It took a couple of seasons to implement the changes, but finally, a new costume designer, Robert Blackman, sympathetically came up with a two-piece uniform made of polyester. My new getup, with a top separate from my trousers, was still snug, but it had plenty of give. Gene, however, was adamant that Captain Picard’s uniform must always be unfailingly smooth. So every time I sat down in my captain’s chair, I tugged on the hem of my tunic—a tic that Star Trek fans have named the “Picard maneuver.”
