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Avant de sortir, il ne met ni le pull ni la chemise.

Avant de sortir, il ne met ni le pull ni la chemise.
Before going out, he puts on neither the sweater nor the shirt.
From Lesson 197:Multiple negations (ne... ni... ni...)·French

Questions & Answers about Avant de sortir, il ne met ni le pull ni la chemise.

Why do we keep the articles le and la after ni here? I thought articles disappear with ni... ni....
You only drop indefinite articles (un, une, des) and partitive articles (du, de la, etc.) after ni. Because this sentence talks about specific items—the sweater and the shirt—it uses definite articles (le, la), which you must keep.
Where is pas in this sentence?
When you use the multiple negative ne... ni... ni... to say "neither... nor...", it completely replaces pas. You put ne before the conjugated verb (met), and ni right before each of the items you are excluding.
Why does the sentence use avant de sortir instead of conjugating the verb?
When the same person is doing both actions (he is the one going out, and he is the one putting on clothes), French uses avant de followed by the infinitive verb (sortir). It is a simpler and more natural way to say "before going out" than trying to conjugate it.
Could I use s'habiller instead of mettre to say he is putting on clothes?
Not in this case. You use mettre when you are talking about putting on specific items of clothing, like le pull or la chemise. S'habiller just means "to get dressed" generally, without naming the clothes themselves.

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