Female Inmates Could Become Lingerie Makers

Out of jail and into the lingerie making business.

That could be a reality for some female Pinellas County inmates when they get released from prison thanks to a local company that is teaming up with a nonprofit to provide them with jobs.

Clothing With a Kiss, a St. Petersburg company that makes lingerie for breast cancer survivors, has partnered with The Red Tent Project for the program, according to an announcement posted Wednesday on the Patch boards.

The Red Tent Project offers skills classes in the jail for female inmates, and Clothing With a Kiss will provide an instructor to teach them how to sew lingerie. When they are released, the women may be eligible to interview for a job with the company at its Central Avenue studio in downtown St. Pete.

When Clothing With a Kiss owner Heather Joie started the company a year ago, "her goal was to not only help breast cancer survivors, also to keep the business local, and to create jobs," according to her board post.

Joie, a breast cancer survivor, makes lingerie and other clothes designed to help other survivors feel good about themselves and hopes to bring the same feelings to former inmates.

For more information, see Joie's board post on Patch or visit clothingwithakiss.com or redtentproject.com.

This post was reported and written by Patch Associate Regional Editor Jason Bartolone.

• Subscribe to the East Lake Patch newsletter to have local news delivered to your email each day. Sign up here.