Are you a sci-fi nerd? Take my litmus test.

[eyesroll]

(Inspired by Chovexani's trekkie/trekker thread.)

When someone attends a convention or a party dressed as a Starfleet officer (or, insert military/diplomatic/exploratory officer from the science-fiction series or film of your choice) ... what are they wearing?

Post the first thing that pops into your head. It is irrelevant whether you would attend such a gathering, or wear that outfit, yourself. Just tell me what you'd call it.

I'll come by later to let you know who's a nerd and who's not.

For the record, I am a nerd.

[Streetdoc270]

1. red movie uniform

[ruthg]

15. Me too...that is what I thought of first....nt

[YankeyMCC]

2. A costume

[CrownPrinceBandar]

3. Phasers?

[Chovexani]

4. Pips.

Gotta have the pips.

[FM Arouet666]

5. Ka'Pla

A Klingon of course, where did I leave that Bat'leth.

:evilgrin:

[Enraged_Ape]

6. Sorry, nothing trumps an actual, glowing TRON Uniform

[Deja Q]

13. But only if Tron's extension cord wasn't so obvious...

:wow:

Somehow, a codpiece would keep the mystery a mystery... (so I think he forgot one element of the costume. Not that I mind of course, but still... I like mysteries.)

[ruthg]

16. Oh dear

That is the hardest I have laughed all day.

[eyesroll]

7. OK, here is the key:

If you called the outfit a "costume" or "outfit," you have a healthy separation of fact and fiction and you are not a sci-fi nerd. Sorry.

If you called it a "uniform," you are a nerd.

If you referred to it in series-specific jargon, you are a fanboy/girl as well as a nerd.

[hyphenate]

10. So I guess I'm a Nerd

But since on one level ST got me into fandom, and the fact that I was part of the Welcommittee form several years, was VP of a large ST club and part of the club for 12 years, ran several ST conventions as well, sort of told me that to start with!

[Wat_Tyler]

8. Laughter, probably.

But then, I'm a right bastard.

[hyphenate]

9. Depends on which universe they want to be in

Since all of the series and movies had their own relatively unique uniforms, it would certainly be easy to decide which series they would want to emulate. Personally, I think the uniforms from the films on TOS were some of the warmest ones--i.e., Wrath of Khan through Voyage Home. The uniforms on Next Gen and DS9 were also particularly comfortable.

If it were me personally (and while I've attended cons for over 30 years, I've never come in uniform), I think I would go with the DS9 ones. I hate the uniforms from TOS--they were extremely chauvinistic, IMO. At least in Next Gen and DS9, women got to be covered in accordance to their own tastes instead of being viewed as "objects" instead.

[eyesroll]

11. You're calling them uniforms. That's what matters.

You're a nerd.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

12. Hey, get a load of those neeeeeeerds!

Honestly, I called it a uniform too... so I must also be a nerd.

[ikojo]

14. Blue science officer uniform from the original Trek series

I'd call a gathering like that a con...not a con as in con artist (although a schlep through the dealer's room certainly brings images of con artists to mind)...

[Bridget Burke]

17. Cardboard epaulets with Snake or Spider insignia.

Reportedly worn by the great Fritz Leiber at a long ago con.

Reference: his Time War series.

[Khephra]

18. There wouldn't be anyone in StarFleet uniforms

as I try not to go to Trek cons since I was almost beaten up at the last one for saying that Babylon 5 was better than Trek. I'm talking serious asskicking. I had to run out of the convention or get beat up.

Any people I'd be around would either be dressed in black and leather for the Vampire: The Masquerade LARP or as renegade B5 officers in their post-Earth split leather uniforms.