The water taxi from North Eleuthera takes only a few minutes, and the island is already visible from the dock: a low line of palms, the clapboard houses of Dunmore Town in pastel paint, golf carts waiting in a row. Harbour Island, which the Bahamians call Briland, is three miles of village and beach with a reputation far larger than its size. The visitor who arrives here in linen arrives correctly, and the question worth asking is which linen, and why.

The morning begins on the pink sand. The beach on the Atlantic side runs the length of the island, its colour coming from tiny fragments of red-shelled organisms mixed into the white. A man walks it in a Laos Short Sleeve linen shirt in White over PP natural swim shorts in Oyster, and leaves the shirt on the sand when he goes in. The swim shorts are 100% Belgian linen, from the natural swim shorts collection. For her, the HER Laos linen shirt in Orange, unbuttoned, as a beach layer.

By noon the golf cart carries the day into Dunmore Town: the harbour front, the old churches, the small shops along Bay Street. It is here that the choice of cloth becomes visible. A shirt that looked crisp at breakfast either holds its character in the humid air or collapses into it. Linen made from long flax fibres, retted and spun with care, keeps a slight body and a dry hand even when the day is warm. This is where Pieter Petros earns its place on Harbour Island, with many of its shirts cut from certified Belgian linen, whose certificate follows the flax from the field to the fabric. Those who want the full account of that certification will find it in the guide to 100% Belgian linen.

Lunch is on a terrace above the harbour. Men wear the Cuba linen shirt in Blue with PP linen shorts in Navy Blue; women the ladies linen set in Dubarry from the women's linen collection, its shorts and blouse in the same colour, or the PP linen blouse in Pink over a white skirt. The cloth is only half of it; the rest is in the making. PP garments are handmade at the atelier in Dubai and in Belgium.

The afternoon is long and slow: a walk back along the beach, a swim, a book on a veranda. Then the island dresses for dinner, and Harbour Island dresses well. Long trousers are the norm at the island's dinner tables. A Male Linen Shirt in Grey from the men's linen collection, over the PP Casual Linen Trousers in Roosewood Pink, sits easily against the white clapboard and lamplight. For her, the Amelia linen dress shirt in Hibiscus, with flat sandals for the sand paths.

Where can the collection be seen and touched in the region? The nearest PP boutique is at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Puerto Rico in Río Grande, where the resort boutique carries the Pieter Petros linen collection; the Puerto Rico guide describes it.

What to wear on Harbour Island and Eleuthera, across the water, are the practical wardrobe guides for the same trip.

Read more: Linen for the Bahamas  ·  What to Wear in the Exumas