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Clothing

Interview with Jason, Kat, JM Advice, Brian, DavidP, keke, Teabag, Crystal, Edward, isaac, Lucky, Laydie, Kathy, Lisa, Apache, Janet, Ron, Ryan, Laura, Fernando, Gail, George, Rich, Mark, John, Juan, Erik, Scott, Shawn, Dominic, James, Carl, Josh and Jose

JM: What clothes could you have brought in to wear in the jail (underwear, socks, etc.)?
Jason: Close as I can tell they are like scrubs
Kat: Two piece V- Neck
JM Advice: Clothing consists of two-piece outfits that were color coded based on your level of security. You get a V-neck top and an elastic- waisted bottom.
Brian: 2 pieces - pants and a shirt.
DavidP: Some jails have jumpsuits, but in this case, it was a two piece - pants with a v-neck top. You're given one when you go in, and once a week you change. You all go in order, you follow the line like third graders, you go in to this large room, and you actually disrobe in the room. You have your underwear on, but you disrobe in the room, and you throw the old ones in a bin and you get new ones. The t-shirt and underpants are yours; you buy them on commissary, along with socks. The pants and the shirt are exchanged weekly. If you get them dirty, or spill your meal on them, you're going to wear it for the week.
keke: blue hard a* suit that when they gave it sometime it wasnt clean
Teabag: Socks (if you had them on at the time of your incarceration). Underwear (if you had them on at the time of your incarceration). WHITE T-Shirt or Deigo-Tee (if you had one on at the time of your incarceration). And a DOC Uniform which were similiar to Hospital Scrubs (heavier fabric) Brown in color with D.O.C. silkscreened onto the fabric. Uniforms were very worn out, you had to be a Gang Member to get fresh (Newer) DoC's where the lettering was Crisp and Bold. Basically affiliated inmates got DOC's fresh out of the package. Otherwise they were worn out always 2 sizes too small (you looked like a clown in some tight ass pants and shirt)
Crystal: Only the jail issue scrub-type uniform. Tan for men and blue green for women.
Edward: t shirt and D.O.C cloths
isaac: doc or white tees
Lucky: the beige ccdoc uniforms, white t-shirts.
Laydie: jail attire
Kathy: The basic beige CCDOC uniforms.
Lisa: jail uniforms
Apache: state
Janet: A BLUE SHIRT BLUE PANTS AND A WHITE T-SHIRT UNDER IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE ONE.
Ron: county clothes
Ryan: all the same
Laura: Our "Blues". Blue smock and pants, white undershirt. Now the girls from that unit wear pink.
Fernando: no clothes can be brought in far as i know, no clothes were i allowed to have brought in
Gail: In 1997 I believe I had my Nike Air Jordans but they took all my clothes.....They did allow me to wear my Kicks but with the exception of shoe laces because they thought that people would rather hang themselves then maintain a Status Quo with some bad ass shoes with their laces in????? I mean...wait ,,,yeah,,you're right,,,Maybe....OK>>>>
George: You were only allowed underwear and socks.The county gave you a brown uniform to wear.
Rich: tennis shoes underwear and socks. you wore two piece issued d.o.c. scrubs & maybe a jacket for transport, also county issued
Mark: only plain white t-shirts and socks as long as there is no holes or writing on them.
John: the clothes that i could have brought to me to wear in the jail was nonw
Juan: 1 pair of underwear i pair of socks...they gave you a jumpsuit to wear besisdeedd that...alot of times you wasjjed your bokers socks and tshirt out inthe sink or shower
Erik: SOCKS, UNDER WEAR, T SHIRTS, TANK TOPS, THESE ARE THE THINGS I WAS AWARE OF
Scott: You can have White socks, and white underwear only. if you are in the trail phase of your case then your court clothes can be brought and held in the clothing room for you.
Jason: YOU COULD WEAR IN A PAIR OF SOCKS MAYBE 2 IF YOU THOUGHT AHEAD AS WELL AS A WHITE T SHIRT AND DRAWERS. THAT'S ALL THAT YOU ARE ALLOWED
Shawn: underwear socks shower shoes and you couldnt keep walking around the place with the same old cothes
Dominic: The only articles of clothing that inmates were allowed to wear that wasn't jail issued was the original pair of socks and underwear they had on at the time of their arrest.
James: you could bring in a white tee. white socks and drwers of whatever variety. nothing else
Carl: you can only have white underwear and socks and if you had any other color it was not permitted and you had to take it off
Josh: 1 white T-shirt, socks, underwear. The shirt could be long sleeve or short. All white, no letters or pictures
Jose: Only socks and underwear. If your boxers didn't have a hole in the fly, you were ordered to throw them away and be stuck with no boxers.

