Necker Island lies in the British Virgin Islands, a ring of reef and white sand just north of Virgin Gorda, and it measures roughly seventy-four acres. For most of the year it is taken whole, by one family or one party of friends of up to about forty-eight guests; in certain weeks of the year, guests book individual rooms and share the island instead. That arrangement changes the question of what to wear on Necker Island more than the weather does. There is no town to dress for, no promenade and no unfamiliar table beside yours, only the people you came with and the hours of the day.

The season that matters runs from December into April, when the trade winds are steady and rain is the exception. Days sit in the high twenties, evenings a few degrees cooler, and the air moves constantly over the hill where the Great House stands. Most guests fly into Beef Island airport on Tortola and make the short crossing from there; Virgin Gorda is closer still. Within an hour of landing, the luggage is unpacked and the island has begun to set its own pace.

Daylight is divided between the Beach House on the main beach and the trails that loop the island; the walk down from the Great House to the sand is a short one. For men, a short-sleeved shirt and linen shorts carry almost all of it. The Laos Short Sleeve Linen Shirt in Mint Green or Light Blue sits easily against that particular water, and PP linen shorts in White or Sky Blue keep the line clean from breakfast to the trail. For the reef itself there are the PP natural swim shorts; Sapphire Blue reads well against coral, Oatmeal against the sand.

For women, the ladies linen set in Light Blue or Mint Green moves from a morning walk to a long lunch at the Beach House without a change. The Amelia linen dress shirt is a dress in itself, cut to the thigh, and on an island where no one asks for covered knees it works from mid-afternoon straight through to dinner: Hibiscus or Coral Orange when the evening calls for warmth of colour, Oyster when it calls for quiet.

Evenings tend to gather at the Great House, and the dress is that of a private home: considered, never formal. A long sleeve earns its place after sundown, when the breeze on the hill turns cool against bare arms; the Bliss Linen Shirt in Sky Blue is the obvious one to pack. After dark, a Vibes Linen Shirt in Dark Blue over PP Casual Linen Trousers in Vanille is as dressed as the Great House asks anyone to be. A jacket is not needed.

Because the island is so often booked for a celebration — a birthday, a wedding, the turn of a family's year — there is usually one night that asks for more. On Necker, colour does the work that tailoring would do in a city. A Cuba Linen Shirt in Orange, or an Amelia linen dress shirt in Violet, carries a party without stiffness. For a wider route through the archipelago, the British Virgin Islands guide covers Tortola, Virgin Gorda and the anchorages between them.

The case for linen here is the trade wind. A linen shirt of open, honest weave lets moving air reach the skin, and on an island where the wind rarely stops, that matters more here than anything else a shirt can offer. Flax is also generous with dampness after a swim or a climb up the hill, giving it back to the air rather than holding it against the body. The reasoning behind dressing for a place that belongs to its guests for a week is close to the one in our note on dressing for a private island: fewer pieces, better chosen, worn without thought once they are on.

A practical word on footwear. The trails are sandy and uneven in places, and the floors of the Great House are cool underfoot; most days need nothing more than a pair of sandals and bare feet. For the celebration night, the made-to-order PP shoes, in natural fabrics with leather soles, belong to the same evening as the Vibes and the trousers.

On the last night, the lights of Virgin Gorda show across the channel to the south, the wind is still moving through the palms, and the wardrobe has long since stopped asking for attention. That is the measure of having packed well.

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