In modern Netherlands, one local keeps traditional Dutch dress alive

VOLENDAM, Netherlands, March 13 - The Volendam women's costume, with its high pointed bonnet (hul), is one of the most recognisable forms of traditional Dutch dress, appearing often on postcards from the Netherlands. Read more at straitstimes.com.

VOLENDAM, Netherlands, March 13 - The Volendam women's costume, with its high pointed bonnet (hul), is one of the most recognisable forms of traditional Dutch dress, appearing often on postcards from the Netherlands.

But outside the tourist industry, no one publicly wears it in daily life anymore - except Annie In de Betouw-Kwakman, 85.

In the Netherlands, clothing used to be linked to a person's place of origin.

"Almost every Dutch village used to have their own look," said fashion historian Birthe Weijkamp. "You could recognise where someone was coming from, what village they belonged to. So it was very much about identity, about belonging somewhere."

In Volendam, a village 22 kilometres north of Amsterdam, nearly everyone dressed like Annie until the mid-twentieth century, said Simone Kwakman-Brinkkemper, a specialist in Volendam's traditional dress.

The daily outfit includes a black jacket (jak), a short scarf (dasje), an apron (bontje), a long skirt, a tight red coral beaded necklace and black slip‑on shoes (muilen).