Coming to a North Holland town can put one shockingly face-to-face with some of the most interesting women on the planet. They are also comfortable with themselves and can be brutally honest. I could just do a photo essay, but what are these beautiful creatures really like? I set out for a closer look at Dutch women through the eyes of a photographer, a fashion model and women in local neighbourhoods to see if common threads emerged.
Carin Verbruggen is a renowned Dutch fashion and lingerie photographer who has worked with women from around the world - and the musician Usher - but enjoys working with Dutch women because she says they are "easy going and confident," and that this sets them apart from others.
Carin said about Dutch girls, "You can have a lot of fun with them, and they are not like babies in front of the camera. Sonja, 38, has lived and worked internationally as a fashion model. She exhibited Dutch modesty as she was hesitant to acknowledge that she has appeared on the covers of magazines like Elle, Vogue and Grazia. Sonja said that much of the confidence and comfort seen in Dutch women comes from the nature of the culture itself.
Sonja, who does not know Carin, pointed out that Dutch women wear less makeup and are more natural than others internationally. Doutzen Kroes and Lara Stone are the glittering hood ornaments of the Dutch fashion hot rod at the moment. Carin and Sonja agree that Kroes and Stone carry themselves well and are prime examples of homegrown beauty even though Stone is reported to have an English father. The average height of a Dutch woman is around cm, or 5' 10", and Dutch women were compared several times to the Swedes, but there is a different bone structure that supports slightly stronger faces.
Sonja said that many women here cast their already modest concerns about beauty aside and focus on living health-conscious lifestyles as they grow older. As they tend to cut their hair shorter than in other cultures and have declining concern for fashionable clothes, Dutch women can appear more masculine than their counterparts. Carin said because of the clothes, "Sometimes you cannot tell who is the man or the woman.
