Well Well, Well. Bill Theiss had predicted the future again!! It appears this Instagram starlet, Dixie d’Amelio, wore this sister dress to Sylvia’s gown at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. I have never seen her site, nor ever watch these shows (wait, they still make music videos?) but when I came across this picture online, I had to honor William Ware Theiss’ predictive fashion yet again! Sylvia wins, of course.
Well, 2020 has been so scary, I’m thinking Halloween won’t be too bad. Alas, we’re not even handing out candy this year 🙁 But I hope you’re enjoying the holiday in your own special way, and I wouldn’t mind joining THIS little party!
Note: Caturday with Spock will be back next week 🙂 In the meantime…
You might have noticed ads or images from the new Facebook App called FaceApp. This App was created a few years ago, but recently got a new boost with images featuring famous TV and movie characters. I bet a lot of you saw these of our TOS pals. The big fun is switching sexes of famous characters or making them old!
Well I couldn’t resist, and I put the app on my phone then played with a WHOLE mess of images from TOS! I gotta say, sometimes it’s astonishing how great some of our friends look here as the opposite sex – especially Bill Shatner, who said of one of his doctored images “I’d do me!” Enjoy!
Let’s start with gender-switching:
I gotta say, Bill has a great face for drag!
How about some guest stars?
Okay, enough gender-swaps! Another feature is playing with facial hair and aging, and some of the results were quite surprising!
Somehow I couldn’t get enough of the beard application…
And now some nerdy college professor types…
Then when we get into Aging, whoa!
FaceApp made a pretty good estimate of the real aged Spock too!
Well, I think I freaked you our enough today…One thing is for sure. We are all beautiful in our own way, male, female, young, old, nerdy, cool, and so on. We are more than what makes up our shell. May you find your way as pleasant! Happy Fourth of July, please stay safe and healthy!
UPDATE! (7-4-2021) I found another one! In The Omega Glory, the Kohm servant has a naked navel, but the moment is so quick, you may not have noticed! Sneaky!
In crazy times like these, perhaps we should contemplate our navels; or at least the ones on TOS.
As someone who loves costume design, I’ve always been curious as to the battles that costume designers face, be it making the costumes under budget and on time, to keeping within any restrictions given by the studio or network.
When the Original Series aired from 1966-69 on NBC, the network’s Standards and Practices (S&P) team were recruited to assure that rules were being followed to avoid censorship. For some reason, a woman’s navel was considered too sexy for family time, which is why Barbara Eden’s costume on NBC’s I Dream of Jeannie kept the waist of her harem pants high.
So how did William Ware (Bill) Theiss, master of the costume universe, keep to this rule? Well, he didn’t; just enough that the S&P didn’t notice! Bill figured no one would care about navels in the future, and slipped in the scary umbilicus whenever he could. But who won the battle of censorship? Let’s keep score – TOS vs. S&P: (and my scoring system is total nonsense!)
Exhibit A: The Cage. Theiss designed the iconic costumes from The Cage (1964) onward. And in The Cage, everyone knew Vina as the green Orion in a shiny reptile skin, with no navel exposure but lots of cut-outs. HOWEVER, there were also servers and other dancers in the background in harem-ish costumes with exposed navels:
SCORE: TOS – 1 S&P – 0
Exhibit B: The Corbomite Maneuver & Charlie X 
The network had no trouble with the good Captain exposing his navel, and practically welcomed it. Probably to present Kirk as the macho alpha male. Both sides win. Look at that nice flat tummy. Put a pin in these pictures for now.
SCORE: TOS – 2 S&P – 1
Exhibit C: Mudd’s Women. 
Although Harry Mudd’s ‘escorts’ were quite stylish, none had exposed navels (although there were hip, thigh and cleavage slashes).
SCORE: TOS – 2 S&P – 2
Exhibit D: The Naked Time. 
The S&P need not worry at the episode’s title, as Sulu (George Takei) was the only one who was half naked, but even his navel was covered with a high modest waistband!
SCORE: TOS – 2 S&P – 3
Exhibit D: What Are Little Girls Made Of.
Andrea the Android (Sherry Jackson) exposed plenty with her X-shaped jumpsuit bodice, but not her navel! Theiss gets a half point for it’s daring.
SCORE: TOS – 2.5 S&P – 4
Exhibit E: Shore Leave
McCoy’s Showgirls may have worn fluorescent Tribbles for brassieres, but their dangerously inappropriate navels are plugged up with teeny tiny Tribbles; making them safe for democracy. Half point for cleverness.
