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TV show prompts sheriff to ditch orange jailhouse jumpsuits

Inmate at the Saginaw County Jail, wear the new black and white jumpsuits Friday, July 18, 2014 in Saginaw, Mich. The Saginaw County Sheriff's Department has purchased the striped jumpsuits for some of the inmates at the jail.
Inmate at the Saginaw County Jail, wear the new black and white jumpsuits Friday, July 18, 2014 in Saginaw, Mich. The Saginaw County Sheriff's Department has purchased the striped jumpsuits for some of the inmates at the jail. AP Photo/The Saginaw News/MLive.com, Jeff Schrier

SAGINAW, Mich. – A Michigan sheriff says he’s trading orange jumpsuits for black-and-white stripes as the new attire for his jail inmates in part due to pop culture.

Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel tells The Saginaw News  that all-orange jumpsuits are increasingly viewed as fashionable as they’re seen on TV in places such as the Netflix prison show Orange Is the New Black.

Orange is the New Black
Taylor Schilling and Uzo Aduba are pictured in a scene of the Netflix series‚ \”Orange is the New Black.\”. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Netflix

Federspiel says “some people think it’s cool to look like an inmate of the Saginaw County Jail with wearing all orange jumpsuits out at the mall or in public.” He says inmates sometimes work in public, and he doesn’t want there to be any confusion.

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The jailhouse fashions come relatively cheap. The sheriff says the jumpsuits, which last for about two to three years of wear, cost $11.73 apiece.

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