series, William Ware Theiss (1931-1992).
The colour-coding of the uniforms came back with a vengeance.
Theiss’s only pre-Star
Trek science fiction designs were for the comedy series “My Favourite Martian”.
It was another “Star Strek” legend, the writer D. C. Fontana, a close friend of
Weiss, who recommended him to Rodenberry when the pilot was being produced.
Which brings me back to
Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock. He is the only original “Star Trek” character to have
worn costumes by lgbt designers in the original series, the original film
series, “The Next Generation”, and the Abrams reboot.
I was going to continue
with designers in other well-known science fiction franchises, but there are a
couple of things I need to fact check first. So, join me later in the year for
a beige revolution, the late Queen Elizabeth, and some space pirates.
