What to Wear in Rome in December

Dress for the inside. NOAA's 30-year record for Ciampino puts December at 12.8°C by day and 4.7°C at night, with about 103mm of rain on roughly 12 days. That is mild enough for the street in a wool coat. The question is what happens indoors, because December in Rome is a month of churches: the Immacolata at Piazza di Spagna on the 8th, the nativity scenes, Christmas Masses at St Peter's. The basilica lists its dress policy plainly, "long or below-knee trousers; skirts below knee length; covered shoulders for all visitors", and says there is "no cloakroom service available inside Saint Peter's Basilica at the moment". The Vatican Museums keep medium and large umbrellas at their own cloakroom. So whatever you wear in comes with you: a coat you can carry, a layer under it that covers your shoulders, a hem below the knee, and an umbrella that folds into a bag.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Espresso long wool coat, notch lapel

   At 5°C / 41°F on a December evening a long wool coat is the right weight for the street, and in Rome it is also the coat you will carry indoors. St Peter's has no cloakroom at the moment, so pick one that folds over an arm without dragging on the floor and does not crumple. Espresso brown sits under the burgundy and cranberry of the rest of this capsule and hides splashes from wet sampietrini.

2. 
   02

   Deep burgundy chunky cable-knit cardigan

   Once the coat comes off inside a church, the layer underneath has to cover your shoulders by itself; St Peter's asks for covered shoulders for all visitors. A buttoned cable cardigan does that and keeps you warm in a marble nave. Wear it over a fine top so you can open it in a heated trattoria, and pick burgundy because it hides a splash of wine at a long Christmas lunch.

3. 
   03

   Cream brushed-wool stole, fringed

   This is the piece that lets you wear something sleeveless to a Christmas dinner and still walk into a Mass afterwards. Draped over both shoulders, a stole meets the basilica's rule; wound round the neck, it is a scarf for the walk home along the Tiber at night. Cream lifts the espresso coat and folds flat into the bag.

4. 
   04

   Cranberry sunray-pleated midi skirt

   St Peter's asks for "skirts below knee length", and the Vatican Museums list miniskirts among the garments not permitted, so a midi is the safe length for every church on the itinerary. Sunray pleats move when you walk up the Spanish Steps and do not crease on a pew. With the stole and the ankle boots it is the Christmas Eve outfit.

5. 
   05

   Dark chocolate wool flannel wide-leg trousers

   For the days that are not about churches, trousers that still pass the basilica's rule of long or below-knee: wool flannel, cut wide, to the ankle. Flannel holds warmth at 5°C / 41°F without the bulk of a thermal, and chocolate brown carries the espresso coat down to the boots in one colour.

6. 
   06

   Dark brown leather ankle boots, side zip, rubber sole

   Rome's sampietrini are blocks of leucitite, Treccani notes, and on about 12 rainy December days the stone turns slick. A rubber sole grips where leather slides, and a side zip means the boots come on and off without a struggle on a hotel step. Ankle height clears both the midi skirt and the wide trousers.

7. 
   07

   Terracotta folding umbrella, wooden handle

   Bring a folding one, not a stick. The Vatican Museums say medium and large or non-telescopic umbrellas must be left at their cloakroom, and if you walk on to St Peter's afterwards you are told not to leave your bags behind. A compact umbrella goes into the bag instead. December rain at Ciampino comes in bursts, about 7 days of it heavier than 2.5mm, so you will use it.

8. 
   08

   Burgundy structured top-handle bag with a shoulder strap

   St Peter's recommends "only small backpacks or small personal bags", and the UK Foreign Office warns of bag-snatching and pickpocketing in Italian city centres and at major attractions. A small structured bag with a turn-lock, worn across the body on its strap, answers both. It holds the folding umbrella, a phone and a card, and closes properly in a crowded nave.

A suggested look — espresso long wool coat, burgundy cable-knit cardigan, cream wool stole, cranberry pleated midi skirt, dark brown leather ankle boots.

What to avoid

• Bare shoulders or a hem above the knee — the basilica and the Museums turn you away
• A full-size stick umbrella — the Museums check it
• The Vatican Museums on 8, 25 and 26 December — closed
• Leather soles — wet sampietrini on about 12 days
• A backpack or an open tote at crowded sites — pickpockets