The Catacombs Catacombs Model Gallery
Uniforms

Original costumes seen at the Alpha:2014 convention.

The costumes are, left to right:

One of Martin Landau's Year 1 uniforms. The belt is original, but the commlock is a replica. The sleeve and collar are a charcoal grey, but on screen they appear much darker.

Nick Tate Year 2 costume. Like many other Year 2 costumes, it was created for Year 1, and altered for Year 2 by adding a collar and stitching across the chest. The difference between the orange (pilot) and yellow (service) sleeve colour is clear, but on screen they can be hard to tell apart.

The Jenny Cresswell technician uniform. Again, the top is converted from a Year 1 tunic.

Barbara Bain's year 2 uniform. Martin Landau, Barbara and Catherine Schell had new uniforms made for year 2, while most of the other cast wore costumes altered from year 1. Barbara's uniform is unusual for several reasons. There is no zip on the left sleeve. The collar is not the same colour as the left sleeve, but like the right sleeve it is paler than the main body of the tunic. The construction of the tunic is different as well.

Emma Porteous design for Barbara's costume. "Jerkin & skirt - channel seamed - worn over a beige silk sweater, one white sleeve - zipped - Can also be worn with trousers." In the costume above she didn't have a zip (Barbara didn't like it). The right sleeve is also lighter than the main body, as shown in this art. The text mentions a "jerkin", which is generally a sleeve-less waistcoat, "work over a silk sweater". It seems like the original intention was two garments, the sweater seen only in the sleeves and collar, and the "uniform" jerkin over the body.

Photos below from the London:2024 convention


Above: a nice display of the different sleeve colours, and different collar styles.

Male and female collars in Year 2. The uniform sleeves have heavy upholstery zippers (to be visible on screen), using the "Robin Samson" brand or "Talon" (the latter for Koenig and Helena's early year 1 uniforms)

Detail of the stitching across the chest on two uniforms. On supporting characters the stitching was much bolder, to show up on screen. The lead characters had new uniforms made for Year 2 (rather than converted Year 1 uniforms), but with only 2 lines of stitching, not 3.

Detail of the hem in two uniforms. Both are adaptions of Year 1 costumes. The height of the triangular cut varies considerably between different uniforms.

Contents copyright Martin Willey. Thanks to Andrew Frampton.