Where No One Has Tugged Before

December 3, 2013 10:22 AM

The Picard Maneuver, in all its glory.

A brief explanation of the Starfleet uniforms used in TNG from the third season onward, which gave rise to the Picard maneuver (via):

We hated our space suits. There were no pockets in them. As much as they call it a stretch fabric, spandex in that configuration doesn't give all that much. It hid nothing. - LeVar Burton, on the first two seasons' uniforms

Apparently the final straw came when Patrick Stewart's chiropractor warned that continuing to wear the uniform would mean risking permanent injury....

As well as being more comfortable for the actors, changing the uniform to a shirt and pants combo, rather than a jumpsuit, meant that Patrick Stewart's shirt almost constantly rode up, thus creating the iconic Picard Maneuver.

Do stick around for the end of the video, when everyone from Riker to Data get in on the action.

posted by Cash4Lead (43 comments total)

Jumpsuits really don't do anyone but the super-fit any favors, either.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:25 AM on December 3, 2013

I thought the Picard maneuver was his shorty bathroom.
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:27 AM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

But can he do it while holding his trusty BattlePug?
posted by zombieflanders at 10:30 AM on December 3, 2013 [6 favorites]

I wonder if it's perhaps a touch of OCD. I will do this often with shirts I am wearing, and will chronically check and and recheck the collar.
posted by Brocktoon at 10:31 AM on December 3, 2013

Not even in that far future has the terrible problem of shirt ride ups been solved. Oh, the sadness.
posted by Iosephus at 10:34 AM on December 3, 2013 [5 favorites]

My senior year of undergrad, I got a job as a hall director for one of my school's smaller dorms. I decided I'd better seem at least sort of responsible if I was going to do this... so for some reason, I picked up the Picard Maneuver as my little "I'm a responsible person" ritual. The building didn't burn down and no one died, so I guess it worked.

I still give my sweater a confident tug on my way into meetings.
posted by COBRA! at 10:36 AM on December 3, 2013 [9 favorites]

I prefer this Picard manoeuvre (NSFW, Riker boobs).
posted by dontjumplarry at 10:39 AM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

It's got nothing on the Riker Maneuver... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVIGhYMwRgs
posted by Omission at 10:42 AM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

Cash4Lead: Apparently the final straw came when Patrick Stewart's chiropractor warned that continuing to wear the uniform would mean risking permanent injury....

How would that work? Also, if you have a thing for ST:TNG uniforms and you aren't reading Fashion It So, then something is wrong in your life.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:54 AM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

I prefer the Sisko Maneuver, which is "stand there in your damn jumpsuit and stare down anyone who might have a problem with it."


Not to be confused with the Jake Sisko Maneuver, which is "find the most mid-'90s piece of upholstery fabric you can, and wear it as a sort of Madiba shirt."
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:10 AM on December 3, 2013 [15 favorites]

If only the shirts had been tucked in they could have just used shirt stays.
posted by ericales at 11:11 AM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

Of course, he's not always all so stern and businesslike. The morning he went off-book from his usual replicator order he was in a particularly whimsical mood.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 11:19 AM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

Was there any specific reasons given beyond "Seriously?" as to the reason they altered Trois outfit? It didn't require any specific maneuver to avoid unfortunate wardrobe malfunctions. Outside of keeping the knees together, anyway.
posted by mediocre at 11:27 AM on December 3, 2013

We've made too many compromises already; too many shirt tugs. They invade our space and we tug them back. They ride up to our ribcage and we tug them back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!
posted by Chrysostom at 11:27 AM on December 3, 2013 [7 favorites]

Remember that time Picard got turned into a 12 year old boy? At 2:18 in this video kid-Picard does the Picard maneuver a few times and it is hysterical.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:28 AM on December 3, 2013 [5 favorites]

A few years back, I went out and bought really expensive bras that actually fit properly. Very shortly after that, I discovered I had a previously-unconscious-but-now-that-I'm-aware-of-it-I-notice-it-all-the-time habit. Namely, whenever I stand up, I kind of move my bust back into place, with a bit of strap moving and boob touching. It became noticeable, because in my new bras-that-fit, whenever I went to adjust them, there they were, already in the right place, and I'd be left standing there like a bit of a dork, holding my boobs for no reason.

This reminded me of that, and apparently I felt the need to share this boob related story with the general internet.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:36 AM on December 3, 2013 [29 favorites]

Oh god, last week I wore a sweater that had become a bit too short in the wash and at a certain point it occurred to me that I'd been performing the Picard Maneuver every time I stood up all day.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:38 AM on December 3, 2013

I do a lady version of this with pencil skirts.
posted by olinerd at 11:39 AM on December 3, 2013 [3 favorites]

Not to be confused with this Picard Maneuver.

I'm ashamed that I know what this is.
posted by dephlogisticated at 11:45 AM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

First pioneered by Ensign Porkins.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:50 AM on December 3, 2013

As a long-torsoed woman, I solve this problem by wearing long camisoles under everything. Just a thought if there's a reboot.

Or they could put him in one of those cute little man skirts they played around with during the first season and then quickly abandoned when they decided the future wasn't that progressive.
posted by bibliowench at 11:52 AM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

I'm ashamed that I know what this is.

