Edward
Bartender
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- 26,268
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- London, UK
This is something I've been curious about for some time. Due to a mix of good behaviour and perhaps also a measure of good fortune and privilege, I've never been inside a working prison as inmate or visitor. I've seen my share of historical site as prison museums, though, and inevitably the same movies most of us will have.
The Shawshank Redemption
Escape from Alkatraz:
Porridge (both TV show and a spin off film):
In Porridge, the inmates, when not otherwise clad specifically for work duties, wear a short jacket and trousers in a blue / grey, cut to a pattern that is not a million miles away from the look of British Army Battledress. (The character of 'Genial' Harry Grout (left of the second photo) was based on Ronnie Kray, who was in the English prison system at the time the show was made.)
Rewatching some of these bits and pieces again of late, I've become quite intrigued by the workwear aesthetic of a lot of these uniforms. Photos of the real Alcatraz I've seen would suggest the film was fairly accurate in its portrayal of the clothing; likewise Shawshank, which is also interesting given slight changes it shows to mark changing times over the period of Andy's imprisonment (1947-1966). The interesting stuff isn't so much the obvious, striped stuff (or the later jumpsuits), but the sort of things seen in Shawshank (I know, fictional, but...) and Alcatraz, which looked more like utilitarian, civilian workwear.
I'm curious as to whether other Floungers are interested in these aspects of prison uniform across our period of interest (let's say, loosely speaking, 1900-1960). What was the level of crossover with general workwear? How did prison uniforms in the period vary from what was worn on the outside? Pictures welcome!
The Shawshank Redemption
Escape from Alkatraz:
Porridge (both TV show and a spin off film):
In Porridge, the inmates, when not otherwise clad specifically for work duties, wear a short jacket and trousers in a blue / grey, cut to a pattern that is not a million miles away from the look of British Army Battledress. (The character of 'Genial' Harry Grout (left of the second photo) was based on Ronnie Kray, who was in the English prison system at the time the show was made.)
Rewatching some of these bits and pieces again of late, I've become quite intrigued by the workwear aesthetic of a lot of these uniforms. Photos of the real Alcatraz I've seen would suggest the film was fairly accurate in its portrayal of the clothing; likewise Shawshank, which is also interesting given slight changes it shows to mark changing times over the period of Andy's imprisonment (1947-1966). The interesting stuff isn't so much the obvious, striped stuff (or the later jumpsuits), but the sort of things seen in Shawshank (I know, fictional, but...) and Alcatraz, which looked more like utilitarian, civilian workwear.
I'm curious as to whether other Floungers are interested in these aspects of prison uniform across our period of interest (let's say, loosely speaking, 1900-1960). What was the level of crossover with general workwear? How did prison uniforms in the period vary from what was worn on the outside? Pictures welcome!
