Last year on this date, April 30, it was the last Queensday in the Netherlands. On this day, April 30 2013, the crown prince Willem Alexander was crowned King of the Netherlands, meaning the national holiday Queensday is now Kingsday. The difference is that the date April 30 we were all used to for decades is now changed to April 26. This is because April 30 was the birthday of the late former Queen Juliana, and also the date her daughter, crown princess Beatrix at that time and now former Queen Beatrix, was crowned Queen of the Netherlands. Queen Beatrix kept the tradition of the national holiday Queensday on April 30. But since King Willem Alexander is crowned, this holiday is changed to April 26, given the fact that this is his birthday, even if he was crowned on April 30 also. So last Saturday April 26 we had our first Kingsday.

Every year on his national holiday it is allowed to have a free market in every city or village in the Netherlands on the night before and on the holiday itself. Meaning everybody os free to sell whatever things they have lying around in their house, closet, barn, basement, attic/ceiling or wherever. Think of it as a yard sale but then in the city centres and malls. These things are sold for bargain prices starting at 10 cents even. Kids are selling their toys, grown ups their kitchen supplies, household things, electronics, whatever. I, as the Fashion Diva that I am, went out this year to sell my clothes and shoes I don’t want anymore, like I planned to do (see my previous posts “Cleaning out the closet part 1 and part 2). Together with two cousins, who also went with me to sell a bunch of their clothes, jackets, shoes, and bags, I made a pretty nice looking “stand” somewhere in Almere (my home town), calling it Open Air Boutique. My oldest cousin was also selling her dvd’s and the youngest also had toys and baby clothes (of our younger cousins) for sale among other things. My mom and my aunt (mother of my oldest cousin) also came along.

See the pictures of our Open Air Boutique right here.

Me holding a very creative price tag for our sales:

I had a lot of denim jeans and other trousers for sale. My oldest cousin her bags, skinny jeans (pink and dark blue) and boots are also featured in this picture:

An overall look of our Open Air Boutique. I had a lot of clothes from H&M and Wonder Woman (Coolcat Fashion), but also items from Primark, V&D, and C&A. No, the bike was not for sale, it’s from my mom:

The dvd’s (and other stuff). They were sold 1 euro each and three for 3,50.

In the end my cousin was selling her clothes for 50 cents per item, even new ones.

My denim jeans, other trousers and Primark flat sandals still on sale:

The funny thing of this free market is that at the end everyone is dropping their prices because you want to get rid of those things. Nobody really wants to carry their stuff home again. The moment my younger cousin dropped her price to 50 cents per item and was yelling “nice children clothing for 50 cents” she was selling even more. Still we all had some stuff left.

We had a blast and everybody went home making some money. I was there from 10 am till 5 pm with my mother and younger cousin, my oldest cousin (and her mom) left earlier to celebrate Kingsday with her friends. It wasn’t much but I earned 15 euros total. Clothes I didn’t sell and didn’t think I would sell elsewhere I gave away to The Salvation Army. The rest of my good clothes I kept and going to sell another way.

Next year I’ll be selling again.