I never did like the orange ones...

They didn't seem to really say, 'hey, that person is incarcerated.' So kudos to them for bringing back the black-and-white stripes. I've seen this in our area, too, although I think Fayette County still does orange or dark green jumpsuits. But it floors me that anyone would go to the mall dressed in an orange jumpsuit with the name of the local facility on their back like it's a fashion statement.

Black and white is the new orange? Sheriff buys jail jumpsuits after orange becomes 'cool'

If orange is the new black, as the popular TV show title says, then black-and-white stripes are the new orange at the Saginaw County Jail.

The jail's all-orange jumpsuits increasingly are viewed as "cool," Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel says, prompting him to begin purchasing jumpsuits with horizontal black-and-white stripes for use inside the jail instead.

The choice was not arbitrary, the sheriff says.

"It's because as you see shows on television, like 'Orange Is The New Black,' 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," Federspiel says, referring to the Netflix drama. "It's a concern because we do have our inmates out sometimes doing work in the public, and I don't want anyone to confuse them or have them walk away.

"We decided that the black-and-white stripes would be the best way to go because it signifies 'jail inmate,' and I don't see people out there wanting to wear black-and-white stripes."