What to Wear in Cape Town in December

Pack for the beach and the summit, and almost nothing in between. NOAA's figures for Cape Town International put December at 26.6°C by day and 15.5°C at night, with about 18mm of rain and 1mm or more on only about 2 days. Then the light takes over. By the 31st sunset reaches 8pm, and from 1 December the Table Mountain Cableway runs peak hours, with the last car up at 8pm and the last car down at 9pm, still weather permitting. Schools close on 9–11 December, and the 16th, 25th and 26th are public holidays, so the second half of the month is the city's own holiday. That calls for a sundress and a one-piece, white linen worn open as cover, sandals, a corded hat and one light shell.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Cornflower-blue packable hooded shell

   One shell covers both ends of a December evening: the top station after an 8pm last car up, and the walk out of Kirstenbosch once the night settles toward 15.5°C. Rain is hardly the reason, at about 2 days of 1mm all month; the hood is for wind on the summit. Packable, it spends the 26.6°C afternoon rolled up rather than on you.

2. 
   02

   Relaxed white linen button-down

   Open over the swimsuit on the sand, open over the sundress on the promenade. CANSA would have you out of the sun from ten until four, and in a 14h 25m day the beach is exactly where those hours go, so white linen with the sleeves down is the shade you bring with you. A relaxed cut lets the wind through instead of catching it.

3. 
   03

   Butter-yellow tiered sundress, V-neck, tie waist

   A 26.6°C Camps Bay day runs from the sand to a table on the promenade and back, and this goes over the one-piece for all of it. Tie the waist firmly so the tiers stay down in a gust off the water. Butter yellow and coral are the capsule's two warm colours, set against white linen, stone denim, sand, cognac and raffia.

4. 
   04

   Coral-red scoop-neck one-piece swimsuit

   Choose a one-piece: it covers more of your back than a bikini, and a December beach day runs straight through the hours CANSA marks for shade. Last season eight City beaches held Blue Flag status from 1 December, Camps Bay, Clifton 4th, Muizenberg and Llandudno among them. A scoop neck stays put in the surf and sits flat under the open linen shirt.

5. 
   05

   Stone tailored denim shorts

   Tailored shorts are what you pull over the swimsuit for the walk up from the beach to lunch, at 26.6°C and with rain on about 2 days all month. Stone denim holds its shape through a day on sand and promenade walls where linen shorts crease, and the pale wash hides sand better than indigo. With the shirt buttoned they also carry an evening at Kirstenbosch.

6. 
   06

   Cognac two-strap leather sandals, moulded footbed

   Two straps and a moulded footbed are what let one sandal last a 14h 25m day: sand at Camps Bay in the morning, the promenade at noon, the garden paths at Kirstenbosch for Jack White on the 14th. Cognac leather also looks right at a dinner table where a rubber slide does not, and it matches the tan trim on the raffia bag.

7. 
   07

   Sand packable sun hat with a chin cord

   A brim without a cord is a brim you lose on Table Mountain, and peak hours from 1 December keep you up there until 9pm. CANSA wants a wide brim rather than a cap, for your neck and ears, and this sand packable hat gives you one with the cord already attached. Between the beach and the mountain it folds flat.

8. 
   08

   Raffia crossbody with tan leather trim

   Raffia belongs on a beach: it shrugs off sand, and it holds sunscreen, a phone and a card for a day that starts at Camps Bay. Worn across the body, it stays put when wind on the promenade or the summit picks up. The tan leather trim matches the cognac sandals, so the bag still works on the 14th at Kirstenbosch.

A suggested look — butter yellow sundress, white linen shirt, cognac leather sandals, sand sun hat with a chin cord.

What to avoid

• A cap instead of a brim — a beach morning burns the ears and neck it leaves bare
• A brim with no cord — the Cableway runs until 9pm and the summit wind takes it
• A padded jacket — a 15.5°C night and about 2 wet days need only a shell
• Closed city shoes — sand, promenade and garden paths all take sandals
• Expecting quiet beaches after 11 December — schools are out and three public holidays follow