What to Wear in Seoul in January

Pack for cold that does not let up. NOAA's daily record for the Korea Meteorological Administration's Seoul station puts January at 2.0°C by day and −6.2°C at night, and its three ten-day stretches barely differ: 2.0°C, 2.0°C and 1.9°C in the afternoon. Frost comes on about 29 of 31 nights. On nine or ten days the air never climbs above freezing, and on about six nights it drops to −10°C or lower. KMA's normal date for the Han River to freeze at Hangang Bridge is 10 January. So build the warmth from the skin out: merino, heavy wool, a long down coat that zips to the chin, and nothing left bare.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Ivory mid-calf down coat, stand collar

   Zip it to the chin and leave it zipped. January gives you no mild week, so the coat has to handle 2°C / 36°F at noon and −6°C / 21°F at the bus stop, and a mid-calf hem covers the knees that a knee-length coat leaves to the wind off the Han. Ivory rather than black because this is Seoul's driest winter month, about 23mm, and a pale matte shell stays clean when the pavement does. It also finds you in a hillside crowd of black coats before sunrise on the 1st.

2. 
   02

   Charcoal merino long-sleeve base layer

   Wool against the skin, every day of the month. On nine or ten January days the air stays below freezing from dawn to dusk, and a fitted merino base holds warmth under the knit without the bulk of a second sweater. It also stays fresh through a week of heated subway cars, where you warm up under the coat and cool again on the platform.

3. 
   03

   Ivory heavy-gauge wool crew

   One thick knit instead of two thin ones. Seoul heats its subway, its department stores and many of its restaurant floors, and a heavy wool crew pulls off in one move when you sit down to lunch in Ikseon-dong. Dropped shoulders sit under the down coat without dragging at the armholes, and ivory keeps the top half in one tone with the coat.

4. 
   04

   Forest-green straight chinos

   Your one colour, and it goes on the legs. Seoul breaks a winter of black and grey with a single accent, and deep forest green shows below an ivory coat without shouting. Pull a thermal legging on underneath: the straight, relaxed leg leaves room for it, and on the six or so nights at −10°C or below, cotton alone is not enough.

5. 
   05

   Black pac boots, cream shearling cuff

   NOAA's record flags snow on about six January days, and with frost on 29 of 31 nights whatever falls stays on the pavement as ice. A rubber-shelled lace-up pac boot keeps melt out, the lug grips frozen steps on the way up Achasan, and the shearling cuff closes the gap your trousers leave at the ankle.

6. 
   06

   Long charcoal wool scarf

   Wind it twice and tuck the ends into the coat. A stand collar covers the throat but not the back of the neck, and a long brushed-wool scarf closes that gap on an evening walk along Cheonggyecheon. Charcoal matches the mittens and leaves green as the only colour in the outfit.

7. 
   07

   Ivory faux-shearling earmuffs

   Ears go first at −6°C / 21°F. Earmuffs keep them warm without flattening your hair for the rest of the day, which a beanie does, and they fold into a coat pocket the moment you go underground. At a 7:47am New Year sunrise, close to the coldest hour of the day, they decide whether you stay for the sun or leave before it.

8. 
   08

   Charcoal leather mittens, shearling-lined

   Mittens, not gloves, for a month this cold: fingers share their warmth inside a mitten, and a shearling lining under leather holds it at a frozen market stall. Pull one off to tap a T-money card at the gate and put it back on before the escalator. The rib cuff tucks under the coat sleeve so no wrist shows.

A suggested look — ivory mid-calf down coat, charcoal wool scarf, ivory shearling earmuffs, black rectangular glasses, charcoal leather mittens.

What to avoid

• Waiting for a mild week — every ten-day stretch averages about 2°C by day
• Cropped trousers or short socks — frost on about 29 of 31 nights
• A rain shell — about four wet days all month, much of it snow
• Bare ears at the New Year sunrise — 7:47am, near the day's coldest hour
• An afternoon palace plan — Gyeongbokgung's last entry is 4pm, closed Tuesdays