Panama City is one of the Americas' most underrated luxury destinations — a city of dramatic skyline contrast, where the towers of the financial district face the colonial Casco Viejo UNESCO World Heritage Site across the Bay of Panama, and where the canal that has shaped global trade for over a century runs minutes from the city centre. Panama's growing luxury hotel scene and the archipelago of the San Blas Islands to the east and the Pearl Islands to the south make it a destination of genuine range.

The cultural and dress context. Panama has no specific public modesty requirements — the dress code for the city's business and cultural occasions is similar to a South American capital. The tropical climate — consistently above 28 degrees, with high humidity — makes certified Belgian linen's breathability practically necessary.

For the Casco Viejo. The UNESCO-listed colonial district — the squares, the churches, the boutique hotels (the American Trade Hotel, the Magnolia Inn), the growing restaurant scene. A PP linen shirt in white or a warm natural with linen trousers and leather shoes. The Spanish colonial architecture of the Casco rewards natural fabric in natural colourways.

For the Panama Canal. The Miraflores Locks visitor centre — the most visited attraction in the country, where the scale of the engineering and the volume of the ship traffic make the canal a genuinely extraordinary experience. A PP linen shirt in white with linen trousers and leather shoes.

For the Pearl Islands. The archipelago of 90 islands in the Pacific — Isla Contadora, the most developed of the islands, with resort hotels and snorkelling. Natural swim shorts and a white PP linen shirt for the boat crossing and the island beach.

What to Wear in Costa Rica  ·  What to Wear in Turks and Caicos  ·  Men's Linen Collection