What to Wear in Ho Chi Minh City in December

Pack for dry pavements and warm nights. NOAA NCEI's record for Tân Sơn Nhất airport gives December 32°C / 90°F by day and 22°C / 72°F at night, with about 46mm of rain on 6 days. Its average high, 31.7°C, is the lowest of any month, and afternoon humidity falls to 56%, so silk and linen stop clinging. In the airport's hourly reports, rain turns up in about one observation in twenty even at its 5pm peak, and it is still about 26°C at 9pm. The rain kit stays home; bring a thin linen layer for a 23°C dawn and cold malls, and an emerald dress with a tan belt for the Thursday nights of the 24th and the 31st.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Emerald washed-silk midi dress, short sleeves

   Your Christmas Eve dress, and New Year's Eve's too: both fall on a Thursday this year. At about 26°C at 9pm, washed silk sits cool against the skin now that the air is drier, and short sleeves with a mid-calf hem look right at a church door or a rooftop table alike. Wear it loose for lunch and belted in tan after dark.

2. 
   02

   Ivory sleeveless silk shell

   Silk only works when the air lets it. In December the airport's humidity at 2pm averages 56%, down from 70% in October, so a draped ivory shell stays dry through a lunch on foot. Tuck it into the cream trousers for the day and throw the linen shirt-jacket over it once the air-conditioning starts.

3. 
   03

   Oatmeal linen shirt-jacket, patch pockets

   The one layer December asks for. Dawn averages about 23°C at the airport, down from about 24°C in November, and every mall and museum runs its air-conditioning hard; an unlined linen shirt-jacket goes on at 6am and over the silk shell indoors, then rolls into the bag by ten. Patch pockets hold a phone and a card when you leave the bag behind.

4. 
   04

   Cream straight-leg ankle trousers

   Full length for a pagoda or a day on a Mekong Delta boat, and light enough for 32°C / 90°F. A straight ankle-length leg clears a dusty dry-season pavement, and cream under the ivory silk reads as one long, cool line in the midday sun.

5. 
   05

   Tan leather strappy sandals, ankle strap

   Dry pavements at last: six rain days, and almost no rain before 2pm in the airport's hourly reports. Slim crossed straps and a toe loop keep your feet cool, the ankle strap holds on a long walk, and tan leather goes from the cream trousers at noon to the emerald dress at night without a change.

6. 
   06

   Tan leather belt, brass buckle

   One belt turns the emerald dress from lunch to Christmas Eve: loose by day, cinched at the waist by night. Tan leather ties the dress to the sandals, and the brass buckle is all the jewellery the look needs. Worn over the linen shirt-jacket, it also gives a boxy layer a waist.

7. 
   07

   Cream leather zip-top bag, rolled handles

   A zip across the top for a long night out on the 24th or the 31st, when you want nothing open at your side. Rolled handles carry it at dinner, the cream leather keeps the evening palette light against the emerald, and it holds sunglasses, a phone and a card with room to spare.

8. 
   08

   Tortoiseshell sunglasses, soft square frame

   Dry season means sun. On 15 December the noon sun still stands about 56° above the horizon at 10.8°N, high enough to glare off pale stone and the river all afternoon. Tan-amber tortoiseshell matches the belt and sandals, and brown lenses keep colours true on an afternoon boat.

A suggested look — emerald silk midi dress, tan leather belt, tan strappy leather sandals.

What to avoid

• A rain shell or umbrella — rain in one airport report in twenty at the 5pm peak
• A jacket for the evening — still about 26°C at 9pm
• Polyester satin on Christmas Eve — it clings; washed silk breathes
• Leaving the sunglasses behind — the noon sun stands about 56° high