There are no cars in the Gili Islands, and no motorbikes. People move on foot, by bicycle, or behind the small horse carts the islanders call cidomo, along tracks of packed sand. This single fact settles most of what to wear in the Gili Islands. Nothing is ever far, shoes are close to optional, and whatever is put on in the morning is likely to be worn, in and out of the water's edge, until dusk. The question is less one of occasion than of cloth.

The three islands lie off the north-west coast of Lombok and differ more than their size suggests. Gili Trawangan is the largest and liveliest, with a long eastern strip of restaurants and dive centres and a quieter western shore that faces the sunset and, on a clear evening, the cone of Mount Agung on Bali. Gili Meno, in the middle, is the smallest and stillest, with a salt lake at its centre. Gili Air, nearest to Lombok, has the most settled village life. Fast boats are expected from Bali and short crossings from Lombok; operators and schedules change and are worth checking.

The air is the governing condition. The islands sit some eight degrees south of the equator, warm in every month, with a drier season running roughly from May to October and rain arriving in heavier bursts from November. Humidity is high throughout. In air like this a cloth that holds moisture against the skin becomes uncomfortable within the hour. Linen takes moisture up and gives it back to the air, and a loose cut lets that air through; the detail is set out in our note on linen in humid weather. A size with room in it is worth more here than any particular colour.

The second condition is cultural, and visitors overlook it more often than they should. The people of the Gilis are largely Sasak and Muslim, as on Lombok, and each island has a mosque and a village in its interior. Swimwear belongs to the beach and the pool. Away from the sand, on the village tracks and in the small stores, covered shoulders and a covered thigh are the expected courtesy for men and women, and signs on the islands ask for it. During Ramadan the expectation is firmer. It costs a visitor nothing and it is noticed.

For him, this means a shirt is always within reach. The Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Light Blue or Mint Green, or in Vanille in certified Belgian linen, goes on over PP natural swim shorts for the walk inland. The swim shorts themselves, in 100% Belgian linen, are what goes into the water for the snorkelling that is the islands' main occupation: turtles feed on the seagrass off Meno and the north-east of Trawangan. PP linen shorts stay on dry land, for breakfast, the bicycle and the evening.

For her, the PP linen blouse in Sky Blue, Pink or Lemon covers the shoulder and upper arm and gives protection from a sun that is nearly overhead at midday. The Amelia linen dress shirt in Blue or Dubarry is the easiest garment to pull on after a swim. It is a dress in itself, cut to the thigh, so for the village and for the boat jetty on Lombok the PP linen blouse with a long skirt or a sarong of her own is the better choice. The ladies linen set in Light Blue or Coral Orange serves for a morning by the water and a lunch table set in the sand.

A bicycle is the usual way round Trawangan, an hour's circuit with stretches of soft sand where the wheels sink and the rider walks. Hems that fall clear of the chain, and a shirt that can take salt, dust and sun cream, are practical considerations. Linen tolerates salt and dust well; sun cream wants washing out promptly, and it is kinder to rinse a salted shirt in fresh water the same evening than to leave it for the end of the week. Most villas and small hotels will launder; a line in the shade does the rest.

Evening is early and unhurried. The western shore of Trawangan and the north of Air fill at sunset, people sitting on beanbags and low platforms with their feet in the sand. Dinner is grilled fish chosen from a table on the beach. Restaurants on the three islands rarely expect more than a clean shirt, and long sleeves earn their place for another reason: mosquitoes come out at dusk. The Bliss Linen Shirt, with its long sleeves, in Sky Blue or Pink, and PP Casual Linen Trousers in Oatmeal answer both the hour and the insects.

Very little needs to be brought, and less is better on a boat transfer where bags are carried through the shallows. Many travellers pair the Gilis with Lombok or Bali, and the same linen serves on all three. The islands add only one instruction of their own: keep a shirt to hand, and put it on when the sand ends.

What to Wear in Lombok: Women  ·  What to Wear in Bali  ·  What to Wear in Sumba