This Irish-language article explores the connections between creativity and women's culture in the dress tradition of the Aran Islands. Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in the community, along with the study of dress artefacts, the study shows how a high level of textile skills among women, along with considerable pride in these skills and a strong sense of their own identity as women and as islanders were all factors in both the retention of traditional forms of dress in this area for longer than in other Irish communities, and the creativity and dynamism around traditional elements of dress in the twentieth century, with Aran knitwear being the best example of this.