Choose your exit outfit carefully.

When Stewart was released from a federal prison in Virginia after serving a five-month sentence for securities woes, the domestic diva slipped into a gray crocheted poncho and sparked a DIY fashion craze.

Blame America's declining morals for your troubles.

The cute Beatle spent 10 days in a Tokyo jail in 1980 after authorities found marijuana in his luggage. Unapologetic, McCartney said he didn't try to hide the weed: "I had just come from America," the musician later told High Times magazine, "and still had the American attitude that marijuana isn't that bad."

Wear a pretty dress.

Osbourne spent an incarcerated stint in San Antonio, Texas, after cops arrested the hard rocker for urinating on the Alamo. As if that wasn't enough, the hard rocker was wearing one of wife Sharon's floral dresses. Ozzie later blamed booze for the incident: "I would never urinate at the Alamo at 9 o'clock in the morning dressed in a woman's evening dress sober."

Work the overcrowding angle.

In May 2006, the troubled Lost actress served just four hours and 27 minutes of a 60-day drunk driving sentence, because overcrowding at L.A. County jail meant there was no room to house nonviolent offenders like her. In February 2007, Rodriguez was spotted at New York Fashion Week wearing a monitoring anklet under her designer dresses.

Use the media spotlight for good, not evil.

After music mogul Knight spent 61 days in prison in 2003 for violating parole (he'd spent five years in prison, ending in 2001) by associating with gang members, he vowed to use his celebrity to discourage kids from joining gangs. "He has a lot of influence," a prison spokesman told reporters. "We believe kids will take it very seriously because he is so well-known and can talk from his own life experience."

Take up a hobby.

No offense, Ms. Hilton, but partying isn't a valid hobby. Consider Downey's example. After spending too much of the 90s in and out of court and jail for drug troubles, the acclaimed actor credits his practice of kung fu and fitness for helping him beat his addictions.

Use the experience in your acting career.

Paris Hilton's step-great-grandmother (no joke!), Gabor generated a media firestorm when she slapped a Beverly Hills cop in 1989 and served three days in 1990 at the El Segundo jail. She later poked fun at the situation--and herself--when she re-enacted the incident in 1991 movie Smoking Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear. How very Method.

Find humor in your situation.

Following his release in 1980 after serving two years in prison on drug charges, Allen accepted a friend's challenge to try standup comedy. And the rest is Hollywood history.

Sophia Loren

Be philosophical.

In 1982, the bodacious actress surrendered to authorities in her native Italy and spent 17 days in prison for tax evasion. "Mistakes are a part of the dues one pays for a full life," Loren has remarked of the events.

Embrace your rebel image.

Hard to believe, but back in innocent 1949 Mitchum incited a Hollywood scandal when he was arrested and sent to prison for marijuana possession. The good news? The actor's brush with the law helped solidify his bad-boy reputation with audiences. He didn't even need to star in a homemade sex video.