JM: If you had a set uniform, what did it look like? Please be specific about each piece of clothing issued to you.
Jason: Yes...
Kat: Yes - Blue V Neck Shirt and Pants
JM Advice: You change out your uniform once a week, so take good care of it, especially at the beginning of your week. You have to buy your own underwear, undershirts, and socks at the commissary
Brian: It was gray. I think it was for a lesser offense. It wasn't like the orange one. It comes in small, medium and large. I took large. I think guys with violent offenses had different color clothing but I never saw them.
DavidP: We had blue, and I know there's an orange and a yellow, but I don't know if there were any more than those three. I know that those colors represent different degrees of your being there. I don't know if yellow was maximum security, or if the orange was, but I know there are different colors for different inmates. Everyone where I was had the same - blue.
keke: blue wit ccod on it
Teabag: Light Brown, fashioned after hospital scrubs. The shirt size printed on the Breast Pocket
Crystal: Scrub type outfit.
Edward: brown top and brown pants with D.O.C on the back of them and the side of the pant leg
isaac: brown
Lucky: beige two piece.
Laydie: yes
Kathy: Beige with DOC on the back.
Lisa: yes it was blue with d.o.c on it
Apache: blue
Janet: BLUE SHIRT,BLUE PANTS,WITH THE KETTERS D O C ON THE PANTS AND SHIRT.
Ron: yes beige
Ryan: yes khaki colored pants and shirt
Laura: Yes. It looked much like a doctors scrubs. The shoes were similar to Keds, or slip-ons. They were made by a company called "Bob Barker". I don't think it's the one your thinking of, though.
Fernando: the top is like what medical scrubs would look like,if you were in a medical center,the pants is the same color and type of slack,if its scrubs
Gail: Blue...with an M and whatever else for your tier on it...Wait! I had special priority! I usually got the newer uniforms .....They were squareish..Not very flattering..We kept them under our mattresses to give them a Fresh pressed look before going on visits or to court though...Ask me about 1988 when we actually had washers and dryers on the tiers......... :)
George: The uniforms were light brown pants and v-neck top kaki style.If you mean to the officers they would give you the smallest uniform possible so that you look gay.
Rich: each person was issued a two piece scrub outfit, tan with d.o.c i black letters across the back. the pants also had d.o.c. on them as well.
Mark: 2 pieces of clothing that was tan in color. the back of the shirts said DOC which meant department of corrections. long pants and t-shirt. if you are cold they tell you too bad they don't have long sleeves.
John: the ste uniform that i had in jail was a khaki colerd suit pants in a v neck type of top thick with doc on it
Juan: orange looking jumpsut that sai c.c.c. on the back for cook county corrections...u also couldwere your tennis shoes you came in with but if they were high end jordans they were put inproperty....most people wore ythe bob baker sandals....bob barker is the known clothing line for jails
Erik: I BELIEVE ORGNGE JUMP SUITS, BUT I CAN NOT RECALL AT ALL, I GUESS I WANT TO FORGET ALL I CAN, AND NEVER WANT TO WEAR THAT STUFF
Scott: It was a pants and shirt set that was khaki like in color and texture, and had DOC printed on it in big black letters.
Jason: YOU WAS REQUIRED TO WEAR A DOC UNIFORM. GREY SHIRT OF A CANVASE TYPE AS WELL AS THE BOTTOMS WITH AN ELASTIC WAIST BAND VERY UNCOMFORTABLE
Shawn: the set uniform s dingy the sets never mtched unless you knew someone that worked in change it was always hard time ti find a jumpsuit
Dominic: All inmates were issued beige khaki pants and a short sleeve pullover shirt. The pants had elastic in the waistband since inmates were not allowed to have belts. The shirts had V-neck collars and had the initials DOC printed on the back in bold black lettering.
James: you was giving a grey two piece uniform that was marked doc. its was made out of a canvass type material. that was rough and hard and smell funky
Carl: it was a brown 2 piece khakis with doc written across the back of the shirt and down the legs of the pants a pair of either shower shoes or canvas gym shoes
Josh: Brown shirt and brown pants. DOC on the shirt and DOC down the pant leg. If you had a white shirt then you usually wore that under
Jose: There were a pair of brown pants with an elastic waistband. I don't know how to describe the material, but it was almost like a very thin pair of jeans/sweatpants combination. The top was a t-shirt with a single pocket of the same brown color.

