Brown Checked Jacket, Grey Cashmere V-Neck, White T-Shirt, Indigo Wide-Leg Jeans, Navy Cap

Ten in the morning by the Palais-Royal, the arcade still in shadow and the traffic already loud. He has crossed the road without looking up, hands in his pockets, on his way to do one small thing before the day starts. The cap is navy cotton twill, worn low, the brim kept flat. The jacket is a brown checked tweed cut loose, lapels wide, worn open over everything and never going to be buttoned. Under it a grey cashmere V-neck, soft and easy through the body, with a white tee showing in the V at the collar. The jeans are indigo, wide the whole way down, heavy enough to hold their own shape.

The check is the only pattern he has on and it sits at the top where the eye already goes, so everything under it can stay plain. Brown at the shoulders, grey through the middle, indigo to the floor, one line of white at the collar to keep the whole thing from going dim. The knit is what makes the proportion work: a loose jacket over a wide leg needs the layer between them to be the quiet one. Swap the V-neck for a crewneck and the white at the collar goes with it. Swap the jeans for grey flannel trousers and it sits down to lunch. The cap stays on.