What to Wear in Seoul in November

Pack for the whole slope, not the average. NOAA's daily record for the Korea Meteorological Administration's Seoul station puts November at 11.8°C by day and 2.8°C at night, with about 59mm of rain over 8 days. Those averages hide the fastest fall of Seoul's year: afternoons average 15.2°C in the first ten days and 8.9°C in the last ten, and nights slide from 5.5°C to 0.4°C, with frost on about 9 of them. A trench handles the start and fails the finish. So build on a camel wool coat, give it a thin down liner for the last week, add a turtleneck for the frost mornings and one colour for the ginkgo. On Thursday 19 November the country sits its university entrance exam, and on exam day in 2024 every take-off and landing in Korea stopped for 35 minutes during its English listening test.

The capsule

1. 
   01

   Camel wool coat, hip length

   Start with a coat that works at 15°C and still works at 3°C with help. A hip-length camel wool coat goes open over the turtleneck in the first week and buttoned over the down liner in the last, and hip length keeps it clear of the subway seat and the café chair in Seongsu. Camel is the warm note in a capsule of black, cream and pale grey.

2. 
   02

   Thin black down liner jacket, collarless

   This is the piece that moves the coat from autumn to winter. Nights fall from 5.5°C to 0.4°C across the month, and a thin collarless down liner under the camel coat adds the warmth of a padded jacket without its bulk. Snap it on for a 7am palace gate and roll it into the bag by an afternoon in Hannam-dong.

3. 
   03

   Cream fine-rib wool turtleneck

   Frost arrives on about 9 November nights, and a turtleneck covers your neck on those mornings so the scarf can stay loose. Cream rather than October's black, so the pale half of the capsule has a centre, and fine rib so it sits flat under the liner.

4. 
   04

   Pale grey pleated wide-leg trousers

   A pressed pleat and a wide leg read precise in Hannam-dong, and the width leaves room for a thermal legging in the last, coldest week without showing a line. Pale grey is the light half of the capsule, and it keeps a camel coat from looking like an office.

5. 
   05

   Black leather derbies

   Polished black derbies, because Seoul reads shoes first and November gives you about 8 wet days to scuff them. Leather keeps your feet dry on a cold wet pavement where canvas soaks through, and a lace-up stays put on the long walk from Gyeongbokgung up to Samcheong-dong.

6. 
   06

   Mustard marled wool scarf

   One colour, the Seoul way, and in November it comes from the trees along the avenues as the ginkgo turns. A marled mustard wool scarf closes the neck of the coat at 3°C / 37°F and gives a camel-and-grey outfit a point to look at.

7. 
   07

   Cognac leather top-handle bag

   Structured, because a soft bag sags by evening and Seoul notices. Cognac with a top handle and a strap sits with the camel coat, takes the down liner rolled small when it comes off at lunch, and goes across the body on a crowded Line 2 train.

8. 
   08

   Dark indigo straight jeans

   Your second pair of trousers, for a day on your feet. Clean dark indigo, unripped and hemmed at the ankle, is as far toward casual as the Seoul register goes, and heavy denim blocks more of a cold wind than it looks. Wear them with the turtleneck and derbies for a Bukchon walk.

A suggested look — camel wool coat, cream fine-rib turtleneck, pale grey pleated wide-leg trousers, black leather derbies, mustard wool scarf.

What to avoid

• October's trench alone after the 20th — 8.9°C days and 0.4°C nights in the last ten
• A full-length padded coat in the first week — 15.2°C afternoons in the first ten days
• Canvas sneakers — about 8 wet days on cold pavement
• A bare neck — frost on about 9 nights
• An unchecked flight on 19 November — exam day halted every flight for 35 minutes in 2024