At the Glass Window, near the northern end of the island, Eleuthera narrows to a ridge of rock so thin that a single bridge carries the road between two seas. On one side the Atlantic runs dark blue and heavy; on the other, the shallow Bight of Eleuthera is the pale green of bottle glass. Stand on the bridge for a minute in the trade wind and the island's dress code makes itself plain without being written anywhere: light cloth, an easy cut, nothing that minds the wind.

The island's name comes from the Greek word for freedom. In 1648 a group of English Puritans from Bermuda, the Eleutheran Adventurers, were wrecked on the reef to the north and took shelter in what is now called Preacher's Cave; their settlement was among the first in the Bahamas. Governor's Harbour, halfway down the island, keeps that colonial past in clapboard houses climbing the hill above the bay. It is a working town with a bank, a handful of shops and a small library, and the clearest lesson in what to wear in Eleuthera: the shirt that runs the morning errands is the same one worn to dinner on a verandah.

Distances are long. The Queen's Highway runs the length of the island, and with three small airports at North Eleuthera, Governor's Harbour and Rock Sound, a trip from one end to the other fills a day with stops. Garments have to look composed after an hour in a car. For men, a Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Light Blue or a Cuba Linen Shirt in Lemon Yellow, over PP linen shorts in Beige, keeps its ease through the drive; the full range is in the men's linen collection.

Eleuthera's Atlantic beaches are long and often empty, and on several of them the sand carries a faint pink from the shells of tiny marine organisms. Lighthouse Beach, at the southern tip near Bannerman Town, is reached by a rough road and repays it with low cliffs and an almost deserted shore; Surfer's Beach, near Gregory Town, is where the island's waves are. For the water, the PP swim shorts come in Roosewood Pink, a colour that sits well against that faint pink sand, and in Sapphire Blue.

In Rock Sound, in the south, the Ocean Hole is an inland pool joined to the sea underground, deep, still and full of fish that come to the steps to be fed. It makes a short stop on the way to Lighthouse Beach. At the other end of the island, a few minutes by water taxi from the North Eleuthera dock, Harbour Island has its own pink sand and its own more dressed-up evenings, set out in what to wear on Harbour Island.

For women, the Amelia linen dress shirt in Lemon or Pink suits the long verandah lunches and a walk through Governor's Harbour; the Oyster colourway, with its walnut buttons, is the one for dinner at one of the island's small resorts. The ladies linen set in Sky Blue goes over a swimsuit for the climb up from Surfer's Beach. The women's linen collection also holds the PP linen blouse in Pink, which sits well with a long skirt when the evening breeze turns cool.

Friday is fish fry night at Anchor Bay in Governor's Harbour, when the island gathers around grills on the waterfront. It is informal, loud with music and good-humoured, and a shirt in a brighter colour belongs there: the Male linen shirt in Orange with PP Casual Linen Trousers in Vanille.

The dry months from December to April are the high season, warm by day and mild at night; summer is hotter and more humid, and the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November. Evenings in January and February can feel cool on the Atlantic side, and a long-sleeved shirt such as the Bliss Linen Shirt in Dark Blue is then worth having. Across open water to the south lie the Exuma Cays, for which see what to wear in the Exumas.

In early June, Gregory Town holds its pineapple festival, a reminder that Eleuthera once grew much of the pineapple shipped out of the Bahamas. The plantations are smaller now, but the fruit on the roadside stalls in summer is still grown on the island.

Read more: What to Wear in the Bahamas  ·  What to Wear in Turks and Caicos