December
The most scheduled month of the year, and underneath it the darkest and quietest. December is two things at once — three weeks of lists, parties and shipping deadlines, and then a week where the country stops entirely and the light finally starts coming back.
Days 335–365 · Sunset near 4:32
In Season
What the month is made ofAt the market
Citrus properly arrives, along with nuts, dried fruit and every root vegetable that stores. The good butter and the good cheese are worth it this month; almost nothing else is.
The light
The solstice is around the 21st, and the days start lengthening immediately — a fact worth knowing on the 22nd, when it does not feel remotely true.
The house
Lights go up in the first week and are the best thing about the month. The tree, whichever way you do it, is a light source before it is a decoration.
The rituals
Every one of them, all at once. Then the strange, excellent week between Christmas and New Year when nobody knows what day it is.
What to Wear Now
Warm, and slightly better than usualThe good sweater
December has more occasions than any other month. Own one that handles them.
Gloves that work
Lined, not decorative. You are outside more than you think this month.
Boots for the party
It is icy and you are dressed up. Both can be true.
The December List
Four things worth owning this monthA cashmere crewneck
The one indulgent purchase that gets worn two hundred times.
See it →Lined leather gloves
Buy once, at the right size, and stop losing cheap ones.
See it →A carrying bag
December is a month of carrying things. Have something that is not a plastic sack.
See it →Real candles
The shortest days of the year deserve better than an overhead light.
See it →july.us may earn a commission.