A dhow is built of wood, and it shows. The hull is planked in teak, the deck is oiled, the rail is worn smooth where hands have rested on it. For centuries vessels of this kind carried dates, pearls and timber between the Gulf, India and East Africa, and those that now take guests out for an evening have changed less than might be expected. An occasion held on a boat like this suggests its own dress. What to wear on a dhow cruise is a matter of matching one natural material with another.

There are, in practice, three kinds of evening. The first is on Dubai Creek, the old harbour of the city, where the dhow passes the wind towers of Al Fahidi, the abra stations and the trading wharves of Deira, still stacked with cargo. The second is at Dubai Marina, between lit towers, a more polished affair. The third is not an evening at all but a full day in Musandam, the Omani peninsula north of the Emirates, where dhows leave Khasab to sail into fjords of bare rock, and dolphins follow the bow.

For the Creek, dress as for a relaxed dinner on a terrace. Linen suits the evening: it breathes at the quay, where the air is still, and has enough body for the breeze once the boat is under way. For men, the Bliss linen shirt in Dark Blue or Vanille with PP casual linen trousers in Oatmeal. For women, the PP linen blouse in Orchid with long loose trousers of her own; the Amelia linen dress shirt in Dubarry or Violet, cut to the thigh, is better kept for the more polished evening at the Marina. Old Dubai is a traditional quarter, and covered shoulders and knees are a courtesy on the walk to the boat. The garments are in the men's and women's linen collections.

Seating decides more than guests anticipate. On many dhows the upper deck is laid out as a majlis: low cushions and carpets around the rail, and dinner served at knee height. Shoes are sometimes left at the gangway. Trousers with room in the leg are more comfortable there than anything narrow, and a shirt that can crease without consequence is an advantage. Linen will take the shape of an evening spent cross-legged on a cushion, and it is none the worse for it.

Temperature is the part most often misjudged. In October and November the evening on the water is warm, in the high twenties, and a short sleeve is enough: the Laos short sleeve linen shirt in Oyster or White. From December to February the air after dark falls to around twenty degrees, lower with the movement of the boat, and guests in summer dress spend the second hour wishing for a sleeve. A long sleeve linen shirt, buttoned, is then the right weight; a second layer over the shoulders is sensible for her. Linen is worn through the Gulf winter for precisely this reason, as the Journal notes in what to wear in Dubai in winter.

Musandam asks for something else. The day runs from mid-morning to late afternoon, the dhow anchors off Telegraph Island and in quiet coves, and guests swim and snorkel from the side. Some of the villages along the fjord walls are reached only by boat, and at anchor the water beneath the hull is clear to the bottom. Here the house rule applies without exception. PP natural swim shorts are the garment for the water, in Oyster, Vanille or Sapphire Blue. PP linen shorts are for dry land and do not go over the side. Between swims a long sleeve linen shirt is the sensible cover, because the cliffs reflect the sun into the fjord from both walls. Khasab is a conservative town; dress covered for the harbour and keep swimwear for the boat.

Colour deserves a thought. Against dark timber and red carpets, pale linen reads cleanly: Oyster, Vanille, Beige Cream, White. After sunset on the Creek, when the lamps are lit along the deck, deeper colourways hold their own: Dark Blue, Dubarry, Violet. Footwear should be flat and easily removed, with a sole that will not mark a deck.

The Creek is also one of the places where the house is found. Park Hyatt Dubai and its Lagoon Beach Club, where the PP collection is presented, stand on its banks a short way upstream from the old wharves. For other evenings afloat, the Journal has considered the linen shirt on deck. A dhow, though, is its own case. It moves slowly, it smells faintly of oil and rope, and it asks only that its guests arrive in something that will be more comfortable at the end of the night than at the start.

What to Wear in Dubai in Winter  ·  What to Wear in Musandam  ·  The Linen Shirt on Deck