For Turks and Caicos, the linen to choose is a short, honest wardrobe: shirts that dry in the trade wind, trousers that look right at a resort dinner, and swim shorts made for the water. Pieter Petros makes all three by hand in its Dubai atelier and in Belgium, in natural fibres, with the swim shorts in Belgian linen and the shirts finished with seashell buttons.

Turks and Caicos is an archipelago of some forty low limestone islands and cays, a British Overseas Territory south-east of the Bahamas, and most visitors know it by a single beach. Grace Bay, on the north shore of Providenciales, runs for miles behind a barrier reef, its waters protected within the Princess Alexandra National Park. It is a place of sea, sand and steady wind, and of very little else to dress for.

The islands’ history is written in salt. From the late seventeenth century, Bermudians sailed south each year to rake salt from the shallow ponds of Grand Turk and Salt Cay, and salt remained the backbone of the economy for close to three centuries, until the industry closed in the 1960s. Cockburn Town on Grand Turk, the capital, still keeps its old salinas, its white-walled houses and something of the quiet of that era.

The high season runs from December to April, when the air is dry and the afternoons stay in the high twenties; the summer is hotter and calmer, and the Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June to the end of November. From about January to early April, humpback whales pass through the Turks Island Passage between Grand Turk and South Caicos on their winter migration, and a morning on the water to watch them is among the great sights of the islands.

To judge linen for a beach island, look at three things. The weight: a light, open weave lets the trade wind through the cloth. The colour: pale shades take up less of the sun’s heat in the open, while mid-tones such as Sky Blue keep their character against water of such intense turquoise. And the origin: certified Belgian linen, whose certificate traces the flax from the field to the cloth, is the clearest proof of fibre quality, and whether Belgian linen is worth it has a precise answer.

On Grace Bay the day is simple. In the water, PP swim shorts in Sapphire Blue or Oatmeal, made for the sea; at the beach restaurant, a Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Sky Blue goes on over them once dry. For dinner at the resorts along the bay, the dress is resort rather than formal: the Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Oyster with PP Trousers 100% Linen in Sapphire Blue from the men’s linen collection; for her, the Amelia linen dress shirt in Hibiscus, in Belgian linen and a dress in itself, from the women’s linen collection.

On the south-west of Providenciales, Chalk Sound National Park is a landlocked lagoon of startling turquoise, scattered with rocky islets where rock iguanas live; powered craft are not allowed, so it is explored by kayak or paddleboard. Further west, Amanyara sits beside the Northwest Point Marine National Park. A morning on the lagoon calls for swim shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, and PP linen shorts in Sky Blue for the drive back.

By boat, the rest of the islands open up. Parrot Cay, the private island of the COMO resort and spa, has its own chapter in what to wear on Parrot Cay. Middle Caicos, the largest island of the chain, has the Conch Bar Caves and the cliffs and beaches of Mudjin Harbour, a day of driving and walking that suits PP linen shorts in Beige and a Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Vanille; for her, the Linen Ladies Set in Mint Green.

A day on Grand Turk among the salt ponds and the old lighthouse asks for a little more: the Monte-Carlo Male in Vanille, with its walnut buttons, and PP Casual Linen Trousers in Vanille. Choose the pieces before the flight; in the Caribbean, the collection is also presented at the boutique of Four Seasons Resort and Residences, Río Grande, Puerto Rico.

Read more: What to Wear in Turks and Caicos · What to Wear in Turks and Caicos for Women · Natural Swim Shorts for Men