SCORE: TOS – 3 S&P – 4.5
Exhibit F: A Taste of Armageddon
Mea 3 (Barbara Babcock) and the women of Eminiar VII exposed their flanks in fancy togas, but not their navels!
SCORE: TOS – 3 S&P – 5.5
Exhibit G: Catspaw
In Sylvia’s (Antoinette Bower) little fashion show for Kirk, she exposes her rib cage, but no navel! 1/2 point for daring.
SCORE: TOS – 3.5 S&P – 6.5
Exhibit H: Who Mourns for Adonais?
Who could forget Carolyn Palamas’ iconic candy pink toga? It exposed Leslie Parrish’s entire back, right arm, some leg and a considerable amount of torso and hip, but no navel. There are two conflicting stories about this stunning creation. Theiss stated in The Making of Star Trek , the costume held in place without any need for anchoring tape, while later I read that Ms. Parish did have to be taped in to avoid censorship. I’m still giving this one a full point for just being beautifully designed and engineered! They each get a half point because I want to round up the score!
SCORE: TOS -5 S&P- 7
Exhibit I: Wolf in the Fold
There was a big trend in 1960s movies and TV for belly dancers and harems (maybe inspired by I Dream of Jeannie?). Trek was no exception. The first person we see in Wold in the Fold is Kara (Tanya Lemani) in her magnificent belly dancer garb, complete with plastic used-car-lot fringe! Beautiful! But she dare not show her navel so a little pink flower was plunked in there! Must be a good adhesive because despite Kara’s shimmy, it never falls out! Btw, Tanya is one of my Facebook pals, and Tanya, if you’re reading this, <3 Hi! <3 Tanya is still dancing these days and she rocks! Love ya, girl! TOS gets a half star for daring.
SCORE: TOS – 5.5 S&P – 8
Exhibit J: The Apple
Well, the S&P must have had that week off, because all the natives of Gamma Trianguli VI had nekkid navels! Three points for Bill Theiss getting away with it! TOS inches into the lead!
SCORE: TOS – 8.5 S&P – 8
Exhibit K: Mirror, Mirror With this blatant display of the alternate 
universe female uniform, it is said that the crew lured the S&P member off the set with a big lunch to film Uhura’s bridge scene! But how did he not notice Marlena? By now it was 1967, maybe the Summer of Love got the censors less uptight! (Now if only Spock was allowed to wear his tunic open!). Two points for each actress getting away with it!
SCORE: TOS – 10.5 S&P – 8
Exhibit L: I, Mudd For heaven’s sake! Even Norman had a navel! (maybe a charger port…or three?) But the Alices and all the other female android series kept theirs hidden! 1 for S&P!
SCORE: TOS – 10.5 S&P – 9
Exhibit : Bread and Circuses
The network never seemed to complain of exposed hip bones on minor characters like Drusilla here, but no navel. Clever (and a bit creepy) credit for use of chain as an accessory here, 1/2 point to TOS for originality, 1 Point for S&P.
SCORE: TOS – 11 S&P – 10
Exhibit M: A Private Little War
Nona (Nancy Kovak) may have been a Kanutu Woman, but she was also a perfect precursor to 60’s hippie girls! Between her low slung leather bell bottoms (with the emphasis on bell) and her macrame necklace she was ahead of the Woodstock generation by 2 years! Of course, California is usually ahead of the curve fashion-wise from the rest of the country, so Theiss was probably surrounded by this in LA. Even so, she’s proud of her navel and you better not cross her S&P, she’s armed! 1 point for TOS!
SCORE: TOS – 12 S&P – 9
Exhibit N – The Gamesters of Triskellion
Everyone remembers Shahna (Angelique Pettyjohn) for her aluminum bikini, but despite it’s boldness and its possibility as a popcorn popper, it still modestly hides her navel. And that bikini is also a marvel of engineering. Whereas all the other drill thralls (and the Enterprise crew) wore their harnesses on the outside, Shannah’s harness is incorporated into her bikini; which means she can’t wear one without the other. Well, at least she could tuck her matching gloves into it when she wasn’t using them. Half point to TOS for its skimpiest costume yet, but a full point to S&P.
