When I first started working in a correctional facility I asked myself, what do I wear?  I knew that it was not feasible to wear a sack cloth and ashes, but I also did not want to draw attention to myself.  There were several false starts, as I worked my way through trying to figure it out.  As it was a pretty casual setting I was comfortable wearing jeans.  But then the question came on what to wear with them.  In the everyday world v-neck t-shirts are the norm and really don’t draw attention but they can be a little too revealing in a prison setting.   So I pretty much settled into a uniform of jeans, high necked t-shirts, sweaters, and sneakers.  Everything I wore was with the purpose of not drrawing attention to myself, not because I need to play down my “great beauty”, but because I am a woman in a male institution. 

Over the years my style has evolved as I have become more comfortable in the setting that I have chosen to work in.  Now I know that I need to be comfortable in what I wear, but I also need to be consertive, which for me means not too much skin.  Now there are a lot of women who work in prison who wear business attire which does include skirts, dresses, and heels; I am not one of them.  That being said I have started dressing more professionally; slacks, button down shirts, nice blouses, but still no skirts or dresses.  And occassionaly I step away from sneakers and wear a nice pair of red slip on flats.  For me the line was drawn at safety, I like wearing shoes and clothes that I can run in if the need should ever arise.  The only other then that I tend to stay away from is perfume or scented lotions, it causes too many comments.

Working in a prison and what you wear, male or female is not set in stone and is not the same for everyone.  Wearing what is comfortable for the indivdiual is the most important, and everyone has different levels of comfort.

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