While the DS9/NEM cadet jumpsuit may have inherited the majority of its traits from its predecessors and corresponding duty jumpsuit, it was a unique garment unto itself and differed from both of them (especially the duty jumpsuit) in seven major ways.
The first was the yoke, which we've examined: division-colored instead of gray, and wool gabardine instead of wool elastique/cavalry twill (see "Analysis, part 1 - Yoke").
The second was the body color, which we also pointed out: gray instead of black.
The third was the jumpsuit's belt, which it inherited from the VOY cadet jumpsuit (and the late TNG cadet jumpsuit before that).
However, the DS9/NEM cadet jumpsuit belt was quite a bit larger than its predecessors'; we believe it was 2".
The next two are regarding the back of the jumpsuit.
Most notably, like the late TNG and VOY cadet jumpsuits but unlike the VOY duty jumpsuits and DS9/NEM duty jumpsuits, there were no action pleats!
Also note the back "belt loop" that was not found the previous cadet jumpsuits or the duty jumpsuits (see Nog's VOY cadet jumpsuit on the right).
The VOY cadet jumpsuit belt closed in the back via hook-and-loop tape ("Velcro" - see below), so it stands to reason that the DS9/NEM cadet jumpsuit belt did as well.
What's curious is that the purpose of the back "belt loop" would seem to have been to hide the back closure of the belt; the costume department didn't seem particularly shy about it being seen on screen before (see Nog's VOY cadet jumpsuit above).
So perhaps it was just another of the "upgrades" - fair enough.
Oddly, the "belt loop" appears to have been sewn onto the belt itself, NOT onto the garment, as evidenced by these auction photos, which show the "belt loops" on the front of the garment, presumably because the belt has been rotated around on the display mannequin improperly (i.e. the belt was backwards):
NOTE: With our pattern, we took the liberty of actually attaching the "belt loop" to the back of the jumpsuit body, as to keep it stationary and avoid the belt and "belt loop" accidentally rotating around the body during use.
It's possible that this was achieved on the originals via some hook and loop tape ("Velcro") between the center back of the jumpsuit body and the underside of the belt, or perhaps a few snaps, but we prefer ours to be attached.
We believe this admittedly somewhat arbitrary modification to be consistent with the previous uniform era's cadet jumpsuit, though, as those had a horizontal seam along the body panels at the waistline that was hidden by the belt (see Nog's VOY cadet uniform to the right).
On our pattern, the waistband seam has been omitted on the body panels to be more consistent with the DS9/NEM-era duty jumpsuits, except in the center back; we attach the "belt loop" to the upper and lower portions of the center back before sewing them together, which secures the "belt loop" while the seam line is hidden behind the belt.
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