Nantucket Fashion Style: What to Wear & How to Bring the Style Back Home with You
Nantucket has its own dress code — unwritten, instinctive, and entirely its own. It's not about labels or trends. It's about a certain ease: clothes that work for a morning on the beach, an afternoon on the cobblestones, and a candlelit dinner at the Chanticleer, all without a moment of overthinking. This is our guide to Nantucket fashion style, done exactly right.
Look one
The Beach Dress
Nantucket mornings begin at the beach — Surfside, Cisco, or anywhere the Atlantic is doing something beautiful. The dress code here is simple: something fluid, something white or sun-bleached, something that moves with the breeze rather than against it.
A long maxi in white or ivory is the Nantucket beach uniform, and natural fiber clothing is the only sensible choice in island heat. Cotton lawn, voile and gauze are all wonderful — lightweight enough to feel like almost nothing, but with a beautiful drape that synthetic fabrics simply can't replicate. Linen, rayon and silk all work beautifully here too. The point is breathability: something that keeps you cool from the first ferry to the last sunset.
The Nantucket rule
Keep everything else minimal — a simple leather sandal, a straw tote, a single piece of gold jewelry. The dress does all the work.
Look two
The Town Stroll
Main Street Nantucket is one of those rare places where the architecture, the flowers spilling over the window boxes, and the people all seem to have agreed on an aesthetic. It's grey shingles, cobblestones, and an unhurried quality that the rest of the world has mostly forgotten.
A gingham dress is one of those prints that feels made for a New England summer — cheerful without being loud, classic without being boring, and somehow exactly right against a backdrop of grey shingles and window boxes full of geraniums. Nantucket rewards classic prints: gingham, madras plaid, and the kind of small liberty-style florals that look like they were designed with a picket fence in mind. Add a wide-brim hat against the summer sun and the basket bag that has become as much a part of Nantucket as the hydrangeas, and the look is complete.
The basket bag
If there is one Nantucket fashion accessory worth investing in, it's a good lightship basket or woven tote. Functional, beautiful, and completely at home whether you're at the farmers market or a gallery opening on India Street.
Look three
The Golden Hour
There is a particular kind of Nantucket afternoon that involves a lawn, a view of the Sound, and a glass of something cold. The occasion calls for something effortless — and wide-leg linen trousers are one of the great underused answers to that question.
The beauty of wide-leg trousers on an island is that they have the same fluid, relaxed quality as a summer skirt without any of the wind-related complications. Linen is the obvious choice — a breathable natural fiber fabric that softens beautifully with wear, and the natural rumple that sets in after an hour on a lawn looks intentional rather than careless. Pair with a simple white camisole or cropped top, keep the jewellery light and gold, and you have one of those outfits that photographs beautifully and requires absolutely no effort.
The linen rule
Linen wrinkles. This is not a problem — it's part of the point. On Nantucket, a little natural texture signals that you've been somewhere, doing something. Embrace it.
Look four
The Nautical Classic
If there is one outfit that captures Nantucket fashion style in a single look, it might be this one. A white flared midi skirt and a Breton stripe top is a combination that has been right for about a hundred years and shows no sign of stopping.
A white cotton summer skirt cut with a fluid flare is the kind of piece that looks perfectly at home on a Nantucket dock, at a harbor lunch, or wandering the galleries on Easy Street. Look for mercerized cotton sateen or a crisp cotton poplin — natural fibers that move and breathe in the island heat while holding a beautiful shape. The flared midi length is the sweet spot for island dressing: long enough to feel elegant, short enough to actually walk the cobblestones in.
Why it works
Add a low espadrille or wedge sandal and you're ready for anything the island offers. The stripe does the styling — keep everything else clean and simple.
Look five
The Cottage Garden
Nantucket in summer is practically a garden. The grey shingle cottages are draped in climbing roses, the hedgerows overflow with hydrangeas in every shade of blue and pink, and everywhere you look something is in bloom. It would be almost rude not to dress accordingly.
A tiered floral skirt in a large-scale botanical print is made for exactly this moment. The two-tier silhouette has a beautiful fluid movement, and when that print is drawn from the purples, blues and soft whites of the island's own wildflowers, the result feels like Nantucket fashion style at its most natural. The hand-illustrated Bloomin' Lovely print by artist Peacoquette Designs used here is a perfect example — the kind of artwork that earns its place on a summer skirt.
Print dressing, the Nantucket way
With a statement print this beautiful, keep everything else clean. A simple white sleeveless top, white strappy sandals, and let the skirt do exactly what it was designed to do. The Bloomin' Lovely print is also available in a smaller scale if you prefer a more understated take on the same look.
Look six
Dinner at the Chanticleer
The Chanticleer is one of those restaurants that Nantucket does so well — a rose-covered inn in Sconset where dinner on the terrace on a warm summer evening is one of life's genuinely perfect experiences. It calls for something that rises to the occasion without trying too hard.
A navy or black midi skirt in mercerized cotton sateen is exactly right for a Nantucket evening. Natural fiber clothing earns its place here too — cotton sateen has a subtle sheen that reads as dressed-up without any of the discomfort of synthetic fabrics on a warm night. Paired with a silk blouse and simple jewelry, it has that quality the island seems to ask for: quiet confidence, beautiful fabric, nothing superfluous.
The evening rule
Nantucket evenings are warm but the restaurants are often cool. A fine cashmere cardigan draped over the shoulders is both practical and the most elegant thing you can do. Navy, cream or black — all perfect.
"Nantucket style is not about what you wear. It's about how little you have to think about it."
All Sweet Violet skirts are handcrafted in Richmond, Virginia and made to order in natural fiber fabrics. Custom lengths available. Explore the collection →