What to Wear in Paris in November

Pack for the room at the end of the walk. Météo-France's Paris-Montsouris figures give November 11°C / 52°F afternoons and 6°C / 43°F nights, rain on about 10 days, and 69.8 hours of sunshine in the whole month, roughly two hours twenty a day against October's 118.6. The warmth holds. The light goes. Sunset slides from about 5:30pm on the 1st to before five by the 30th, and the calendar follows it inside: Paris Photo under the Grand Palais glass from 12 to 15 November, then Beaujolais Nouveau on Thursday the 19th. So the coat goes on at breakfast and stays on until the last Métro, which makes it the outfit. Everything under it is chosen for the gallery or the café table it opens onto.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Light heather-grey wool-cashmere coat, single-breasted, one button, mid-thigh

   At 11°C / 52°F the coat goes on after breakfast and stays on until the last Métro, so in November it is the outfit rather than a layer. Light heather grey instead of black, because by about 5:10pm in mid-month the street is dark and a pale coat is what still shows. One button and a mid-thigh length: it opens in a single move when you walk into the Grand Palais.

2. 
   02

   Cream Breton knit with navy stripes, buttons on the left shoulder

   Open the coat inside a gallery and this is what the room sees, so it has to hold the outfit by itself. Cream with navy stripes sits under light grey without a fight, and the buttons on the left shoulder open the neck wide enough to pull it over a shirt collar without crushing it. Wear it to the first public afternoon of Paris Photo, Thursday 12 November, doors at 1pm.

3. 
   03

   White fitted cotton shirt, long sleeves, shaped waist

   Two jobs, one shirt. Collar out under the Breton, it gives the stripe a clean edge at the neck; alone under the open coat, it is the top for the evening you swap the jeans for the skirt. The shaped waist tucks into an A-line without bunching at the hip, which a boxy shirt never manages under a coat buttoned for a 6°C / 43°F walk home.

4. 
   04

   Near-black indigo straight jeans

   Near-black rather than mid-wash, because a splash from a wet kerb on one of the 10 rain days disappears into it, and because it carries a nine o'clock bistro table without a change. A straight leg falls onto the loafer and stops short of the pavement, where a flare or a pooled hem picks up water. Dense denim also holds off a 6°C / 43°F evening among the La Défense chalets.

5. 
   05

   Mid-blue flared A-line midi skirt, mid-calf

   Swap it in for Beaujolais Nouveau on Thursday 19 November, with dark tights under it for the 6°C / 43°F walk home. A mid-calf hem clears the wet pavement a maxi drags through, and the A-line flare lets you take the stairs out of a Métro station at full stride. Mid-blue picks up the navy stripe in the Breton, so the one knit works with both bottoms.

6. 
   06

   Black leather penny loafers

   Paris Photo is open from 1pm to 8pm, and every hour of it is spent standing on a hard floor between booths. A flat black leather loafer handles that, looks right at the bistro afterwards, and wipes clean after a wet crossing on one of the 10 rain days. Black rather than brown, so it disappears under near-black jeans and dark tights alike.

7. 
   07

   Black structured top-handle leather bag, turn-lock, detachable shoulder strap

   Carry it by the handle through Paris Photo, close to your side between booths, and clip the strap on for the Métro out to La Défense after the market opens on 12 November. A structured body keeps its shape in the rain instead of slumping, and the turn-lock shuts without a zip. Inside: the folded umbrella, a phone and a Navigo card.

8. 
   08

   Burgundy compact folding umbrella, wrist strap

   Météo-France counts 54.3mm across about 10 wet days, a little over 5mm each, so a compact is enough, and a wool-cashmere coat is no substitute for one. Fold it into the black bag between showers. The wrist strap keeps a hand free among the 300 chalets at La Défense, and burgundy is the one colour in a capsule of grey, cream, navy, white, blue and black.

A suggested look — light grey cashmere coat, cream and navy breton knit, near-black straight jeans, black penny loafers.

What to avoid

• Daylight plans after five — sunset is about 5:10pm by mid-month and before five on the 30th
• The coat as your rain plan — wet wool-cashmere is still damp the next morning
• Hems that touch the pavement — rain on about 10 days, and a trailing hem soaks it up
• The Arc de Triomphe on the morning of 11 November — closed for the national ceremony
• Paris Photo before 1pm or on the 11th — doors open at one, and the vernissage is invitation only