Move over, diamonds. Designer undies are a girl’s best friend — at least if you’re Anna Delvey (Julia Garner) in Inventing Anna. 

In Episode 3, Anna is in jail on Rikers Island, awaiting trial for grand larceny and, she says, in desperate need of new undergarments. “It’s always important to have quality clothing,” she tells Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky), the investigative reporter who is willing to do just about anything to coax the faux German heiress into revealing how she attempted to swindle New York’s elites into funding her multimillion-dollar foundation and lavish lifestyle. Vivian has already promised to make Anna famous, but there’s one more thing that Anna wants before she tells all.

“Next time you come,” Anna says to Vivian, “bring me some underwear.” Not just any pair, of course: “Nothing cheaper than Natori [or] Bergdorf’s.”

While it is true that inmates on trial can wear regular, even designer, clothes — something the real Anna Delvey famously did — we wondered if they could also wear luxury lingerie, if requested. And could they wear those undergarments even when they weren’t in court? I mean, it’s not like anyone would know. 

According to the New York City Department of Correction’s regulations for permissible items, people awaiting trial are allowed to have“4 sets of undergarments” brought to them for their court appearances. Still, we wanted to dig deeper, so we asked Shayla Mulzac, a communications representative for the DOC’s Office of Public Information, to clarify what happens to the underwear once the inmates are back at Rikers. Via email, Mulzac explains: “While in custody, individuals must wear DOC-issued uniforms. When individuals are on trial, they may wear regular clothing, including designer clothing. [But] designer underwear is impermissible.” 

The real-life Anna might not have been able to demand fancy underwear, and the fictional Anna also didn’t have much luck. At the end of the episode, Vivian ignores Anna’s expensive request; even the most basic pairs of underwear from Bergdorf cost around $40. Instead, Vivian brings Anna some decent-looking knockoff panties, in the shades allowed by the rules of Rikers’ color palette, of course. And Anna? She accepts them with only a minor hesitation. Scammers can’t be choosers, after all. 

You Look Poor | Inventing Anna