SCORE: TOS – 12.5 S&P – 10
Exhibit O – Patterns of Force 
Well well, two navels appear here, although the Captain’s we’ve seen before, (see above), blessedly, this will be the last time we see Kirk’s navel for the rest of the series.* The good Captain is not quite as fit as he was in Season 1, but then, ANYONE would look a bit doughy next to Spock’s remarkably lean frame. TOS gets a 1/2 point for finally letting Spock lose his shirt. *and YES, I know that Kirk was stripped to the waist in The Empath, but we only see his front from the pectorals up!)
SCORE: TOS – 13 S&P – 10
Exhibit P – 
The Omega Glory and The Savage Curtain Did you ever notice that Sirah of Omega Glory and Zora of Savage Curtain both wore the same tattered two-piece? Zora added a fur piece, but there was no denying that Theiss had cleverly covered their navels (just barely) with a convenient flap? Of course in battle scenes, the flap would flip up, but censors didn’t catch it! One point for TOS recycling!
SCORE: TOS – 14 S&P – 10
Exhibit Q: Assignment: Earth We only see her for a second, but when Isis (April Tatro) is revealed as a woman, she’s breaking the rules, as any good cat would. 1 point for TOS sneaking it in! 
SCORE: TOS – 15 S&P – 10
Exhibit R: Elaan of Troyus The warrior Elaan got to wear 4 different
gorgeous costumes while on the Enterprise, all stunning and suggestive, but none with the dreaded navel. Her silver appliques here blot it out. S&P gets 4 points for still getting their way with 4 different costumes!
SCORE: TOS – 15 S&P – 14
Exhibit S: That Which Survives 
Losira (Lee Meriwether) might have been for Mr. D’Amato, but her pants were purely for modesty. High-waisted with a ridiculous anti-navel flap, the S&P had won again! And we’re tied.
TOS – 15 S&P 15
Exhibit T – For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.
For the leader of a civilization, it’s a shame Natira had only one glorious gown (maybe Elaan used up all the budget!) But despite her prestigious title, she was beholden to the network S&P, with her navel wrapped up like a very fancy mummy. Still quite gorgeous. Kudos and a point to Theiss for continuing to work with metallic fabrics (which he loathed!) and a point to S&P for winning again! Like Natira’s gown, we’re still tied up!
TOS – 16 S&P 16
Exhibit U: The Cloud Minders 
I think by this time in Season Three, Theiss was getting pretty sick of navel restrictions. By the time they filmed The Cloud Minders, the 74th episode of the last season, I don’t think S&P were too vigilant anymore. Hence, Theiss let ’em have it with two prominent displays here. 2 points for TOS! Someday I want a tummy like Vanna again – (Droxine, please eat something!) <3
TOS – 18 S&P 16
Exhibit V: The Way to Eden 
Gotta let Hippes be Hippies. Yeah, the episode was dated, but Irina’s gown was impeccable! With a lonely little navel in the flower patch, it’s Hippie chic! One point for TOS.
TOS – 19 S&P 16
Exhibit W: All Our Yesterdays 
Zarabeth’s covering is little more than rags tied around her body, but she still keeps her navel modestly covered. Kudos for remaining remarkably clean in a damp cave! Theiss gets a full point for leading the way in TV costume, S&P get’s a point for still getting their way.
Final Score TOS – 20 S&P 17
The Navel Battle was Won by Star Trek!
It’s 10:48 p.m. EDT as I write this so there’s still time to say Happy Halloween! Hope you’re having (had) a fun day! I had a very busy one, that’s why I’m so late! Here the classic I’ve posted for a few years now; next year I should have a new one! Enjoy! -Therese
Here’s a few more of those rare Trek stills from dealer exliv on eBay I found. he’s offering the original negatives along with prints! These are from Catspaw and Spock’s Brain
Sylvia toys with The Enterprise
Man, that wig was awful!
Sylvia and Kirk; The wig might be awful, but I loved that caftan!
Luma From Spock’s Brain “I am Luma, I am Eymorg, I am in the worst Star Trek episode ever!”
Kirk Checks out the hardware
Lately I’ve been reacquainting myself with the animated Star Trek series (TAS -1973-4). I remember being a 12-year old and excited that my favorite show was being brought back (at least in animation) and that maybe the Enterprise could finally finish its five year mission! For the most part, it was pretty good, I only wished I had a color TV to watch it on! Anyway, recently I’ve seen a few episodes on Netflix and it really seemed all new to me again, as I hadn’t since the early 70’s. I was taken by the lovely backgrounds and the simple, but accurate way the animation captured the faces and subtle nuances of the original actors. (Can a cartoon male be handsome? You bet!). But something that also stood out for me was how the series often mimicked the original (TOS) in angles and style; the creators at Filmation clearly did their homework as you’ll see in these examples. Lets’ start with some opening Enterprise shots. The makers of the series did a beautiful job recreating the ship. There’s much more detail in the orbital images than the character scenes, but it’s lovely. Rotoscoping anyone? 
