The Chora of Folegandros stands on the lip of a cliff some two hundred metres above the sea, and the wind arrives there before anything else does. What to wear in Folegandros is decided by that wind, by stone paths that have never been levelled for visitors, and by an island with no airport and one road worth the name. It is a small Cycladic island between Milos and Santorini, with fewer distractions than either, and its dress follows: plain, light, and able to go from a footpath to a table under a plane tree without being changed.

Three places make up most stays. Karavostasis, the port, where the ferry lets down its ramp. The Chora, with its Kastro quarter of white houses built shoulder to shoulder as a defensive wall, and its run of small squares. And Ano Meria, the farming settlement strung along the ridge to the north-west, where terraces and threshing floors are still in use. Old mule paths run between them. Ferries are expected from Piraeus and from neighbouring islands, though timetables change with the season and are worth checking before anything is packed.

Linen suits a place like this for reasons that have little to do with fashion. The cloth dries on the body wherever air moves across it, and Folegandros has moving air in quantity. The meltemi blows from the north through July and August, hard enough on some days to keep small boats in harbour. A linen shirt of honest weight sits against that wind without clinging, where a very thin cloth flaps and lifts. PP's linen, much of it certified Belgian linen, has enough body for a cliff village.

For him, the day is a short-sleeved shirt. The Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Vanille or White reads cleanly against whitewash, and the Cuba Linen Shirt in Blue brings some colour to an island that is mostly white, ochre and grey rock. PP linen shorts in Beige or Navy Blue serve for the Chora and the lanes. On the footpaths proper, the descent to Agali or the longer walk to Livadaki, closed shoes with a grip matter more than anything else worn. The stone is polished in places and loose in others.

The beaches ask for a separate garment. Agali is reached by road, and Agios Nikolaos by a path or a small boat from it. Katergo, on the south-east side, is reached by boat from Karavostasis or by a steep walk with no shade. None has much in the way of facilities, which is their appeal. PP natural swim shorts, in 100% Belgian linen with a walnut button at the back pocket, go into the sea, and the linen shirt waits in the bag until the swim is over. Water and a hat are worth carrying; there is often nothing to be had at the far end.

For her, the PP linen blouse in Sky Blue or Lemon covers the most ground: long in the sleeve against midday sun on an exposed path, light enough for the climb back up. The ladies linen set in Dubarry or Light Blue answers the Chora's mornings, and the Amelia linen dress shirt in Oyster, with its walnut buttons, is the evening choice, or is left open over swimwear on the way back from Agali. Flat sandals with a strap. Heels have no purchase on these lanes.

Evenings are the island's main event, and they are modest ones. The squares of the Chora fill with tables under plane and pepper trees, and the dish to order is matsata, the island's handmade pasta, usually served with rabbit or cockerel. No one dresses up. A fresh shirt, long trousers if the wind is in, and something for the shoulders: at this height the temperature falls quickly once the sun has gone, even in August, and by late September a long sleeve is wanted from dusk. The Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Oyster does this for him without adding weight to the bag.

Before dinner, the walk is up the zigzag path to the church of the Panagia, white against the hillside above the village, for the sunset. It takes about a quarter of an hour and is entirely exposed to the wind. Covered shoulders are the expected courtesy if the church itself is open, and worth observing either way. From the top the whole logic of the island is visible: cliff, village, terraces, sea on both sides.

Linen will crease here, on the ferry bench, under a rucksack strap, in the wind. That is the nature of flax and no one in the Chora is counting. What the island does ask is that little is brought. Three shirts, one pair of shorts, swim shorts and something long for the evening will see him through a week, and a blouse, a set and one Amelia linen dress shirt will do the same for her, washed once in a basin and dried on a line in the meltemi. The same bag serves on Milos and Sifnos, with more beach and less cliff. On Folegandros it is opened on the first evening and hardly thought of again.

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