6

In "Angel One," Commander Riker dons the clothing of Angel I before negotiating with Mistress Beata.

He tells a snickering Deanna Troi and Tasha Yar, "On Kabatris, I had to wear furs to meet with the leadership council, and on Armus IX I wore feathers."

Is it basically an issue of appealing to the wishes of his audience? Or is there a reason why an away-team leader may wish to don the native clothing?

This issue doesn't come up very often, so I assume that these particular worlds were really strict and had high opinions of themselves.

Riker wearing native clothing, exposing a large part of his chest

Improve this question
4
  • Check out the following link as it explains a lot of the backstory behind the concepts and vision Roddenberry used when creating the themes portrayed and demonstrated throughout the franchise specifically those of TNG books.google.com/…
    – user111346
    Feb 8, 2019 at 0:28
  • 2
    I'm not reading all of that!
    – Ham Sandwich
    Feb 8, 2019 at 0:29
  • 1
    Since there was no actual definite answer I extrapolated my best educated guess using that reference and others based on multiple documentaries, books and even licensed video games. I am a huge Trekkie so for me it was a great read. If you choose not to do so then I hope you can accept that I at least tried to find the relevant data and supply the results of my research. I won’t claim it as the gospel but I would like to think the answer I gave is as close to accurate as I can provide without spending a lot more time researching than I currently have available.
    – user111346
    Feb 8, 2019 at 0:36
  • Angel One is also from first season. First season is really inconsistent with the other seasons.
    – Kai
    Feb 8, 2019 at 5:19

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
5

I think you missed what Riker said immediately before. He intends for this to be a diplomatic mission. That includes honouring the host's traditions.

TROI: You're not going to wear that.

RIKER: Of course. Part of this mission is diplomatic. I have requested an audience with a head of state, and I will honour her by wearing indigenous apparel.

There are multiple examples of Picard doing this when making overtures to alien leaders.

Picard wearing white clothing with the Starfleet insignia visible, as well as a black beaded headdress that hangs down on either side of his head

Improve this answer
4
  • I'm pretty sure that last one is clothing they wore on the holodeck (20th century Earth program), not clothing appropriate to the alien species.
    – jaxad0127
    Feb 11, 2019 at 18:09
  • 2
    @jaxad0127 - The clothing is holodeck period appropriate (to Picard's "Dixon Hill" holo-novel), but the alien-language speech, that he's very carefully prepared, is the diplomacy bit that I was referring to when I said that the senior crew often honour their host's traditions
    – Valorum
    Feb 11, 2019 at 18:22
  • The question is about clothing. I see nothing about language.
    – jaxad0127
    Feb 11, 2019 at 20:01
  • 2
    @jaxad0127 - My answer was answering the more general point about observing the traditions of the host in diplomatic and ceremonial situations. That includes clothing, language and religious observation
    – Valorum
    Feb 11, 2019 at 21:02

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.