What to Wear in Munich in February

Dress for a whole day standing outside, with one piece of dressing up. NOAA NCEI's figures for Deutscher Wetterdienst's Nymphenburg station put Munich's February at 5.5°C by day and −1.8°C at night, and DWD's own normals count about 16 frost days in the city. On Faschingsdienstag the Narrhalla's guards warm up the Viktualienmarkt from 10am, the Marktweiber dance at 11, and the party at the stalls runs until 7pm, all of it outdoors and free. The city's own guide calls the dance the crowning close of Munich's Fasching. So you pack a loden coat over a knit, boots that grip on frost, leather gloves and a sequinned beret.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Olive loden overcoat, knee length, notch lapel

   Knee-length loden is the layer you keep on from the 10am warm-up to the party at the stalls, which runs until 7pm. NOAA's figures give about 12 days of rain, sleet or snow in a Munich February, and a dense felted coat buttons over everything else when the light goes. Olive sets off the red beret and the knit's green collar.

2. 
   02

   Warm-white knit crew with a green collar and red cuffs

   The Marktweiber dress by trade: muenchen.de says you can tell who runs which stall, "ob Bäckerin, Metzgerin oder Blumenhändlerin" (baker, butcher or flower seller). Your nod to it is quieter. Green at the collar and red at the cuffs show under an open loden coat, and the knit stays on in a warm Wirtshaus when the coat comes off.

3. 
   03

   Cream long-sleeve crew base layer

   A thin cream crew under the knit lets you stand still through about an hour of dancing, then walk into a heated Wirtshaus and peel down to it. DWD counts about 16 frost days in a Munich February: on more than half the month's mornings, the night has dipped below freezing before you set out for Marienplatz.

4. 
   04

   Charcoal pleated wide-leg trousers

   Pleats and a wide leg leave room for warm tights underneath on a day spent standing, and charcoal hides the splash from slushy paving on the market and around the Fischbrunnen. After the purse-washing on Ash Wednesday, muenchen.de says, many Wirtshäuser turn to fish, and the same trousers go to dinner with the knit and the oxblood boots.

5. 
   05

   Oxblood leather lace-up ankle boots, lug sole

   DWD counts about 16 frost days and about 5 ice days, when the temperature never climbs above zero, in a Munich February. The stage stands at the maypole by the beer garden, whose paved area the dancers once claimed as their floor, and a ridged lug sole grips paving when it freezes. Laces hold a wool sock snug through a day on your feet, and oxblood picks up the red beret.

6. 
   06

   Red sequinned beret, wool lined

   München narrisch is planned for open-air stages on Marienplatz and Stachus from Sunday 7 to Tuesday 9 February, and muenchen.de puts the invitation plainly: "Kostümiert mitfeiern könnt ihr ohne Eintritt" (you can join in dressed up, free of charge). A sequinned beret is dressing up you can wear outdoors all day over a sensible coat, and red catches the light on a grey morning.

7. 
   07

   Charcoal smooth leather gloves, cashmere lined

   You clap through about an hour of dancing, then hold a cold glass: the Viktualienmarkt lets you bring your own Brotzeit, but "die Getränke kauft ihr im Biergarten" (you buy your drinks at the beer garden). Slim leather keeps your fingers working on coins and a zip, and sunset at 5:12pm on 1 February and 5:35pm by the 15th comes well before the 7pm close.

8. 
   08

   Olive saddle crossbody with tan leather trim

   On Ash Wednesday, 10 February, the mayor dips the city's purse in the Fischbrunnen on Marienplatz so money flows back after Fasching, and muenchen.de adds: "Ihr dürft eure Geldbeutel natürlich auch eintauchen" (you may dip your own purses too). Bring a small purse you don't mind wetting, and wear it in a crossbody that leaves both hands free at the dance the day before.

A suggested look — olive loden wool overcoat, warm-white knit sweater with green collar and red cuffs, charcoal pleated wide-leg trousers, oxblood leather lace-up ankle boots, red sequinned beret.

What to avoid

• A thin party outfit — outdoors from 10am to 7pm, with a night that falls toward −2°C / 28°F
• Smooth soles — about 16 frost days and 5 ice days in the city
• Arriving at 11 — the warm-up on the Viktualienmarkt starts at 10am
• Your best leather wallet in the Fischbrunnen — dip a small purse you can dry
• Weißwurst after noon on Rosenmontag — by Munich custom it must not hear the noon bells