Did you spot the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2 homage to Discovery-era fashion trends? From the very beginning, Star Trek: Lower Decks has been Easter egg paradise for Trekkies (and, indeed, Trekkers) of all generations, but season 2 kicks the references up to full warp. In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2's "wej Duj" alone, Bradward Boimler does his best "Spock from Star Trek V" impression, the female Vulcan bears similarities to Kim Cattrall's Valeris, and the Klingon scenes take a deep-dive into their warrior culture.
"wej Duj" takes place during a long warp journey, where the Cerritos' crew members are given some much-needed time off aboard their flying home. Tendi spends the day rock climbing with a superior officer, Rutherford spends the day doing pottery with a superior officer, Boimler spends the day lying to a superior officer, and Mariner spends the day competing with a superior officer who just so happens to be her mother. And it's her mother who connects Star Trek: Lower Decks to Star Trek: Discovery.
While Carol Freeman takes some rare mother-daughter time with Beckett Mariner, the Cerritos captain can be seen wearing a dark blue t-shirt with "RITOS" across the chest. Her casualwear is a blatant parody of the Discovery crew, who wear identical recreation tees, but with "DISCO" on the front instead. The shirts became something of a merchandise sensation among Star Trek fans, and the new RITOS variation can already be found for sale online.
Aside from being a top-draw Star Trek Easter egg, Lower Decks season 2's RITOS t-shirt connects two very different eras of the franchise. Star Trek: Discovery begins in 2256, whereas Lower Decks takes place close to The Next Generation period of 2380, over a century after the Discovery crew went DISCO. For this reason, Star Trek: Lower Decks rarely indulges in references to Discovery (though Boimler did mention ships vanishing from Starfleet records), sticking largely to Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager for Easter egg fuel instead. Captain Freeman's RITOS t-shirt is clearly intended as a gag but, in canon terms, it's a curious link between the 23rd and 24th centuries. Either Carol's wardrobe is really behind the times, or Starfleet hasn't changed its "personal time" outfits anywhere near as much as the main uniforms. Alternatively, the RITOS shirts may highlight how Starfleet treats the Cerritos as a second-class vessel, which could be why Picard's Enterprise and the Voyager don't have their own.
Star Trek: Lower Decks' RITOS tees ask the all important question - if every Starfleet ship has them, what would they say? The Enterprise would probably have ENTER, or for Jean-Luc Picard's crew, ENTER-D. Sulu's Excelsior gets EXCEL in a neat nod to Bill Gates, then you can use YAGER, GRISS, VENGE, FIANT, K-TOWN, FARRA, REPID, and, er... TITAN. All of the above would make fine t-shirts, both for the hard-working Starfleet crew member enjoying some downtime, and the fashion-forward Star Trek fan looking to emulate their favorite characters without donning a bright yellow sweater to the supermarket.