Not ashamed, and was confused (but not saddened) by the redefinition of the term.
posted by TwoWordReview at 11:53 AM on December 3, 2013

What a great link. Let's celebrate with cake!!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:57 AM on December 3, 2013

blue_beetle: First pioneered by Ensign Porkins.

Ack!! wrong franchise!!

I am only moderately ashamed that I know this. Depends on which crowds I run with.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 11:59 AM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

bibliowench:
Or they could put him in one of those cute little man skirts they played around with during the first season and then quickly abandoned when they decided the future wasn't that progressive.

The man skant.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:09 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

(Marina Sirtis: God DAMN.)
posted by Sing Or Swim at 12:40 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm just going to leave this here.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:55 PM on December 3, 2013 [12 favorites]

Man, it looks SO MUCH MORE goofy and awkward out of context and strung together like this.

I guess Starfleet replicators are terrible tailors.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 1:04 PM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

I'm just going to leave this here

....b-but wait WHY IS GOWRON THERE....?
posted by Narrative Priorities at 1:07 PM on December 3, 2013

....b-but wait WHY IS GOWRON THERE....?


I'm sure he's asking himself the same thing.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:38 PM on December 3, 2013 [5 favorites]

In the future, we'll have temp-controlled force fields and just be naked.
posted by emjaybee at 2:29 PM on December 3, 2013

Metafilter: standing there like a bit of a dork, holding my boobs for no reason.
posted by emjaybee at 2:30 PM on December 3, 2013

I guess Starfleet replicators are terrible tailors.

It's not so much the uniforms as the Space Spanx.
posted by The Whelk at 2:46 PM on December 3, 2013

Another favorite Picard maneuver: Tea Earl Grey Hot
posted by jammy at 4:13 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

....b-but wait WHY IS GOWRON THERE....?

Do you enjoy Chancellor Gowron's company? I hope you won't be put off by my frankness when I tell you that I absolutely love it. In fact, I enjoy no one's company more than Gowron's.

Now, I've been from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, and it's true that I've worked with quite a few people who did not share this opinion. I'm sorry to say that these people have always angered me.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:38 PM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

I bought a TNG shirt for Halloween two years back and felt like a bad ass everytime I did this. It happens subconsciously from the first time that you go from sitting to standing.
posted by Skwirl at 5:11 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

This is exactly why people wear suspenders.
posted by The Whelk at 5:21 PM on December 3, 2013

A brief explanation of the Starfleet uniforms used in TNG from the third season onward, which gave rise to the Picard maneuver

He started tugging right from the first season, though. He must have had fit issues from the beginning.

I love the personal variations, too! Picard tends to tug straight down, once in front and once at the sides. Riker and Wesley tug and twist. Most others just do one straight tug in the front.

I imagine the ladies need less frequent adjustments because of all the built-in support/padding undergarments they had to wear.

I wore an off-the-rack corset onstage once, and had to do a Picard every time I stood up. Didn't go a long way toward feeling feminine.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:42 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm glad that the "(With Data)" in the title refers both to Brent Spinner and to giving us a total tug count.
posted by straight at 8:09 PM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

I'm always glad to see (hear?) Rodrigo Y Gabriela get some love.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:38 AM on December 4, 2013 [2 favorites]

> This is exactly why people wear suspenders

To clip their stockings to their shirts so everything stays in place.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:23 AM on December 4, 2013 [1 favorite]

"Twang!" went Captain Picard's suspenders as he snapped them, yet again, against his grimy undershirt. Counselor Troi winced as she sensed his pain, then winced again as she sensed the warm satisfaction he had come to associate with it. She knew not the source of the twin emotions, nor of the odd, almost whimsical sound that seemed to precede them, although they did bring to mind vague, shadowy, nearly-repressed memories of Mother's dressing room in the ancestral mansion on Betazed.

"Twang!" went the suspenders as the Captain shifted in his seat. Riker's head snapped around, putting his neck at an even more improbable angle than before.

"Sir?" he asked, a hint of urgency in his voice.

"Yes, Number One?" replied Picard.

"Nothing, sir. I just thought... never mind." Riker ran a hand through his already-tousled hair and rubbed his puffy eyes as he watched his Captain rise from his seat. He thought he saw a faint cloud of dread pass over Troi's face, and he felt the hairs of his beard begin to stand on end.

"Twang!" went Captain Picard's suspenders as they snapped, lost their moorings, sprung through every available gap in his garments, and formed shrapnel that pierced the decks and bulkheads in all directions. The screams of the wounded were mercifully drowned out by the alert klaxon.

Riker cradled a semiconscious Troi in his good arm, picking bits of elastic and springs out of her hair. "Why couldn't he just tug his shirt down? WHY?!?"
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:29 PM on December 4, 2013 [2 favorites]

The Underpants Monster is correct: according to this, Stewart began the Picard Maneuver in season one, due to the stretchiness of the spandex uniforms. Not only that:

But perhaps the most offending characteristic of Spandex was the stench that confronted Blackman when he first took over The Next Generation's costuming department. "Spandex retains odor, so there is a certain part where if you’re wearing them for a long period of time, you can’t really clean all the smell out, and it becomes a little bit annoying. And it also retains the odor of the dry cleaning fluid. It is, on a day-to-day basis, unpleasant."

Ick.
posted by Cash4Lead at 4:37 PM on December 10, 2013