COSTUME

In my trailer, i am going to introduce a prisoner escaping from prison. From looking at resources I came across some interesting historical information concerning prison uniform’s that I would like to share with you, this will help me establish what uniform i would like to use.

During the Nazi period of Germany, people held in concentration camps were made to wear prison uniforms. Each prison had its own regulations in some, uniform was compulsory and prisoners were provided with these. In other camps, if a prisoner could not afford to have his own clothing cleaned or replaced, they would have been issued with a prison uniform.

My trailer is set in the United Kingdom. I researched to see what type of clothing is issued to prisoners here in the U.K. In the 1870’s prison uniforms formally consisted of a white jacket, trousers and pillbox hat, all stamped with an arrow to represent crown property. This idea was introduced by Sir Edmund Du Cane, after his appointment as chairman of convict director and general of prisons. Du Cane considered the ‘broad arrow’ to be a mark of shame; it was certainly unpopular with the convicts. Men sent to public-works prison were given boots. Broad narrow markings were used until 1922.

Striped prison uniforms commonly used in the nineteenth century were abolished in the United States early in the twentieth century because their continued use as a badge of shame was considered undesirable. Fair treatment of prisoners and a growing number of non-violent, working class offenders prompted such a change in attitudes, and clothing and conditions changed to serve the purpose, rather than punishment. As a result, work clothes were introduced, perhaps because of the concept of honest labour helping to turn an inmate into an honest citizen. Blue jeans and light blue denim or chambray work shirts became the norm, a tradition still followed in some state prison systems today.

In contemporary society, orange jumpsuits are an instantly recognisable so if a prisoner was to escape, they would be noticed instantly, however, I am going to challenge this and have my prisoner escape successfully. "The suits de-individualise the prisoner," People express themselves through their clothes and putting them in these jumpsuits takes their individuality away and they may find it harder to express themselves in court. A jumpsuit type of clothing is useful simply because it will defiantly fit my actress- in terms of it being too big or small. My character is able to adjust to certain positions while filming is being taken place, hopefully, without complaining or becoming uncomfortable, this will be noticeable in the camera as each cut will be fast and stable. Movies such as Con Air in which a group of convicts who hijack a plane have also helped spread the impression that orange is the new black-and-white. And then there's Gitmo,Bay prisoners wearing orange have gotten a lot of attention in recent years. I will take orange into consideration but not until I review another popular type of prison uniform, the black and white stripes!

 Stripes came into vogue in the early nineteenth century. The black and white bands were supposed to symbolize cell bars. Stripes were taken of the radar in late twentieth century, there is no apparent reason for this, however, some countries such as Yolo do still use striped prison uniforms on convectors. In modern day, stripes are no longer typically used in the United Kingdom and they have been replaced with other types of clothing.

The discussion of stripes or orange jumpsuits has left me slightly more subjective against striped uniforms, this is because it will not fit in with the era of my prisoner and will only leave viewers confused about the time period of my trailer.

Some prisons don’t wear either striped uniform or orange jumpsuits; in fact, casual clothing is known in prisons today here in England and some prisons don’t a strict set uniform. Depending on class and the type of prison you are transferred to is a good indication of the type of uniform that will be worn, I shall look at this into further detail very soon...for now have a good evening. 

Jew's wearing vertically striped uniform at a concentration camp during World War 2