What to Wear in Boston in November

Pack for rain you walk through and dark you arrive in. NOAA's figures for Logan Airport give Boston's November 3.66 inches of precipitation on about 10 days and only 0.7 inches of snow, so this is the city's wet month before the white one. Afternoons reach 10.9°C / 52°F; nights fall to 3.3°C. At 2am on 1 November the clocks go back, and sunset slides from about 4:35pm that day to about 4:15pm by the 30th. The calendar ends in Thanksgiving week: Plymouth's parade on the 21st, the Nova Scotia tree reaching Boston Common on the 24th, dinner on the 26th. So dress the way New England works outdoors: a brown twill shirt-jacket over navy cable wool, leather boots, a thick scarf and gloves.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Dark chocolate twill shirt-jacket, spread collar, flap pockets

   Make this the outer layer. At 10.9°C / 52°F a coat is too much and a sweater alone is too little, and about four of November's ten wet days bring less than a tenth of an inch, which a tight twill takes on the walk from the T. It buttons over the cable crew after dark, and the flap pockets hold your gloves indoors.

2. 
   02

   Navy cable-knit wool crew sweater

   Three degrees after dark is a wool number. A navy cable crew goes on under the shirt-jacket at sunset, about 4:35pm on 1 November and about 4:15pm by the 30th, and it keeps insulating when a shower soaks your shoulders on Tremont Street, which cotton does not. Navy sits between the chocolate jacket and the olive trousers without fighting either.

3. 
   03

   Light grey oversized cotton shirt with a chest pocket

   Wear it under the crew with the collar out, then alone once the heating is on at a Thanksgiving table on the 26th. A pale grey collar and cuffs against navy wool turn a walking outfit into one that works for a Back Bay dinner, and the oversized cut leaves room for the knit on top. Cotton is fine here because it never meets the rain.

4. 
   04

   Deep olive pleated wide-leg trousers

   A wide leg falls over the shaft of a Chelsea boot, so no ankle shows during three hours at the Veterans Parade on 7 November. Deep olive hides the spray from a wet crossing at Park and Tremont better than khaki does, and it takes both the chocolate jacket and the navy crew. Front pleats keep the line sharp enough for dinner in the South End.

5. 
   05

   Oxblood leather Chelsea ankle boots

   Leather, not suede: NOAA's Logan figures put 3.66 inches of rain across about 10 days, and polished leather wipes clean after each one where suede stains. Elastic sides pull on and off without laces on a wet doorstep. Oxblood is the warm colour at your feet under olive trousers, and it still looks right at a Thanksgiving table on the 26th.

6. 
   06

   Cognac leather zip-top tote, two top handles

   Zip it shut. On the 6.4 days a month that bring a tenth of an inch or more, an open tote lets rain onto whatever is inside, and this one closes over the scarf at noon, spare gloves and a compact umbrella. Cognac ties the oxblood boots to the chocolate jacket, and two top handles carry it from the Common to a café once the light goes.

7. 
   07

   Chunky black knit scarf

   The Boston Veterans Parade runs three hours, noon to 3pm on 7 November, from the Boston Public Library on Boylston Street to City Hall Plaza, and standing still loses heat faster than walking. A chunky black knit wound twice closes the open neck of a shirt-jacket, which is the one gap in this capsule. Take it to Plymouth's waterfront on the 21st as well.

8. 
   08

   Fitted black leather gloves

   Pack them for the dark end of the day. From mid-month you leave a museum after a 4:20pm sunset into an evening heading for 3°C, and fitted leather is thin enough to work a zip and a fare card without coming off. Black matches the scarf, so the two read as one choice rather than two.

A suggested look — Dark chocolate structured shirt-jacket in dark brown twill, Deep olive wide-leg trousers with pleated front, Fitted black leather gloves, Chunky knit black scarf.

What to avoid

• December's parka — 10.9°C / 52°F afternoons turn it into luggage
• Snow boots — an average November brings 0.7 inches of snow
• Suede — 3.66 inches of rain on about 10 days
• A walk that starts after three — sunset is about 4:20pm by mid-month
• Bare hands and an open collar on a parade route — three hours standing on 7 November