Deanna Troi Ate: A Defense of the Star Trek Counselor’s Fit
Deanna Troi is many things: half Betazoid, the first ship’s counselor in Star Trek, a lover of chocolate, but, above all, a fashion icon.
Star Trek: The Next Generation succeeds in many regards. There’s the exploration of the Klingon and Romulan empires. There’s the invention of the Q Continuum and the Borg. And of course, the characters have wonderfully complex journeys despite the episodic nature of the series.
Unless those characters are women.
The common wisdom is that the two women leads of TNG, Deanna Troi and Dr. Beverly Crusher, get a bit of the short shrift on personal development. They don’t get as many episodes. And, when they do, those episodes often involve romantic entanglements.
This article is not about any of that. Although, for the record, while there’s validity to the criticism that Troi and Crusher deserve more, they do both have great non-romantic episodes. Crusher has “Remember Me”. Troi has “Face of the Enemy”.
But that’s neither here nor there. What matters is that Deanna Troi has some great outfits. And yet even though the fit is frequently on point, people tend to fixate on how she should’ve been in uniform more. And, yeah. Sure. She’s a bridge officer. She could’ve been in uniform more often. But as the 24th century’s biggest Sabrina Carpenter fan, it make sense that Troi is more interested in looking hot than looking official.
Regardless, let Deanna Troi cook. Let her be the hot fudge sundae she so clearly is. Let’s talk about the fit, why it’s sometimes maligned, and why it’s Good Actually.
A Strong Foundation
Listen. If you have a body that naturally looks the way you want it to? Congratulations. But most of us aren’t living the dream so Spanx it is. And god bless her, Deanna Troi remains relatable in this regard because she, too, utilizes a foundational garment or two.
In The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years an oral history of Star Trek by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Deanna Troi actress goes into some details about the foundational garments that made Troi’s fashion possible.
“I had to wear a corset like a merry widow, and then we had what I like to call the industrial-strength, Starfleet-regulation brassiere,” Sirtis explains. “This became the standard uniform for every woman on Star Trek, and that’s because the women saw me as me and then they saw me as Troi, and they went, ‘I want a bra like that,’ because it adds inches where there really are none.”
In a word: real. Obviously not everyone’s lining up to get strapped into some outfit you have to take the whole way off in order to pee. But also sometimes the mood strikes and it’s sort of like living out a fantasy. A painful, pinching fantasy, but a fantasy nonetheless.
All of this is to say that the Troi look is attainable if you have the fortitude and the bravery (and the willingness, this isn’t a requirement) to go for it.
The Deanna Troi Standards
There’s not a ton to say about Troi’s season one skant, except that it’s an ’80s retool of the ’60s Uhura vibe. Obviously we appreciate that it’s unisex. The corresponding thigh high boots are… honestly they look like Wellies with a heel. It’s whatever.
But the jumpsuits. If we’re talking Troi’s “uniform” for the first five seasons, we have to talk about the jumpsuits. Like with any TV series, there’s probably multiples of all of the jumpsuits, but we’re going to focus on the three main ones: the charcoal gray look with the belt (terrible), the light gray suit with the purple detail on the neckline (eh), and the maroon jumpsuit with the charcoal neckline (now we’re talking).
The jumpsuits all have one positive in common. No, it’s not the cleavage. It’s the clavicle bone. The silhouette of Troi’s long hair (especially when they put part of it up but let it drape a little) mixed with the neckline of the jumpsuit that accentuates her neck? She ate. Holy cow she is still eating to this day. And respect to the charcoal neckline. Understated. Class.
Obviously no one is co-signing the stirrup pantlegs in the year of our lord 2024, but respect where it’s do to the clavicle realness that was served.
Monochromatic Green
There are a lot of visions of future fashion on Star Trek: The Next Generation which are puzzling. Have you seen the Ten Forward uniforms? Just green and black checker. You know a checkered past? This is a checkered future. Truly strange.
But one of the more frequent style choices on TNG is the use of a single color across an entire ensemble. And the monochromatic look is best exemplified with Troi’s green uniform. Allegedly Marina Sirtis doesn’t like this uniform because it’s hard to pee in. Which is fair. But sometimes we live that form over function life.
So, you know how Troi’s got the power of the neckline always on her side? Well, in this case the neckline is asymmetrical. And it’s got a geometric stitching detail. Marina Sritis’ own opinions on this aside, the asymmetrical look absolutely fucks. And respectfully, the fact that the dress, leggings, AND shoes are all the same color is honestly such a vibe. Even the head band (you know, the thing Geordi wears on his eyes, but everyone else puts in their hair) is the same color.
The skirt drapes nicely when she sits. We love a look that’s fire even while lounging. However, it has to be said, the way the skirt rests at her ankle when she stands looks a little cheap. She still eats. But she’s eating four star.
Hologram Deanna Troi
Very technically the fit we’re about to talk about first appears in “The Price”. But inarguably Troi’s best dress, the blue, off-the-shoulder one, hits its stride in its second appearance, “Hollow Pursuits”.
I can write all day about Troi’s blue, off-the-shoulder dress. But really what matters most is two-fold. One, in “Hollow Pursuits” (where we see a hologram version of Troi in the dress), she has geometric earrings. Incredible. She’s got a high pony tail. Ariana Grande could never. But what matters most of all is that we see where the hem hits when Troi walks into Ten Foward—the floor. It’s the horniest floor-length gown in space and I love it so much.
Granted, this is hologram Troi. But I refuse to believe that this vision of her is all in Barclay’s imagination. I remember the look on her face when Devinoni Ral full body picks her up in “The Price” while she’s wearing that dress. It is the same face I would be making. That fit is a fantasy for her and I both respect and envy it.
Away Missions
There are a lot of Troi costumes which miss the mark. But this isn’t a clown on Troi article so let’s talk about how good Troi looks during away missions (when they let her go on them). The fit is sick even when she’s undercover. That’s how powerful Deanna Troi is.
Troi goes to Mintaka III to hang out with some proto-Vulcans? She pulls out a peasant blouse, and a red dress with a gathered skirt and a corset. She’s cottage core stunning. Troi goes looking for Picard in “Gambit” and pulls out a suspender dress and a blue top with shoulder pads? She’s covert fierce. She’s a legend.
And remember Troi gets kidnapped and has to pretend she’s a Romulan? She even makes that boxy Romulan fit look good. My god, is there nothing this woman cannot do?
Deanna Troi: Woman of the People
Sometimes an article’s genesis is as simple as its title. In this case, the entire reason I wrote this piece is to talk about Troi’s fit in “Man of the People”. In the story, this ambassador comes aboard the Enterprise with his “mother”. Only it turns out the old woman is his former lover whose life essence he’s stealing.
And then he does the same thing to Troi. Only instead of instantly making Troi look bad, she first fully begins mothering. And she’s not even just standard mother—she’s full wicked step mothering in “Man of the People”. She’s got her hair up. She’s got an organic-looking dress hugging every curve. She cuts up Will Riker’s face with her claws. Truly this is Troi at peak power and I wish she stayed this way forever.
Unfortunately, Troi then gets some very bad old person makeup. Fortunately, Dr. Crusher comes through and saves the day. And in fact, in what can only be described as an apology, the hair and makeup team makes Troi’s hair look curlier and more full than it ever has before. And if you have watched TNG before, you are aware of what a feat that is. Powerful stuff.
Bottom line: Deanna Troi’s fit is flawless (except when it isn’t). Put respect on her name.