The Enterprise in its animated form: Top: Orbital views from ‘The Jihad’ and ‘Catspaw’ Center: Clever rotoscoping seen in “The Magicks fo Megus-Tu” taken from “The Cage”. Bottom: Shoulder view of the Enterprise in ‘The Terratin Incident’ and “Who Mourns for Adonais?”
But wait, there’s more. There were several detail and character scenes that were clearly influenced by the original (if sometimes with subtlety):
Scotty in a shaft in “Once Upon a Planet” and in the Jeffries Tube in “The Naked Time”.
Digital time panel in “The Counter-Clock Incident” and “The Naked Time”
Eyebrow City – Lara from ‘The Jihad’ and Zora from “The Savage Curtain”
Ready for my super close-up: Magna in ‘The Time Trap’ and Sirah in “The Omega Glory”
They HAD to do this one! Kirk’s booted feet with tribbles in “More Tribbles, More Troubles”, and in “The Trouble with Tribbles”
In Once Upon a Planet, the Enterprise crew visits the amusement park planet again as they did in Shore Leave – so of course Alice and the White Rabbit are there, but then there’s a clear reference to Catspaw, when a giant cat menaces the crew from a doorway:
Another revisited character was Harry Mudd – this time in Mudd’s Passion, peddling love potion to Nurse Chapel in her eternal quest for Spock’s affections. Here, he offers her pills, just as he did to his ‘cargo’ in Mudd’s Women: 
Finally, this one surprised me the most: In Albatross, Nurse Chapel checks on sleeping patient Kol-Tai in practically the same angle she checks in on a sleeping Spock in Amok Time! 
Well, this was a fun visit to the Saturday morning cartoons of my youth (modern kids don’t know what they were missing!) If anyone here knows of any more similarities between TAS and TOS, let me know! I’ll post them!
Next Time: The Backdrops of TAS.
Yesterday , January 8th, would have been Elvis’ Birthday — in that spirit, here’s a couple of videos showing the Elvis/Star Trek connection! (Well, some of the Elvis movies and Star Trek were both made by Paramount, so that’s not too surprising!) I always thought Kirk was the Elvis of the Galaxy!
Just in time for Halloween! My 30th Trek poster, and the first episode filmed for Season 2, Catspaw
(NOTE: This is a repost of one of my earliest articles from way back in 2011 when I started this blog! Posting it again today since I am finally writing Part II, about Star Trek Props)
As I reviewed old episodes of Trek, it was enlightening to see where the costume and production departments saved money and cut costs while making the the episodes. In this first article in the series, I’ll discuss Costume Recycling.
William Ware Theiss ( to be referred here always as WWT) , the supreme costume designer/wunderkind for Star Trek TOS, was always on a tight budget and a tighter schedule. Not only could this genius improvise a bolt of cloth into a ‘how-does-it-stay-on’ gown for an alien princess, but he knew when and how to re-use elements when needed.
*In S1’s The Conscience of the King, Lenore Karidian has the wardrobe that keeps on giving. Early on, she basically wears a luxuriant gray mink bath wrap. At its center is a lovely cats eye oval brooch with a pearl drop. In a later episode, (s2’s Assignment: Earth) the gray mink dress turns up on a modern (read 1967) passerby in the crowd on Gary Seven’s Earth–this time with a longer skirt under it. Two seasons later, (S3’s Plato’s Stepchildren) the Lenore’s brooch shows up on the bosom of Lt. Uhura when she is forced into Grecian gear by the Platonians. Just goes to show that a good piece of jewelry never goes out of style!
*Another of Lenore’s gowns had been re-purposed from an earlier episode. The first time, in Dagger of the Mind, it was seen as a tie-closure tunic in foamy green and aqua stripes and a pale pink lame border. When Lenore wore it for her observation deck flirtation with Kirk, the gown has been reversed, sewn up at the shoulders, caftan style, and green marabou added at the sleeves, hints of the pink lining are glimpsed. Seems a bit ironic that Lenore’s gown was recycled from the gown of a a sanitarium resident, since Lenore herself, (although never seen there), ends up in a sanitarium too.
