ORANGE CITY, Iowa | On a blustery day with gusts up to 45 miles per hour, the tender tulip shoots trembled in the wind while people lined up outside of Stadscentrum like a Hollander’s Black Friday.
Many were hoping to snap up new outfits for their fast-growing grandkids at the annual Dutch Costume Exchange. They needed to move fast. Within 30 minutes of the doors opening, about 40 costumes, priced at $35 to $150 or more, were pretty picked over.
Jeanine Oolman and her three daughters brought nearly half of them – 22 new, authentic Dutch costumes – to the exchange.
In the last few years, they’ve sewed 45-50 costumes a year. As soon as the Christmas tree goes away, her Dutch costume fabric comes out.
At the beginning of April, she had six weeks to fill orders for a dozen adult costumes. She gets the most requests for kids’ wear so they can participate in the Volksparade or Dutch-themed games and dancing.
People are also reading…
Some of the most popular patterns seen on the streets during the Tulip Festival represent the provinces of Friesland and Gelderland for the girls and the town of Volendam for the boys. Generally, these patterns are simpler to sew and the fabrics are easier to find, which keeps the cost down.
“They’re expensive even to buy here,” said Nancy Zeutenhorst, Dutch costume exchange coordinator. “I think that’s why people are hanging onto them yet. I know I do because I’ve got grandkids that are going to start fitting into those smaller ones.”
She still needed to make a couple costumes for a grandson and a granddaughter who had outgrown their outfits from last year.
Her family is from Gelderland, and unlike others who pick what’s prettier or easier to sew, she stays true to her origins and makes the everyday wear outfit which features a black or blue tiny floral-patterned top with a black-and-white checked apron worn over a black or navy skirt. The look is completed with a ruffle-rimmed bonnet.
Zeutenhorst only constructs costumes for her family but at least half a dozen local seamstresses make authentic Dutch costumes for anyone willing to pay the price. Depending on the province, a custom-made outfit can cost $300 to $600.
Those who are handy with a needle and thread can go to the Orange City Library to find some of the simpler patterns while the more complicated ones are kept under lock and key in the Little White Store, where poffertjes are served during the Tulip Festival.
Oolman, who has been making authentic Dutch costumes for 20-some years, sticks to sewing the simpler ones like her mother did before her and now shares in the activity with her grown daughters.
“I thoroughly enjoy sewing,” she said. “Some people get stressed out from sewing. If I’m having a stressful day, I go sit by the sewing machine and I love sewing. Otherwise, you wouldn’t keep it up.”
