What to Wear in Hong Kong in December

December is the month the winter monsoon arrives in the numbers. NOAA NCEI's record for Hong Kong International Airport still gives the afternoon 21.4°C, but nights average 15.4°C, and about six of them reach 12°C or below, up from fewer than one in November. Most come after the 15th, when the average night is 14.4°C. The air dries too: the dew point falls to 10.6°C and rain comes on about 4 days. So pack a warm-afternoon, cold-night wardrobe: a cream cashmere crew for the day, a charcoal tweed blazer and a rib cardigan for after dark, closed shoes throughout. Clockenflap fills the Central Harbourfront from 4 to 6 December.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Charcoal herringbone tweed blazer

   Your coat for the month is a jacket. A charcoal herringbone tweed blazer with a faint rust overcheck covers a 15°C / 59°F night over the cashmere and comes off for a 21°C / 70°F lunch in Central. Tweed rather than a wool coat, because even the coldest fortnight averages 14.4°C at night on NOAA's airport record, and a blazer over a knit handles the six or so nights at 12°C or below without a coat you carry all afternoon.

2. 
   02

   Cream cable-knit cashmere crew-neck sweater

   This is the knit December finally asks for. With the dew point down to 10.6°C, the driest air since January, a cream cable-knit cashmere crew is light enough on its own for a 21.4°C afternoon and sits under the tweed at night. Cream keeps a charcoal capsule from reading as office grey, and it is what you tuck into the cranberry skirt on Christmas Day.

3. 
   03

   Charcoal chunky-rib V-neck cardigan

   Pack a second layer for the second half of the month, when about 5 of December's 6 cold nights fall. A charcoal chunky-rib cardigan goes under the blazer on a 12°C night and over the cream crew for a Sunday morning dim sum, when the average low in late December is 14.4°C. Three buttons, V-neck, so it layers without bunching at the collar.

4. 
   04

   Charcoal straight pressed-crease trousers

   One pair of trousers, pressed and straight. Charcoal trousers go to a Central dinner with the blazer and to Clockenflap with the sneakers, and a pressed crease survives a three-day festival weekend better than a softer weave. Full length, too, which matters on the 4 or so December days that bring a maximum of 18°C or below.

5. 
   05

   Cranberry wool-crepe sunray-pleated midi skirt

   Wear it on Christmas Day, a public holiday that falls on Friday 25 December. A cranberry wool-crepe midi with sunray pleats swings when you walk, takes the cream cashmere tucked in and the tweed on top, and covers the leg to mid-calf on a 15°C / 59°F night. Add sheer tights after the 15th, when the cold nights arrive.

6. 
   06

   Charcoal canvas low-top sneakers

   For Clockenflap, on the Central Harbourfront from 4 to 6 December, and for every day you walk more than you sit. Charcoal canvas low-tops with a cream sole carry three days of standing, and in a month with about 4 wet days and a 10.6°C dew point canvas stays dry. Charcoal rather than white, because three days of festival crowds finish white sneakers by Saturday.

7. 
   07

   Red patent Mary Jane flats, buckled strap

   Flat, closed and red, for Christmas dinner. Red patent Mary Janes with a single buckled strap pick up the cranberry skirt and the red crossbody, and patent wipes clean after the walk from the Star Ferry pier to a Central restaurant. Flat soles, because a Christmas evening in Central means the walk from the pier and the slopes up toward Mid-Levels.

8. 
   08

   Red suede mini duffel crossbody

   Small, zipped and worn across the body. A red suede mini duffel with belted straps holds a phone and an Octopus card in a Clockenflap queue or a Christmas crowd in Central. Suede is safe here in December: about 4 wet days on NOAA's airport record and a dew point of 10.6°C give it no damp to take up.

A suggested look — charcoal herringbone tweed blazer, cream cable-knit cashmere sweater, cranberry pleated mid-calf skirt, sheer black tights, red patent mary jane flats.

What to avoid

• A heavy coat — even late-December nights average 14.4°C on NOAA's airport record
• November's packing list — cold nights go from under one to about six
• Bare legs after dark in the second half — 5 of the 6 cold nights fall after the 15th
• A rain shell — about 4 wet days and the driest air since January