Rokjesdag is a Dutch term, meaning "skirts day", which is often used for a day in the springtime when many women begin wearing skirts for the first time in the year. The term is also used to refer to the first day when the weather is between 17 and 20 degrees. [1]
The term had been used before it was popularized by Dutch writer and columnist Martin Bril, to whom its coinage is occasionally mistakenly attributed. [2] [3] Bril used the term "rokjesdag" for the first time in a 1996 column in Het Parool , after which he regularly used it in his columns, including in de Volkskrant . [4] Bril's fascination was with the phenomenon that he sensed of women, as if by secret agreement, suddenly appearing outside with bare legs and a skirt. [5]
The term became so popular that it was incorporated into the Dutch Van Dale dictionary, with a reference to the synonymous term "bloesjesdag" (blouses day).
An earlier reference to this phenomenon in the springtime is seen in François Truffaut's 1977 film L'Homme qui aimait les femmes.
In 2016 there was a Dutch film with the title Rokjesdag, directed by Johan Nijenhuis. In 2024 he directed the film Rokjesnacht (skirts night). [6]
On 2 September 2017 there was a "skirts day for men" organized in Nijmegen. [7]
In the United States "national skirt day" for men is held on March 10. [8]
Het Parool is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means The Password or The Motto.
de Volkskrant is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000.
Arnon Yasha Yves Grünberg is a Dutch writer of novels, essays, and columns, as well as a journalist. He published some of his work under the heteronym Marek van der Jagt. He lives in New York. His work has been translated into 30 languages. In 2022 he received the PC Hooftprijs, a Dutch literary lifetime achievement award. His most acclaimed and successful novels are Blue Mondays and Tirza. The New York Times called the latter ‘grimly comic and unflinching (…) while not always enjoyable, it is never less than enthralling’. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung described him as ‘the Dutch Philip Roth’.
The Stripschapprijs is a Dutch prize awarded to comic creators for their entire body of work. It is awarded annually by the Stripschap, the Dutch Society of comics fans, since 1974. The prize is non-pecuniary, but is considered the most important award for comics in the country.
Halina Reijn is a Dutch actress, writer and film director.
The Anne Vondeling prize, named after the politician Anne Vondeling a member of the Dutch Labour Party, is an annual award in The Netherlands given to journalists who write in a clear manner concerning political subjects.
DPG Media Group is a Belgian media group. It is active in Belgium and the Netherlands. The exact ownership structure is not clear; it is believed that the group is mainly owned by the Belgian Van Thillo family. The company employs about 6,000 people.
Ronald Hans Anton Plasterk is a Dutch retired politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He has a PhD degree in biology, specialising in molecular genetics. He is founder and CEO of Frame Cancer Therapeutics. He was appointed professor at the University of Amsterdam in September 2018.
Jérôme Louis Heldring was a Dutch journalist. He was columnist (1953–2012) and editor-in-chief (1968–1972) of the newspapers Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and NRC Handelsblad.
Jan Andries Blokker Sr. was a Dutch journalist, columnist, publicist, writer, and amateur historian. In The Netherlands, Blokker was best known for his columns in De Volkskrant, which he wrote between 1968 and 2006.
Metro is a free Dutch newspaper, distributed daily since 1999, mostly to commuters in high-traffic areas. Formerly owned by Metro International, in August 2012 the paper was taken over by the Telegraaf Media Group (TMG). At the time of acquisition, TMG already published another free Dutch newspaper, Spits. Later Spits merged into Metro.
Herman Koch is a Dutch writer and actor. He has written short stories, novels, and columns. His best-selling novel The Dinner (2009) has been translated into 21 languages. He has acted for radio, television, and film. He co-created the long-running TV series Jiskefet (1990–2005).
De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars is a political non-fiction book released by the Dutch political commentator and aspiring lawmaker Pim Fortuyn in 2002, two months prior to his assassination. In the book, Fortuyn sharply criticizes the then ruling "Purple" coalition government and its direct predecessor on nearly all areas of their policies.
Mathijs Nicolaas Bouman is a Dutch economist and journalist. He is a regular contributor to the TV programs RTL Z and De Wereld Draait Door and writes columns for Het Financieele Dagblad and the business website Z24.nl. A critic of the Dutch Polder model, in which "bad luck is officially forbidden" and "accidents are banned", he is referred to as a market liberalist, and as a prominent opinion builder whose Twitter account is recommended for "peppered" opinions.
The Republican Society is a Dutch republican movement, founded on 11 September 1996 in the Prinsenhof in Delft, at the initiative of Pierre Vinken. Its aim is to abolish the monarchy of the Netherlands.
Silvana Hildegard "Sylvana" Simons is a Surinamese-born Dutch politician and former television presenter. She served as a member of the House of Representatives between 2021 and 2023 on behalf of BIJ1, an egalitarian anti-racist party founded by Simons in 2016.
Johannes Alexander "Hans" Vijlbrief is a Dutch civil servant, economist, and politician, currently serving as a member of parliament for the social-liberal party Democrats 66 (D66). He previously served as State Secretary for the Extractive Industries in the Fourth Rutte cabinet.
Hans Beerekamp is a Dutch journalist with NRC, including for many years with a daily column on television.
When the Schoof cabinet was formed in 2024, it agreed to declare an asylum crisis in the Netherlands. An agreement was struck between coalition parties in October 2024 to implement several asylum measures through the legislative process.