What to Wear in Amsterdam in December

Dress for the boat, not the street. NOAA's 30-year record for Schiphol puts December at 6.9°C by day and 1.9°C at night, with rain on about 17 days and frost on about 10 nights. On foot that is fine. On the water it is not. The fifteenth Amsterdam Light Festival runs from 26 November to 17 January, its lights come on at 4:30pm every day, and in mid-December the sun sets at about 4:27pm. A cruise along the route takes about 75 minutes, and the festival's own cruise page is plain about the open boats: "there are blankets available to stay warm." So you sit still, after dark, on a canal, for over an hour. Pack a parka that reaches your knees, a scarf big enough to wrap twice, rubber boots for wet gangways, and gloves you can pull off for a photo.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Khaki knee-length waterproof parka, wired hood

   Seventy-five minutes on an open boat at about 2°C / 36°F is the coldest hour you will spend in Amsterdam this month, and a parka that reaches your knees keeps the wind off the legs a blanket leaves bare. The shell matters as much as the fill: NOAA counts about 17 December days with measurable rain at Schiphol, and canal spray finds the rest. Pull the drawcord at the waist and the hood stays put on the walk back over the bridges.

2. 
   02

   Antique-gold knit, full sleeves

   Wear one thing that answers the light. The festival hangs 20 artworks in, above and alongside the canals, and an antique-gold knit picks them up in every photo from the boat. Under the parka it is a warm second layer; on its own it is enough for a brown café table afterwards, where the heating is on. On New Year's Eve it is the festive piece for the laser show on Museumplein.

3. 
   03

   Black full-length straight jeans

   Black denim hides the grey spray a wet bike lane throws up a hem, and one pair takes a boat bench, a café chair and a damp saddle in the same evening. A straight leg falls over the boots instead of bunching inside them. On the coldest nights wear thermal leggings underneath: NOAA's Schiphol record has frost on about 10 December nights.

4. 
   04

   Charcoal rubber mid-calf rain boots, pull tab

   Rain on about 17 days, a 4.5km walking route and wet boat gangways add up to standing water. Mid-calf rubber keeps the jeans out of it, grips a wet deck better than a leather sole, and wipes clean before dinner. Charcoal rather than black, so the boots read as part of the outfit and not as weather gear.

5. 
   05

   Forest-green knit gloves, leather fingertips

   Your phone comes out every few minutes on the cruise, and bare fingers on open water at 2°C / 36°F go numb before the second artwork. Knit gloves with leather fingertips grip a wet rail on the gangway and pull off in a second for a photo. Forest green sits quietly against the khaki parka.

6. 
   06

   Stone ribbed wool beanie, deep cuff

   An umbrella is useless on a bike and on a boat moving into the wind, so the hat does the umbrella's job for your head. A deep-cuffed rib beanie doubles over the ears, stays on under the parka hood, and keeps its shape in drizzle. Stone goes with the khaki and the gold without competing.

7. 
   07

   Olive ripstop-nylon zip sling

   Ripstop nylon sheds rain, and a sling worn across the chest stays out of the way on a bike and in the crush at a boarding pier. It holds a phone, a card and the gloves when they come off. On New Year's Eve you will want both hands free and your things zipped shut for the walk home: in recent years GVB has stopped normal trams and metros around 8pm that night.

8. 
   08

   Charcoal-and-ecru herringbone wool blanket scarf

   The festival's open boats come with blankets, and a blanket covers your knees, not your neck. A wide herringbone wool scarf wraps twice, closes the parka collar against the wind off the water, and unwinds into a shawl when the boat is covered and heated. Charcoal and ecru work with every other colour in this capsule.

A suggested look — khaki hooded waterproof parka, charcoal herringbone wool scarf, antique gold knit, stone ribbed beanie, forest green knit gloves.

What to avoid

• An umbrella — useless on a bike or a boat in the wind
• Suede and smooth leather soles — about 17 wet days
• Arriving late at the pier — the festival asks for 15 minutes early
• A hired bike without lights — required by law after dark, and dark is 4:30pm
• Your own fireworks — the national consumer ban starts with this New Year