Chapter 23 - The Section 31 Uniform?? (Patreon)

"A cloaked ship, Sloan? Naughty, naughty, what would those sanctimonious Captains like Picard think of you violating the Treaty of Algeron?” I asked with a smirk, before even greeting the man, once Sloan and a couple of his minions entered the shuttle bay, all of whom wearing those distinctive black leather-esque outfits. My eyes couldn’t help but linger incredulously on their clothing, which should probably be better described as a uniform since they were all wearing the exact same outfit. They really needed to try to look less like Hitler-esque Gestapo secret police types.

I could see it my mind’s eye now, some director for the show asking for something dark, severe, and hostile looking to dress the ruthless spies in and some costume designer thinking black leather was the way to go to make it as visually obvious as possible to the viewers that they were shady spy types. But this was real life, wasn’t it? They were secret agents and spies, sure, but why not wear civilian suits or business attire or something else to blend in? Sloan normally went to such great lengths to blend in too. Maybe it was to create a shared identity onboard the ship where they didn’t really need to hide their existence? Or was it because this was all a silly television show universe? He had appeared in the same outfit when he went to recruit Bashir, maybe meeting cliché expectations helped smooth the interaction with people who were being introduced to Section 31’s unlikely existence?