Philadelphia Street Style: Ezekiel, 16th St

"I hate it when people ask 'Why are you dressed up?," Ezekiel told me, as we chatted in the midst of the pedestrian free-for-all that is Walnut Street, "because this is always me." 

"Life is the occasion to dress up for," I concurred.

"Precisely, my friend," said Ezekiel. "I believe my head is a crown actually, so I wear this fedora to keep all the royalty in and make sure nobody is playing with my hair or anything like that. And I kind of hide behind the mask of these Ray-Bans and take ‘em off for business sometimes. Those are my two staples. Then I just go with my heart every morning."

"And what’ve you got on today?" I asked.

“Right, a Timex  timepiece, a blazer from I don’t remember where, some kind of oxford-navy-blue color and this bow-tie from Aldo."

"What are those shoes, do you know?"

"These are... Stacy Adams."

"And the fedora?"

"The fedora… Jesus is Lord… I think I got it on Walnut… at an H&M, yeah."

"Fair enough. And are you a sock-free kind of guy during the summer?"

"I believe that the warmest days call for no socks at all. So, in the Spring, even in the Winter, if it’s warm – there’ll be no socks on my feet at all. I’m really, really not a fan of socks unless it’s the heart of autumn, in which case  I’ll wear the craziest kinds you’ll ever imagine, because the sock game is ridiculous."