Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 5, "Starbase 80?!"
The question of what happens to old Starfleet uniforms has finally been answered in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Star Trek's changing uniforms started early; Star Trek: The Original Series' color-coded uniforms were replaced by muted unitards in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan's long-lived "monster maroon". As a prequel series, Star Trek: Enterprise introduced a blue jumpsuit grounded in modern flight suits. Star Trek: Discovery bridged the Star Trek timeline uniform gap with a sleek blue two-piece that quickly evolved into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' take on TOS' classic uniforms.
In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 5, "Starbase 80?!" the USS Cerritos is forced to make a stop at the infamously terrible starbase to get a replacement navigation part. El-Aurian Commander Kassia Nox (Nicole Byer) explains that Starbase 80 operates on a mish-mosh of outdated technology from around the 2260s because the station isn't a high priority for Starfleet. The result is that Star Trek: Lower Decks' basket of Easter eggs for "Starbase 80?!" is curated from Star Trek: The Original Series—or even Star Trek: Enterprise, a hundred years before that.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Reveals What Happens To Old Starfleet Uniforms
"These are the uniforms of long-dead men."
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 5, "Starbase 80?!" reveals what happens to old Starfleet uniforms when Lieutenant D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) stops to admire a clothing shop stocked with outfits from Star Trek history. There are a few non-Starfleet gems, like a 2260s Klingon uniform and an Edo onesie from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but most of the shop's offerings represent the ever-changing uniforms of Starfleet's past. The store clerk flatly informs Tendi that "these are the uniforms of long dead men". The phaser burns and a pile of TOS-era red shirts pretty much confirm that claim.
Starbase 80's clothing shop also includes Starfleet uniforms from Star Trek: The Original Series , Star Trek: Discovery, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on a top rack. Mannequins feature Star Trek: The Motion Picture 's jumpsuit, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 's standard "monster maroon" and the cold-weather variant. An early-season Star Trek: TNG science uniform hangs on the back wall.
In the 24th century, old Starfleet uniforms would normally be recycled by the replicator, but Starbase 80 doesn't have replicators. At best, Starbase 80 might have a 23rd-century matter synthesizer that makes uniforms, as seen in Star Trek: Discovery, but the station's general state of disrepair means those probably don't work that well, if at all. It's a lot easier for the residents of Starbase 80 to make do with what they've been able to repair or scavenge. It's not that grim to strip the uniforms off dead officers and re-use them for new staff, is it?
Starbase 80 Is A Brilliant Throwback To Star Trek: Enterprise & TOS
"Retro-cool" Star Trek Technology Still Works On Lower Decks
With Starbase 80, Star Trek: Lower Decks creates a brilliant throwback to Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: The Original Series without the perils of time travel in Star Trek. The USS Cerritos crew has to use Enterprise's theoretically sexy but ultimately dodgy decon gel before boarding. (Jerry O'Connell's Commander Jack Ransom is a big fan.) TOS-era wall comms replace comm badges, and the turbolifts have twist handles. It's a great way to give the Star Trek: Lower Decks treatment to an era that's been tricky to honor aside from namedropping Scott Bakula's Captain Jonathan Archer or Denobulan tourists.
Star Trek: Lower Decks is great at celebrating the beauty of weird and obscure stuff that Star Trek has wrought throughout its history. The often-maligned Starbase 80 being a functioning time capsule of antique technology makes it the starbase equivalent of Star Trek: Enterprise. Commander Nox and Chief Engineer Gene Jakobowski (Stephen Root) can choose from multiple styles of Starfleet uniforms worn by dead officers, but they deliberately choose to don 2150s Starfleet uniforms. Wearing Enterprise-era uniforms while cheerily championing Starbase 80 is like Star Trek: Lower Decks saying Star Trek: Enterprise isn't nearly as "long dead" as it seems.