JM: Were there any assigned clothes in high demand that an inmate should look for when getting clothing assigned?
Jason: Something that comes close to fitting
Kat: NO
JM Advice: Chicago can obviously be very cold in the winter and the jail is no exception. You will definitely want to by an undershirt (like long underwear) from commissary to keep a little bit warmer during these months.
keke: hell no just blue
Teabag: 3XL Uniform...... Fitted the best and looked the best....
Crystal: No no options.
Edward: yeah the ones that would fit
Kathy: No, except for different sized uniforms.
Lisa: no
Apache: new
Janet: NO
Ron: no
Ryan: new shit
Laura: I say the bigger, the better. Unless your looking to impress somebody, go big! If it's cold you can use it as a blanket, extra pillow, cuddle-buddy, jail smocks work wonders!!! And you can also use the string to thread your eyebrows, something else I learned in jail.
Fernando: no,clothes are not able to be indemand or asked for you get what they give you
Gail: The better newer colored uniforms.There were so many that were totally disgusting.faded,loose in the elastic..They didn't care what size you were.You got what you got..But not me because I pulled some rank within the system...The highest demand was the Dark Blue DOC jacket..I had one..They had a midnight raid...They confiscated it after telling them who issued it to me...I let the person who issued it to me know.I got it back and the b**** got a suspension....She came back to work....Saying,"Sorry Ms.Velasco......I didn't know who you were!!!!!" Anyways..Another bad ass made for television production that I could articulate on BUT>>>>>>>The references to my name mean a lot.............Check it!
George: Not at all,you wear what you get regardless of the size.
Rich: NOT A THING YOU'RE NOT THERE FOR A FASHION SHOW.
Mark: no that i was aware of no. i have never seen different type of jail cloths just the ones i described in the last question.
John: the omly high demand an inmate needs two worried about its finding some thing that isn't to small or to big its hard two get your size when jail is over crowed
Juan: well god forbid when they did your laundry that your socks got seperayed...it goot pretty cold in there
Erik: I DON'T EVEN RECALL WHAT I WORE WHEN IN JAIL
Scott: Yes, uniforms that were not raggy, and looked decades old.
Jason: NO YOU WOULD TRY TO GET SOME NEWER CLOTHS TO WEAR SO THAT THEY MAY FIT BETTER
Shawn: yes the bigger the clothes the more high demand was needed
Dominic: Inmates usually tried to get the newer looking khaki and shirts that were not as worn
James: you just wanted something that fit. pants with elastic that all
Carl: not on the clothes but the canvas gym shoes were very poplar and most of the time when it got close to you out date we would usually trade them for food
Josh: Im a smaller guy so it didn't matter. But naturally the big guys wanted the big sizes.
Jose: All the clothes are exactly the same. You just want a clean pair.

JM: Was the clothing different between men and women?
Jason: Dont Know
Kat: NO
JM Advice: Clothing for women and men are basically the same.
Brian: It was pretty similar. Actually, it was exactly the same. Obviously, different sizes, but it was the same thing, two pieces - not sweats, though. It was thin [fabric], but no buttons on the fabric - just an elastic waistband.
DavidP: Yeah, it was the same. The color is coded according to the area you're in, which is determined by the degree of your offenses, like medium security, or high security, or whatever. To be honest, it's rare to see women, but because of the medical deal, I had to go once every two or three weeks to a mini hospital for an overall checkup, and that is the only area where you see women, and it's only a few at that. I only saw them through a window. I did see that they had the same color uniform as we did. In any jail, they never mix the two, but you didn't even see them in this jail. I only saw them because of the medical deal.
keke: women get a hard a* blue suit and men get a hard a* beige suit
Teabag: Brown for men Blue for women
Crystal: Only color.
Edward: we had brown and the woman had blue
isaac: no
Lucky: yes, colors. men wear beige women wear dark blue.
Kathy: Women in blue, Men in beige
Lisa: no
Apache: no
Janet: THE WOMEN WEAR BLUE THE MEN WEAR BEIGE.
Ron: yes
Ryan: the womens were blue
Laura: Just the color.
Fernando: no,its similar clothing for both
Gail: All the uniforms were starchy and looked like crap..I think minus the convicts who are convicted of murder we all wore the same uniforms....I mean come on..You rarely even see a man unless you're going to court or there's a male C.O on your deck...
George: No only the colors I think the women wore blue.
Rich: JUST THE COLOR OF THE SCRUBS
Mark: i'm not sure i didn't get a good look at the woman in the jail.
John: the difference was ours was khaki in theirs was blus
Juan: have no idea...i seen women twice and i think they jhad a different colored jump suit on
Erik: I DO NOT REMEMBER SEEING ANY OF THE FEMALE INMATES AFTER INTAKE
Scott: No, woman's clothes just seemed like they were in better condition.
Jason: NO THEY WAS BASICALLY THE SAME FROM WHAT I SEEN EXCEPT THEY WORE BLUE
Shawn: yes i believe the women wore blue clothes
Dominic: The clothing was the same for the female inmates, with the only difference being that the females' clothing was blue in color.
James: basically the same maybe a diffrent color
Carl: no difference we all wore the same brown khakis
Josh: I think the woman wore blue jump suits
Jose: The clothing was exactly the same.

Advice from ex-inmates of the Cook County Jail