In 2007 Juliet Ash was awarded AHRC funding to complete a book for IB Tauris on the history of prisoners’ clothing. The project examined prison dress in a historical and contemporary context from 1800 to 2008.

The interdisciplinary nature of this project included research into empirical historical material, penal history, dress history in relation to uniforms and corporal identity, criminological debate, oral histories and nineteenth- and twentieth-century prison art and literature. Correspondence from, and interview material with, prisoners themselves, prison reform groups, those who work as designers in prisons and curators of prison photography and dress were an integral part of the study.

Research for the authored book Dress Behind Bars continued up to its publication in autumn 2009. Research around the issue of prison clothing has continued since the book’s publication as journal articles in The Journal of Design History (2011) and Working Papers in Design (2011) as well as a variety of contributions at conferences and talks around the country.

Juliet is continuing to research other areas connected with the history of prison clothing for a documentary film. The proposal for a documentary film: Fashion Behind Bars looks at changes in prison clothing in Britain in the last 30 years and unravels popular myths about what inmates wear and the way it becomes fashionable as subversive street style.