These are the best example of Kes’s pixie-fashion. While the looks are arguably discrete, the silhouettes, color palettes, texture, and lines are the same.
The lighter one appears in only three episodes (“Caretaker”, “Parallax”, and “Before and After”), and they could all be considered one appearance – Parallax is a continuation of the pilot and in Before and After she revisits a scene from Caretaker.
The darker one first appears in “Jetrel”, a decidedly dark episode, and could be considered the ‘less innocent’ version of the look. This idea holds through the other four appearances as “Maneuvers” and “Alliances” are about the dangers of the Delta Quadrant (and the Alpha Quadrant in the person of Seska), while “Threshold” and “Lifesigns” deal directly with questions of life, death, rebirth and identity.
The thematic through-line between all these episodes is adaptation and that is why I consider the two varieties of this look to be the same – Kes, an embodiment of youth and innocence, is changed by her interactions with Voyager, and becomes darker and more complicated, yet remains herself.
JANEWAY: Did you ever consider allowing the Ocampa to care for themselves?
CARETAKER: They’re children.
JANEWAY: Children have to grow up. We’re explorers too. Most of the species we’ve encountered have overcome all kinds of adversity without a Caretaker. It’s the challenge of surviving on their own that helps them to evolve. Maybe your children will do better than you think.
Kes is Persephone and her story is told in these costumes.