Gilets, fisherman's knits and low-rise boots: the step-by-step guide to winterising your wardrobe

With the passing of the autumn equinox last weekend and the corresponding fall in early-morning temperatures that’s swiftly followed, it’s finally time to wave goodbye to those flimsy linens and airy cottons that have kept us cool during the hottest summer on record.

And if you haven’t done so already, now is the time to winterise your wardrobe. It sounds harsher than it is: retire the stretched and saggy T-shirts, shrunken polos and sunscreen-stained shorts.

Launder the rest and bag up for storage away from the main thoroughfares of your man-den. (You won’t be needing them any time soon, and if you are heading off somewhere warm, start laying down the key pieces for next season by investing in more.) 

Waffle knit wool sweater, ￡210, SNS Herning

Meanwhile, elevate your mid-season woollens and lighter outwear to front and centre in your mind. Check for holes, pilling and other signs of wear, and, assuming you find them as you left them last spring, indulge in one of the pleasures of living in a seasonal climate.

Don’t go in too hard too soon: puffa jackets and hiking boots continue to have their place in the mens’ style pantheon, but you will look slightly foolish if you break them out before the first real frost lands.

Polo Ralph Lauren gilet, ￡215, Mr Porter

Instead, pick up on the perennial mood for gilets: sleeveless body warmers that have done so much to retire the bulky overcoat before the real winter hits, and consider teaming with one of this season’s must-haves: a solid, cable-knit sweater. The fisherman’s friend has found a new audience of adherents, and given you’re ditching the duffel for now, it’s the perfect partner to that body-hugging gilet.

Next, consider your shoes. Country walking boots continue to hold the imagination of those who wish to qualify their urbanite status with a suggestion of Derbyshire-bound derring-do.

But for true, ankle-warming metropolitan appeal, invest in a pair of Chelsea boots. Once the off-duty choice of Cavalrymen and Kings Road peacocks alike, these have returned to their roots as elegant nods to military-spec sartorialism for non-combatants.

Prada suede Chelsea boots, ￡690, Matches Fashion

The traditional “paddock boot” is still out there, recognisable by its rubber sole and slightly portly toe-box. But for the true aesthete, there is the Bella, a supremely elegant low-rise Chelsea with an exquisitely chiselled toe by the Parisian Bottier, Maison Corthay.

The low profile is important, as it allows the shoe to remain eminently suitable to wear with tailoring, not always a given, whatever the dedicated modernist dresser will tell you, and a point regularly illustrated by one of the style’s most loyal admirers, the Duke of Richmond.

The low-rise Bella boot, ￡1,560, Maison Corthay

Granted, the Bella features a beautiful leather sole, suggesting it might not be up to the truly horrendous rain-blasted days that are a common feature of the UK winter. But if you intend to battle on regardless, then take a tip from one committed boulevardier, Yann DeBelle de Montby, who once told me he treats the soles of his leather shoes with Barbour’s Wax.

Thornproof Dressing – as the name implies, a near impenetrable, easy to apply coating that should ensure no water permeates all that glorious craftsmanship.

Bill Prince is the Deputy Editor of British GQ

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