What to Wear in Quebec City in November

Pack one coat that is waterproof and warm at once. Environment and Climate Change Canada's figures for Jean Lesage give November a 3.6°C afternoon, a -4°C / 25°F night and a daily mean of -0.1°C, and its 90.9mm splits into 61.7mm of rain and 25.6cm of snow. That split is the whole problem. It rains on the Dufferin Terrace one day, wet snow lands the next, and the Breakneck Stairs are glazed the morning after. Snow cover comes and goes: 2cm on average, about 6cm by the 30th. December's cold is steadier and easier to plan for. Kanuk designed its original Taïga Parka in Montréal in 1974 for this damp cold. Follow its lead: a hooded insulated shell to the knee, wool and merino underneath, rubber lugs below.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Dark navy knee-length insulated parka, sherpa-lined collar

   Rain and snow share this month, 61.7mm of one and 25.6cm of the other, so the outer layer has to stop water and hold heat in the same garment. A navy knee-length insulated parka with a hood does both, and the length keeps your jeans dry to the knee on the climb up Côte de la Montagne. Zip it to the chin on the Dufferin Terrace and the sherpa-lined stand collar closes against the wind.

2. 
   02

   Oatmeal heavy-gauge wool crew

   Wear one heavy knit rather than two light ones, because you will take it off every time you go indoors. Oatmeal heavy-gauge wool under the parka covers a -4°C / 25°F evening at the German Christmas market, then comes off in one pull in a Rue Saint-Jean dining room with the heating up. Against navy it is the whole daytime palette.

3. 
   03

   Slate grey-blue merino long-sleeve base layer

   Merino, because half the month is wet: 14.9 days bring precipitation, and 11.3 of them bring more than a millimetre. A slate grey-blue long-sleeve base holds its warmth when the cuffs get damp, and you wear it three days running without it showing. Under the oatmeal crew it carries you from a 3.6°C afternoon to a night below freezing.

4. 
   04

   Blackened-indigo straight-leg jeans

   Blackened indigo, straight, and long enough to cover the boot shaft, so slush off the pavement runs down the denim instead of into the boot. Dark denim hides the grey splash a paler wash keeps all week. Denim on its own is cold when wet, and that is why the parka goes to the knee: it keeps rain off everything above the boot.

5. 
   05

   Black shearling-lined lace-up boots, squared lug sole

   Ice on the Old Town stairs is the morning-after problem. When a wet day drops below freezing overnight, to -4°C / 25°F on average, the Breakneck Stairs and Côte de la Montagne glaze, and a squared lug sole bites where a smooth one slides. Shearling covers an hour standing at the market, and laces pull the shaft tight where a loose boot lets wet snow in.

6. 
   06

   Loden-green heavy wool scarf

   Wind off the St Lawrence has nothing in its way on the Dufferin Terrace, and it finds the gap between collar and chin first. Wound once, a heavy loden-green wool scarf closes that gap under the sherpa collar, and the hood goes up over it when the snow turns wet. It is the one colour against navy, oatmeal and black.

7. 
   07

   Charcoal wool-lined leather mittens

   Leather, lined, and mittens rather than gloves. At the German Christmas market you stand outside for an hour after dark at -4°C / 25°F, and fingers kept together stay warmer than fingers apart. Charcoal leather sheds wet snow where a knit glove soaks through, and the knitted wool cuff tucks inside the parka sleeve so no wrist shows.

8. 
   08

   Tan-brown oval leather crossbody, zip top

   Across the body, so both mittened hands stay free for the rail on the way down to Petit-Champlain. A tan-brown oval leather crossbody with a zip top keeps wet snow out where a flap lets it under, and it is small enough to sit inside an open parka. Tan is the one warm note against navy and black.

A suggested look — dark navy insulated parka, oatmeal heavy wool knit, dark indigo straight jeans, black shearling-lined boots, loden green wool scarf.

What to avoid

• A wool overcoat — it soaks in 61.7mm of rain and stays damp into a night below freezing
• October's quilted jacket — hip length and no hood, short of the job in wet snow
• Smooth or thin soles — ice on the Breakneck Stairs the morning after a wet day
• Knit gloves — wet snow soaks them; leather mittens shed it
• Daylight plans after four in the last week — sunset reaches about 4pm by the 30th