On a cool rainy gray day that began with a 6:30 AM meeting and will run with meetings until 8:00 PM I went with a grey suit: OOTD • 10/9/1995 MTM grey suit with ghosted window-pane • orange yellow and navy pocket square • rusty orange tie • CT basket weave blue Oxford shirt • Byford OTC grey merino wool socks - 1997 AE shell cordovan British tan brogues - Seiko Model 5

For the past few months I've been homeless and living in the shelter system. Please don't ask what happened, I'm not going to go into that, nor am I looking for sympathy. I'm sharing this because one thing that doesn't get as much discussion when talking about style, but is very important when you're homeless, is the base of the style pyramid, function. The picture with the sweater and tie is how I would normally dress for work, and the other picture is clothing that has been my uniform in the shelter. In my uniform I'm wearing a long sleeve cotton t-shirt as a base layer. A navy polar fleece replaces a wool sweater as an insulating layer under my winter parka (not shown). The flat cap I got at Marshall's for $8 on sale (I have a black touque for the cold days). The pants are heavy weight cargos (one to two sizes too large), and themal underwear underneath. Finally I have a pair of the standard white cotton socks and a pair of wool socks I can double up over the cotton ones when going outside. I also have a pair of $10 aviators I got from Amazon. How these fit my functional requirements: 1. You don't stand out in the shelter, you don't want to be a target for theft or appear too much as an authority figure (a lot of the guys have problems with authority). 2. The outfit still has good color style and still looks well put together, particularly with the flat cap. This is important so you don't look homeless when out shopping, dining, or other daily life tasks. When people think you're homeless, they treat you differently. With this look, I could just be any guy who works in construction or a warehouse who didn't have time to change. 3. The clothes are durable. They can be worn 24/7 for days at a time between washing, can handle winter snow, wetness, and salt, and don't snag or rip easily. 4. Don't show dirt easily and can handle punishing laundry systems. 5. The bagginess is actually a bonus. You can layer up easily and trap warm air between layers. It also allows for more comfort while sleeping in the same clothes as you wear during the day. 6. Cargos are considered by many something to be avoided nowadays, but when you're homeless, the pockets help.

It’s a beautiful sunny day