The Gemini series of pearly white space suits is the most iconic of all time. It was worn by Ed White for the first US spacewalk, as captured here by Command Pilot James McDivitt. Please note the jaunty heel.

Replacing the retro-tastic silver suits worn during the first space flights–made famous in the film adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s, The Right Stuff–the all-white suits for the post 1965 Gemini Program were based on those used for the X-15 spaceplane, and updated takes on these looks were adapted for the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes, as well as the Space Shuttle. Created by premiere US space fashion house, the David Clark Company, the white suits ushered in a new, more considered look for suborbital spaceflight. The Gemini series was designed as a full-on space suit that could be used outside of the two-man capsule, instead of just as protection against accidental decompression.

To withstand the dangers of space, the suits were made by layering nylon and Nomex®, as was the style at the time. According to the original Gemini 3 press kit, “the astronaut dons the suit through a zipper opening which runs from the crotch up the entire back of the suit. The inner layer of the suit is a rubberized material, and the outer covering is a nylon material. The gloves are attached to the suit at a rotating wrist joint which allows full wrist movement.”

Like all good fashion houses, extra effort went into the detailing, which produced innovative new features such as utility pockets and other cool stuff like “fingertip lighting for use on night side of the Earth.”

As the program progressed, NASA and David Clark experimented with new designs, eventually producing eight different styles. Of particular interest, style-wise, is the G5C version used for the long-duration spaceflight of Gemini VII–it looks like the suits NASA wear in that scary scene in E.T., when the scientist’s come to get the little fella. Eventually, a thruster unit was designed for the suit so the astronauts could fly about looking all chic and independent, rather than being tethered up to their spacecraft like some toddler.

CHRIS HATHERILL is co-director of super/collider