Mays Modecollege

Dieuwertje Blok

Ask me what should be on the list of forbidden fashion items and I answer: nothing. Because what is terrible for one flatters another. And because the unthinkable can suddenly become ‘en vogue’. Then you might as well have said nothing. Still, there are a few things that I would strongly advise against wearing. Like patterned three-quarter dresses made of jersey fabric. They are always worn with a ‘nibbled’ ankle boot with a sturdy heel and, if possible, combined with a woolen cardigan in one of the many colors from the dress's palette. There is a good chance that a lady in this outfit will ride away on a floral bicycle. For that, she has already stuffed her ecological vegetables into her equally cheerfully patterned bicycle bag.

The chance that this look will become fashionable seems negligible to me, but I would never mention it as an answer to the question with which I started this piece. And that is Dieuwertje. Dieuwertje specializes in knitted cardigans that she wears over her colorful, floral or polka-dotted dresses. Desigual and King Louie are her favorite brands, I suspect, and she can take great pleasure in making a fashion find at a vintage store. Dieuwertje is the only one who can pull off this look. With her graying curls (which always maintain the perfect mix of gray and black), her friendly, intelligent face where a drop of irony can always be read: everything is perfect.

Dieuwertje is Dieuwertje is Dieuwertje. Baroness of the floral dresses, empress of color, and above all the tsarina of the Sinterklaas news. Because of Dieuwertje, this outfit should never be on the forbidden list. On the contrary, I advocate for a UNESCO-like monument list for a certain clothing style worn by a certain person. I would place Dieuwertje at the top of that list.