While speculation about how hotel heiress and poster girl for talentless fame Paris Hilton will survive her 23 days in jail is flying faster than Manolo Blahniks on sale, the real question is what will she wear when she turns herself in tomorrow?

After all, la petite socialite has become a fashion icon, running errands in pink Juicy Couture drawstring pants slung low on the hip or partying in a Roberto Cavalli printed chiffon halter dress or doing the red carpet thing in a black-and-white striped Diane von Furstenberg frock (now that one seems appropriate).

Queen of Mean hotelier Leona Helmsley, cop-slapper Zsa Zsa Gabor, perjurer Lil' Kim and recovering substance abuser Robert Downey Jr. have all served time for their transgressions, but none has the fashion cachet of Paris.

One insider reports that Ms. Hilton plans to bring the glamour on her way to the slammer, according to the New York Daily News.

She has a team of hair and makeup folks scheduled for 9 a.m. this morning to get her jail intake ready, the source said.

Then again, the heiress could go the conservative route, a blazer, white blouse and black pants with blond tresses pulled into a ponytail accented with a black schoolgirl headband.

This is the look Ms. Hilton sported when she attended the May 4 hearing, during which a judge sentenced her to 45 days in jail for probation violations. It later was shortened to 23 days. On second thought, maybe she should wear something else.

Ms. Hilton will do her time at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, just south of downtown Los Angeles.

Contrary to previous reports, the heiress will not have a cellmate. She will be segregated from the general population because of her celebrity status, according to Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Ed Hernandez.

However, aside from that, Sheriff Hernandez said there have been no special plans made for the celebutante's arrival aside from a special area outside the jail designated for the media hordes trying to catch a glimpse of her entering. While those photos will bring money, the big bucks will go to whoever can capture the image of Ms. Hilton in the blue scrubs jail uniform she'll be sporting while inside. One enterprising woman, Sandy Kelley, is selling Paris dolls, dressed in tiny versions of the uniform, on the Internet.

Jail employees have been warned that taking any photos of Ms. Hilton is prohibited. However, there's nothing to stop Paris from making a ton of dough from a diary she reportedly plans to keep of her experience.

One thing she may experience is Blackberry withdrawal because inmates aren't allowed to have any electronic devices. But she'll still be able to call sister Nicky and parents Kathy and Rick from a bank of phones that use pre-paid calling cards.

While 23 days without designer duds by Versace, Cavalli and Sass & Bide might be cruel and unusual punishment for a fashionista, it could always be worse.

Consider the ill-fitting prison sheaths worn by Susan Hayward in the film "I Want to Live" and by Lois Nettleton in the made-for-TV prison movie "Women in Chains."

In real life, domestic diva Martha Stewart had to endure khakis and sweatshirts during her five-month stint at the federal prison for women in Alderson, W.Va. Of course, that crocheted poncho Ms. Stewart wore when she exited Alderson became a fashion trend.

A number of male jails are returning to the old black-and-white-striped uniforms that scream convict. Others are following the lead of Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who puts his inmates in pink jumpsuits. Last year, a sheriff in Mason County, Texas, took things a step further.

Sheriff Clint Low not only dyed the inmates' jumpsuits pink, but also he painted the jail pink. Inmates sleep under pink sheets and wear pink slippers. Of course, we're talking about men here. Making a facility look as if it's been hosed in Pepto-Bismol is seen as a way to keep tempers and recidivism down.

However, it's hard to imagine that such a thing would work for Paris. After all, she is quite fetching in pink.

Daniel Marsula, Post-Gazette
Click illustration for larger image.

First Published: June 4, 2007, 12:15 a.m.