Zoe and I had quite a lot of fun doing our girly shopping trips around the port and on the hillside, and for a very old-school, traditional looking town with donkeys down every street there are some pretty hip shops here.

We struck gold at STUDIO HYDRA, which is full of European casual, resort labels, including Noah’s favourite luxury swimwear brand, Vilebrequin. He has always loved this Saint-Tropez based label that makes soft, polyamide swim trunks in a moulded cut, ever since seeing them in the resorts we visited on the Amalfi Coast. But what the label is really famous for is the flair of their upbeat, whimsical prints. The shorts are covered in cocktails or frogs, tribal graphics or starfish, abstract geometrics and barcodes in carnival colours. Jonathan picked up the Vilebrequin bug as well so they were both able to make a good start to their collection here, randomly, in Hydra.

The manager Anna Maria Drakopoulou spends eight months in Athens where she lives, then brings her family to the island to run the shop for four months. As a buyer she has a great eye; the store is full of chic, summery pieces that would be glamorous everywhere. You can’t miss its upfront location right on the waterfront.

I found fantastic handmade, decorative fluro yellow sandals for Zoe made by a label called Bonbon (www.bonbon.com.gr). I got a matching pair for me !

Hot Italian streetwear label, Diesel actually have a store in Hydra. It’s one of the few casual labels that Jonathan wears but they never opened while we there, even though it was high season !

Most shops are easy to find down on the waterfront but it is worth strolling along the whitewashed back alleys too. There are plenty of jewelry studios cum workshops; SPOILED is a little more eclectic, with quirkier, more costume style jewelry a well as stylish sandals, bags, hats and one nice touch - vintage sunglasses. You could find a unique, fun pair to amp up a floaty caftan top. I like thongs (flip flops) or dressier sandals and Elena Kontzia has some really pretty summer footwear at SIRENS on the seafront. CRESCENDO is worth visiting for fresh, colourful resort style clothes that you can accessorise with the boutique’s playful jewelry. Beyond the variety of different fun, jewelry labels that have made their way to the island boutiques there is the singular design vision of Athenian fine jeweler, Konstantino Sioulas. He creates sterling silver and 18 karat gold designs with fine, filigree patterning and embellishment based on old Greek mythology and art at KONSTANTINE. His metallic lockets, rings, bracelets and bangles - studded with pearls and costume gems like black onyx - are sold as far away as New York. But somehow it is more fun to buy from collections with names like ‘Aphrodite’ by the Aegean Sea, in the land that gave birth to her!