*Lenore’s Father, Karidian, wears a dramatic olive green robe of a coat with a dark blue swirly branch design running through it, with faux yellow-green fur trim. The very same coat is worn two seasons later by the mad Captain Garth in S3’s Whom Gods Destroy. Then Garth himself has borrowed a blue suit from Commissioner Ferris from S1’s The Galileo Seven–the collar tabs were changed from white to sparkly blue, The ascot is gone, and Garth has added jewelry. (Accessories, ladies!)
*In Season 1, Mudd’s Women, we see Eve and Ruth, two of Harry’s “cargo” looking the stunners in rose pink and mint green sparkly gowns that Diana Ross would kill for. In S2’s I, Mudd, who should turn up in these same gowns but the Annabelle and Maisie Series among Mudd’s improved androids. Gives you a bit of insight into how 60’s TV worked. I’m guessing that WWT made two gowns for the originals, especially Eve since she had more action scenes, and kept them around for incidentals. And Harry Mudd must know a wholesale retailer for glam space lady gowns! Also in I, Mudd, Norman and the other male androids wear tight gray knit long underwear that leave very little to the imagination. Later two of the same gray tights show up on Lokai and Beale in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, only with silver spangly trim added at the shirt hem and cuffs.
This recycling on WWT’s part became commonplace. Usually, it’s the gowns of central female characters that end up on extras in later scenes. For example:
*Attorney and Kirk-Ex Ariel Shaw wore a vibrant yellow, green and pink paisley caftan at the bar in Court Martial. (WWT loved caftans!) It shows up later on a female alien ambassador extra in Journey To Babel. And in that same scene, extra is talking to a man in another recycled suit, Lazarus’ blue suit from The Alternative Factor (Yet the suit from the later episode seems to be untorn and clean– maybe WWT made two versions?)
*In The Deadly Years, Dr. Janet Wallace first appears in brightly pink and yellow dyed burlap jumpsuit (What was WWT thinking?!) And later, in a swirly purple multi-print. Yet both of these outfits suffer a nasty fate in the S3 episode Where the Children Shall Lead where (blink and you’ll miss it) they are seen on two of the doomed mothers on the planet Triacus. (Heck, if I had to wear an itchy burlap jumpsuit, I’d die too!) In another flashback on Triacus, we see a happy mother in a pink cowl-necked mini dress, which was originally worn in the S1 episode of The Conscience of the King by character Martha Leighton. Then another of Martha Leighton’s gowns is being worn and slightly modified with straps and fluff by the android version of Harry Mudd’s wife, Stella, in S2’s I, Mudd.
Obsessed fashionistas will find The Ultimate Recycled Moment came from Seasons 1, 2, and from another TV series. In S2′s Catspaw, the wizard Korob wears a pumpkin colored robe with gold lame hood and front panel, with an all-watching eye at its center. In S1′s The Squire of Gothos, spoiled brat General Trelaine wears a grand blue velvet suit and cape trimmed with gold leaves in his castle. But wait! Didn’t we see BOTH of these costumes in an episode of Gilligan’s Island? Yup, Korob’s gown was worn by Bob Denver as the Fairy God-Father in Lovey’s Cinderella Dream in Lovey’s Secret Admirer. And then, Mr, Howell himself as the Prince, dances the night away in Trelane’s Cape! UPDATE! 6/15/14: A reader here pointed out that they may have seen Trelane’s coat on Mike Nesmith in an episode of The Monkees (Also anNBC series) and he was right: In the episode The Prince and The Pauper, we first see the coat on an old footman, then Mike dons it when pretending to be Davy’s footman. Later we see two of Trelane’s coats in the same scene, which begs the question, how many were made? I’ve also see a later photo of William Campbell, posing in his Trelane finery; I’m glad the costumers let him have one!
(11/22/12 — Found another one! Another series crossover is from the 1966 Daniel Boone episode, SeminoleTerritory, where character of Fletcher wears a splendid Indian feathered cape. Fast Forward to 1968, In The Paradise Syndrome, and Jim Kirk, a.k.a. ‘Kirok’ is wearing the same cape to marry Miramanee! I bet some of the other native costumes were reused here too, Boone was another NBC series).
Well! I can only presume that capes were expensive to make, and someone’s been digging into Western Costume’s warehouse!
Check the Gallery here to see each of these costume switcheroos and a few more!
Next time: Props Recycled.
