In the earliest days of incarceration, prisoners didn’t wear uniforms – they simply wore whatever clothes they had. It wasn’t until the 19th century that uniforms became commonplace.
Male convicts wore uniforms and were often seen at work in a chain gang, particularly in the South. This is when the black and white stripes became the typical prison uniform, symbolising the cell bars.
As time went by, prisons moved to different options, and black and white stripes gradually fell out of favor.
Why Do Prisoners Wear Uniforms Today?
In the 21st century, both male and female inmates wear uniforms.
These help to differentiate inmates from staff – and are also used to distinguish between different levels of custody. For instance, in California, orange jumpsuits are used for new inmates who haven’t yet been classified.
Prison uniforms are also designed to:
- Limit risks through concealed objects. For instance, uniforms can be designed without pants pockets to limit the places where prisoners could conceal items.
- Make it harder to escape (as prisoners are easy to identify). This is why many institutions will have a specific easy-to-spot uniform for prisoners who are being transported.
How Have Prison Uniforms Changed Over Time?
Early in the 20th century, the striped prison uniforms began to be abolished in the USA as using them as a tool of humiliation (a “badge of shame”) was no longer seen as acceptable or useful.
However, some institutions kept them a lot longer: it wasn’t until 1958 that North Carolina got rid of the stripes.
Most jails and prisons went over to gray cloth or other subdued colors in the early 20th century, with brighter colors becoming popular as time went by.
Orange Jumpsuits
In the 190s, jails started putting prisoners in orange jumpsuits in some situations – normally in a temporary facility or during transportation.
However, orange jumpsuits are not worn regularly in many prisons. The public tends to associate them with prisoners because when prisoners are outside the jail, it’s more common for them to wear orange for instance visibility.
Wearing Own Clothes
Just like the earliest prisons, some institutions do allow inmates to wear their own clothes – “street clothes” – or to choose between different colors or options (though with restrictions).
With the popularity of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, orange jumpsuits have actually started to be phased out in prisons for being too popular with inmates, or for being too easily confused with people outside prison wearing orange jumpsuits.
Returning to Black and White Stripes
Some people even think the classic black-and-white stripes should be introduced: it’s popular with the public, and was used by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in his notorious “Tent City” jail. He also issued pink underwear and towels to inmates, claiming this would prevent theft.
Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel replaced orange jumpsuits with traditional black-and-white striped uniforms in 2014, too.
Contacting a Friend in Jail or Prison, e.g. in Pennsylvania
If you want to get in touch with a friend who’s in jail or prison, you can look them up online in an inmate database. These let you find prisoners by state (e.g. Pennsylvania) or by the institution (e.g. Luzerne County Correctional Facility).
If your friend is permitted to wear their own clothes, they might very much appreciate you putting money into their account so they can buy clothing from the prison commissary (shop). You can find out how to do this when you look up their prisoner ID number.
Prison uniforms look set to stay for many years to come – potentially influencing mainstream fashion in the way that orange jumpsuits have become fashion statements.