Item 2019.15 - HM Prison Inmate Jeans

Identity area

Reference code

2019.15

Title

HM Prison Inmate Jeans

Date(s)

  • 1980-1989 (Creation)

Level of description

Item

Extent and medium

1

Context area

Name of creator

Her Majesty's Prison Service

Administrative history

Repository

Westminster Menswear Archive

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Blue denim jeans with light brown top stitching. The front pockets have twin needle topstitching with a brass coloured rivet on each end. The centre front button is a plain brass snap fastener. The fly closes with a zip. The Trousers are constructed with a twin needle stich seam on the outer leg, and a standard overlocked seam on the inside leg. The back has two patch pockets, with the right pocket having an orange HM Prison label inserted. The waistband has 6 belt loops. The hem has a single raw edge turn up. Made in UK.

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      Physical characteristics and technical requirements

      Material: 100% cotton
      Label: size 87-79cm Made in U.K.

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      Notes area

      Note

      Invisible Men exhibition label:

      DENIM PRISON UNIFORM
      Maker unknown
      1971-2013

      The minimalist style of this denim jacket with its front diagonal seam incorporating a welt pocket could have been designed by Helmut Lang; however, it is part of the uniform given to British prisoners. On entering prison new inmates are on put on the Entry level of the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) system. As such they cannot usually wear their own clothing and must wear prison jeans, a blue and white striped shirt and a grey sweatshirt.

      Polyester, cotton
      Archive no. 2019.14 and 2019.15 and 2019.13

      Note

      From Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive:

      PRISON INMATE JEANS
      HM PRISON
      1980s
      While women were allowed to wear their own clothes in British prisons, beginning in 1971, men did not receive this privilege until 1991. When newly admitted inmates enter prison in the UK, they are assigned to the entry level of the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) system. In most cases before 1991, this meant men were not permitted to wear their own clothing; instead they were required to wear prison jeans, a blue-and-white striped shirt and a grey sweatshirt. These jeans imitate the details of a pair of commercially produced denims, including an orange ‘HM Prison’ tab sewn into the outer edge of the right-hand back pocket – a distinctive tab device closely identified with the version Levi Strauss & Co. has registered as a trademark.
      Cotton
      Archive no. 2019.15

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