Presented below are some detailed photos of a rare Elasian Royal Guard Tunic worn by actor Chuck Beck in the memorable 3rd Season TOS episode "Elaan of Troyius" (first airdate: Dec. 20, 1968). This tunic is missing its chest and shoulder armor, but still retains two large armor pieces affixed to its back. Constructed from a shiny gold colored fabric and accented by the orange plates; this costume is one of TOS Costume Designer Bill Theiss's highly attractive creations for the series.
Always budget conscious, the Desilu wardrobe department obtained the orange material for the armor by utilizing off-the-shelf kitchen table plastic placemats.
Interestingly, little folded fabric swatches were used on the interior of the costume to help affix the plastic armor pieces to the tunic. As clearly seen in the following images, these small fabric inserts were created from 3rd season olive-green TOS command fabric. The characteristic double knit diamond weave pattern is very evident on these pieces...
Another interesting design characteristic of this costume is that it is equipped with the UNIQUE brand metal zipper that is traditionally found on screen used TOS Starfleet uniforms but is quite uncommon for alien wardrobe pieces...
Below are some photos of this costume as seen in the TOS episode "Elaan of Troyius"...