I Travel to Nantucket Every Summer—This Packing List Makes Me Feel Like a “Coastal Heiress”

There are certain destinations that seem to bark at you to become someone else the moment you start packing for them. Paris does this. So does Palm Beach. And Nantucket? She may be the most persuasive (and loudest) of them all.

The minute the trip is booked, something happens psychologically. Suddenly you’re online looking at cable-knit sweaters, considering boat shoes with alarming sincerity, and convincing yourself that perhaps your entire personality has always been “coastal New England heiress” all along! It’s seductive and completely understandable. Nantucket has a very specific visual language, and it’s hard not to want to participate in it.

And the truth is, the pull makes sense. You will, in fact, probably end up on a boat. Or, at the very least, near enough to the water to think you are. The weather also demands practicality. Days can be warm and bright, but the evenings, even in late June, can carry a sharp ocean chill that sneaks up on you the second the sun drops. Layering isn’t just chic here—it’s survival.

The streets themselves are another consideration. Nantucket’s charming cobblestone streets are less charming after two martinis and a poorly considered shoe choice. This is not the place for precious stilettos or suffering for the sake of fashion. You need summer shoes that can handle movement and uneven terrain. Elegant sandals, sleek loafers, and good old flip-flops. The goal is ease, not yacht-club-captain cosplay.

What I love most about dressing for Nantucket is the color palette. It inhabits the world I’m already naturally drawn to, which makes sense since I’m a New Englander: crisp whites, icy blues, bright pinks, soft greys, weathered navy, the occasional faded red. Everything feels slightly sun-bleached and wind-touched in the best way possible. (This includes hair.)

This is also one of the rare places where pattern mixing feels particularly right. Stripes with checks. Florals with paisleys. Lightweight plaids layered under oversized cotton knits. Menswear-inspired shirting, or sweaters, thrown over a simple swimsuit. Easy slip dresses with flat jelly sandals. Natural fiber bags and totes that can take you from the beach to lunch without having to go back to your hotel room. The trick is, elevating it somewhere else. Maybe it’s a great cocktail ring or a cool seashell brooch. Or even an elegant hair clasp to keep a low bun in place. Slightly sun-kissed skin and a perfect pale pink lip gloss (but not too shiny, God forbid!). Nantucket style works best when it feels inherited rather than performed.

Which is ultimately the key to packing for places with strong identities: don’t abandon yourself entirely. Let the location influence you a little, sure. But you should still look like you, just with slightly windier hair and perhaps a better sweater collection.