‘Orange Is The New Black’ Causes Jail Uniform Color Change

The Netflix series “Orange is the New Black” has inspired a Michigan jail to change the color of the prisoner’s uniforms because it has made orange popular. Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel told the Saginaw News that he is ditching the all-orange uniforms because they are viewed as “cool.”

People who aren’t prisoners are sporting the orange uniforms in public and Federspiel says this is a concern because real prisoners wear these uniforms while doing public work. He will be switching to the traditional black and white stripped uniforms instead of the all orange ones.

“We decided that the black-and-white stripes would be the best way to go because it signifies ‘jail inmate,’ and I don’t see people out there wanting to wear black-and-white stripes,” he said to The Saginaw News.

He explained that the jumpsuit change will cost the jail $11.73 apiece, but the new uniforms cost the same as the orange ones, and a single jumpsuit lasts about two to three years.

The paper mentions that the inmates don’t approve of their jumpsuit reform.

“A lot of them have said, ‘We don’t like wearing black-and-white stripes,'” he said. “And my response is, ‘Too bad. Don’t come to jail.’ If you come to dinner at my house and you don’t like what I’m serving, don’t come back. If you don’t like the food, don’t come back. If you don’t like the clothes that I give you, don’t come back. I didn’t ask you to come wear this uniform.”