Dear Mr. Theiss,
Excerpt from a letter from Mrs. Connie K. to TOS costume designer William Ware Theiss, published in Marc Cushman’s These Are the Voyages: TOS, Season 2.
I have intended to write this letter ever since Sherry Jackson, the comely android, ‘turned on’ Capt. Kirk in her kangaroo-pouch jump suit (suppose a cigarette ash had slithered down into wide open places…what then???). Or perhaps it went a little further back when Susan Oliver tried to belly-dance her way into Capt. Pike’s heart…
So far this season there have been only a few episodes and I see you’re falling back into your wild and wooly ways. Leslie Parrish’s costume in ‘Who Mourns for Adonais?.’ though quite revealing, might be excused as being reminiscent of the beautiful and inspiring ancient mythologies. Incidentally, what held that costume in place – tape or determination – or both?
Mrs. K never says she’s coming from a feminist perspective; in fact, she cites her husband’s disapproval and their fear of the children seeing the “tawdry” costumes. But I love snippets like these that show female Trek fans were watching critically and actively making their feelings known right from the early days of TOS.
