Winter dressing in Dubai can be pretty confusing: while the daytime stays relatively warm, at night the temperatures drop, creating a gap that can make you feel like you have travelled to another climate without even leaving the city. Top that with the contrast between warm outdoors and ever-blasting air conditioning, add a day that can start with a beach walk and end with dinner on a breezy terrace, and one outfit rarely covers it all. Dressing warmer in this case isn’t going to fix the problem, but dressing in layers is, and this is where good knitwear comes in handy. Here is how to choose it.

Choosing knitwear for a Dubai winter is as much a matter of practicality as of style, which is why the composition tag should be the first thing you check when picking one.  

Acrylic and polyester are the suspects you don’t want to find there: they trap the heat and don’t let your skin breathe as well. Cotton, linen, silk, fine merino wool,  cashmere, and their blends do the opposite. 

As a rule, cotton, linen, and silk work best during the day, while merino and cashmere come into their own in the evening and in over-air-conditioned interiors. Use our guide to natural fabrics to learn more and decode the labels. 

Once the label passes the test, let your hands do the rest. Rub a small area of the surface between your fingers for a few seconds. A little fuzz is normal, especially with cashmere, but if it starts forming tiny balls straight away, leave it on the hanger. 

Then gently stretch a cuff or the hem and let go. A good knit springs back into shape, while a poor one stays slightly loose. Hold the piece up to the light, too – you shouldn’t be able to see through it easily (unless it is an open knit by design), even when the yarn itself is fine. If these boxes are ticked, the knit is dense enough to hold its shape and last longer.

Finally, turn the piece inside out and look at the seams. On better knitwear, the panels are linked together stitch by stitch and lie flat. Bulky overlocked edges usually mean the piece was cut from a larger knitted fabric, which is a quicker and cheaper way to make it.

Two jumpers can look almost identical on the hanger but still cost wildly different amounts, and that gap doesn’t always come down to pure marketing.

The reason behind it is what you can’t really see: higher-quality knits are made from better raw fibre with longer strands that are less likely to pil. Such fibre is spun into tighter, often multi-ply yarn, which helps the piece keep its shape wash after wash. Knits that pill after a few wears are often made from shorter fibres, which leave more loose ends on the surface to rub into little balls, or are blended with synthetics.

Construction adds to the cost too. Shaping each panel and linking the pieces together stitch by stitch takes far more time than cutting pieces from a larger knitted fabric and sewing them together. So does careful finishing, which gives better knits their soft, even surface.

That said, a high price isn’t a guarantee. Part of what you pay for is still the name on the label, and some mid-range brands offer better quality than labels charging twice as much. The difference shows over time: a good knit softens and keeps its shape, while a cheap one starts to look worn after a season.

Dressing for a Dubai winter is all about smart layering. Even a long-sleeved knit can work during the day if it is fine and made of linen, cotton or silk. These fibres stay breathable, while long sleeves give your skin a little extra protection from the sun.

Going inside, add a warmer layer on top, like a fine merino or cashmere cardigan, to stay comfortable in the air conditioning. When you head back outdoors, there is no need to carry it around: just tie it over your shoulders and you are ready for the next change of temperature. The same layer will come in handy again after sunset, when the evening gets cooler.

A Dubai winter doesn’t call for a full wardrobe of knits: a couple of fine pieces for the day and one warmer layer for the evening will cover most of the season, as long as you look after them. Wash them by hand or on a gentle wool cycle, dry them flat and fold rather than hang to prevent fibres from stretching out. When the heat returns, store them clean in breathable bags, away from humidity, and they will be ready for next winter.