What to Wear in Berlin in December

Pack for standing still at zero. NOAA's figures for Deutscher Wetterdienst's Tempelhof station put Berlin's December at 4°C / 39°F by day and −0.1°C at night, with 44.2mm across about 14 wet days. Sunset comes before four all month, and from the middle of it sunrise is after eight, so every market evening starts in the dark. WeihnachtsZauber Gendarmenmarkt stays open until 10pm, 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and the Charlottenburg palace market until 10pm. You spend those hours on stone. A coat below the knee covers your legs, two thin knits beat one thick one in a heated shop, a lug sole holds wet stone, and the hat stays on. Shops open on Sundays 6 and 20 December and shut at 2pm on the 24th.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Camel belted wool wrap overcoat, below the knee

   Below the knee, because at a market you stand, and an hour at 0°C / 32°F reaches your knees long before it reaches your chest. A wrap front with a tied belt closes without a gap and pulls tight over two knits. Camel also reads warm under the market lights on a grey afternoon.

2. 
   02

   Pale oat fine-knit crew-neck cardigan

   Button it over the merino and you have two thin layers instead of one thick one, which is the right answer to a shopping Sunday, 6 or 20 December, spent between a 4°C / 39°F street and heated shops. Unbuttoned, it vents in a warm store without coming off. Pale oat shows at the neck of the camel coat and keeps the outfit from going dark.

3. 
   03

   Black fine merino long-sleeve base layer

   Next to the skin, every day. Fine merino keeps its warmth when it gets damp, which on about 14 wet days and in a packed market it will, and it wears for several days without needing a wash. Black because its collar shows above the oat cardigan and gives the pale knit an edge under the scarf.

4. 
   04

   Mid-brown fine-wale corduroy straight trousers

   At −0.1°C at night your shins go cold before anything else, and corduroy's pile holds a layer of still air that thin chino cotton does not. Fine wale keeps it from looking like country wear at a Mitte dinner. Mid-brown carries the camel of the coat down to the boots, so the lower half reads warm against the charcoal hat and scarf.

5. 
   05

   Black waterproof lace-up boots, padded collar, lug sole

   Four features, one job: two hours standing on wet stone at zero. Waterproof, because about 14 days bring rain; a lug sole, because stone at freezing is slick; laces, so you close the boot over thick socks; and a padded collar that keeps cold air off the ankle. Black leather shrugs off a spill at a stall and still looks right at dinner.

6. 
   06

   Dark brown structured leather flap crossbody

   Wear it across the front, because a market crowd pushes and your hands are full. A structured dark brown leather flap crossbody holds a card, a phone and the €2 for Gendarmenmarkt's entrance, and the flap stays shut when someone reaches past you for a mug. Dark brown ties to the corduroy, so the capsule's two browns read as one.

7. 
   07

   Light charcoal melange wool scarf, fringed ends

   Sunset comes before four all month and a market evening runs until ten, so the scarf goes on at dusk and stays on. Light charcoal melange wool, long enough to wind twice, closes the neck of a wrap coat where the lapels part. Its shade sits between the camel and the beanie, and the melange keeps it from reading as a solid dark block.

8. 
   08

   Charcoal ribbed merino beanie with a cuff

   Keep it on. At 0°C / 32°F an uncovered head is what ends a market evening early, and the folded cuff doubles the wool over your ears. Ribbed merino rather than acrylic, so it does not itch through two hours at Charlottenburg and rolls into a coat pocket when you go indoors. Charcoal matches the scarf and leaves the camel coat as the only colour.

A suggested look — camel wool wrap coat, oat cardigan, black merino long-sleeve top, brown corduroy trousers, black lace-up boots.

What to avoid

• A thigh-length jacket — standing at 0°C / 32°F, your knees go cold first
• Smooth leather soles — about 14 wet days and stone at freezing
• Leaving gifts to Christmas Eve afternoon — shops close at 2pm on Thursday 24 December
• Charlottenburg's market on 24 December — it is closed that day
• Buying fireworks before the 29th — the Senate allows the sale only on 29–31 December