Star Trek TNG Cast Reveals Secret Underwear Under Uniforms

A recently uncovered behind-the-scenes video finally showed fans what was underneath those iconic uniforms. In 1994, Marina Sirtis, who played Counselor Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, gave a candid tour of the show’s costume department. The clip was buried in a bonus feature and largely forgotten until now. The video appeared on the TNG Season 7 DVD as part of a special feature called “Dressing The Future Year Seven,” also known as “The Process.”

First, let’s watch the video

Sirtis hosted the segment herself, and her humor was on full display from the opening seconds. She opened with a joke about a sign warning that the soundstage was “drafty” in Southern California, poking fun at the show’s Los Angeles filming location. From there, she walked viewers through the racks of costume pieces most fans never got to see.

The “Industrial Strength Starfleet Regulation Brassiere”

At about the 2-minute mark, she introduces what she calls the “Industrial Strength Starfleet Regulation Brassiere” that we’ve talked about before in our article on Deanna Troi’s costume. Sirtis said she’s partly responsible for “every woman on the show” wearing them. She laughs that they “add inches where there are none”.

The Men’s Support Briefs, Explained

“Star Trek: The Next Generation: Dressing the Future” Marina Sirtis

Then she moves on to a bin where she introduces the “men’s support briefs”. She points out the men can’t have a VPL (Visible Panty Line) and the briefs help define them. 

Marina Sirtis says she’s not sure who wore them, but maybe some of her “fellow thespians” wear them.

Wil Wheaton’s Padded Muscle Suit Struggle

It’s nice to know that the costumes on the show were as unforgiving to the men as it was to the women on the cast. 

In the first and second seasons of the show, the male members of the main cast wore padded muscle suits to help fill out the lines.

Most of the cast didn’t talk about it, but Wil Wheaton listed it as one of the reasons the suits were so uncomfortable. Wheaton said that it was especially hard on his psyche. He has a lean build and wrote on his blog, “having to wear all that thick padding did little to improve my fragile teenage self-esteem.”

The admission gave fans a rare, human look at what the futuristic costumes actually felt like to wear. It also explained why the muscle suits quietly disappeared in later seasons.

Costume Designer Robert Blackman on TNG’s Unforgiving Spandex

Costume designer Robert Blackman later addressed the material choice directly. He said spandex left nothing to the imagination, and any body concern became instantly visible under the fabric. He said, “Spandex is unforgiving, so if you have any sort of body issues, they are there.”

His comment underscored why the support garments existed in the first place. The uniforms were built for a sleek, futuristic look, but that look came with real physical tradeoffs for the actors wearing it every day.

Which TNG Actor Wore the Support Briefs?

Thanks to Sirtis, fans now know for certain that some male cast members wore support briefs under their uniforms. What remains unknown is exactly who. Was it Riker? Picard? Worf? Sirtis never named names, and the mystery has become part of TNG’s behind-the-scenes lore.

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What do you think of the support briefs? Who do you think wore them?

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