Luxurious Boutiques at Hague

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands and its biggest city, but the country’s political and diplomatic life is centered at The Hague.

This charming and sophisticated city, about 40 miles southwest of Amsterdam, is the seat of Dutch government and the residence of Dutch royalty, as well as the site of foreign embassies and of the International Court of Justice (the world’s Supreme Court, where attorneys and government representatives gather to resolve international disputes about business, borders and byways).

As European nations move toward unity in 1992, The Hague is becoming an increasingly important destination for American business travelers. At the same time, it continues to attract tourists with its rich array of museums and historic attractions, and to delight shoppers with its elegant and refined boutiques filled with a wide range of high-quality goods that cater to sophisticated international clients.

Historic Setting

The Hague’s most appealing retailers are concentrated in a downtown shopping district, conveniently within several blocks of the Binnenhof. A must-see collection of beautiful palaces, courtyards, arches and portals that date back to the 13th Century, the Binnenhof is home to the Dutch Parliament and several ministries.

The Hague’s most elegant department store, De Bonneterie (Gravenstraat 2), is the shopping district’s anchor. This is where the queen and other members of the royal family, as well as diplomats, select purchases from a tastefully assembled assortment of luxurious clothes and personal accessories made by Gucci, Guy Laroche, Georges Rech, Ralph Lauren, Valentino, Louis Feraud, Celine, Bruno Magli, Burberrys, Hugo Boss, Daks and other top manufacturers.

Prices are steep, but De Bonneterie offers superb personal service and has terrific snob appeal.

Nearby is the Passage. This is The Hague’s covered shopping arcade, always beautifully decorated with fresh flowers. The Passage has about a dozen choice shops, several of which have been there since the arcade opened in 1895 or since it was expanded in 1929.

There are boutiques with lovely leather goods and jewelry, and shops with electronic goods and cameras, but the Passage is best for shops selling a tempting variety of sweets for on-the-spot nibbling or wrapped gifts to take home. Leonidas (Passage 28) has a fine assortment of rich, hand-dipped chocolates, some filled with liqueur, for about $2 U.S. per 100 grams.

Notenspecialist (Passage 35-37) specializes in all sorts of roasted nuts, sold for about $2.50 per 250 grams. The cashews are especially fresh and fabulous. In addition, the shop’s 15 varieties of honey, including an exclusive French heather honey, are presented in pretty jars or pots and cost from $1.25 to $9. Also, there is Chinese ginger in lovely porcelain pots for $6.50 to $160, depending on the quantity and container.

Sweetheart (Passage 24) is a candy chain store that sells bag-it-yourself gummies, chews and chocolates, wrapped in colored paper cones, for $1 per 100 grams.

Adjacent to Passage are Spui-straat, Venestraat, Hoogstraat and Noordeinde, shopping streets that have been The Hague’s center of commerce since the Middle Ages. Most important is Hoogstraat (High Street), a pedestrian-only street lined on both sides by elegant shops and boutiques occupying the ground floors of picturesque houses that were built in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Hoogstraat’s international label boutiques include Austin Reed (No. 16) and Max Mara (No. 41), among others, but most interesting are the superb local shops.

For example, Lampe (No. 10) has chic and casual Dutch-made women’s clothes of high quality and moderate price. Mix-and-match styles are designed in vibrant colors. There are pink raincoats ($130) with purple polka-dot linings and apple-green raincoats ($110) with lemon-yellow linings.

Comfortable cotton knit skirts, in a variety of pastel colors and buttoned down the sides, cost $50 and may be worn with any of three attractive tops that range from $40 to $60. A three-piece navy blue wool-and-nylon knit suit costs about $200 and comes with skirt and slacks.

There are heavy cotton blazers of mauve or lavender for $80, and pretty pastel shoes with trendy toes and heels for $45 to $75. T-shirts come in wild floral prints and cost $45.

Van Dalen Schoenen (No. 12) has wonderful, moderately priced shoes, including open-toe suede pumps ($75) in a rainbow of colors and multi-colored sandals ($75) of cutout suede or braided leather. Men’s leather oxfords and loafers, in a variety of styles and colors, sell for $60 to $200.

The Society Shop (No. 14), part of the Dutch chain of top-quality men’s haberdashers, sells clothes with Burberrys, Windsor, Arrow and Van Laack labels, as well as its own very handsome T.S.S. line of two-piece pin-stripe suits (from $400 to $650), tweedy jackets ($300 to $500), trousers (about $140) and pure cotton shirts ($45 to $100).

Add 25% to prices for custom-made shirts and suits, which can be delivered within two to three weeks. The shop also sells fine leather wallets, portfolios and briefcases.

Parfumerie Douglas (No. 18) has a terrific selection of cosmetics and men’s and women’s fragrances at discounted prices. Trussardi Uomo Eau de Toilette (50 milliliters in a handsome leatherlike flask) costs $30 and Davidoff’s Cool Water After Shave (75 milliliters) is $23.

Cacharel’s Anais Anais Eau de Toilette Spray (15 milliliters) is $9 and Givenchy’s Ysatis Eau de Toilette Spray (25 milliliters) is $19. Amusing gift items include boldly-striped sponge slippers for $4.50 and bath sponges shaped like strawberries, bananas and hard-cooked eggs (complete with yolks) for $4.50 each.

Linen Comfort

Claudia Strater’s (No. 22) stock consists of superbly styled women’s clothing made of linen and cotton. Although the palette concentrates on earth tones, including rich solid colors and subtle prints, there are blue-and-white-striped suits and double-breasted dresses ($150), as well as attention-getting red-and-olive tops ($85), skirts ($75) and vests ($50).

Accessories, including a wide leather belt in chartreuse ($75), are brilliantly colored to allow for individual accenting.

Jeweler Schaap (No. 23) has exclusive and expensive baubles, including colored gemstones surrounded by beautiful 18-carat gold settings for rings, pins and pendants, as well as turn-of-the-century antique silver jewelry and magnificent Persian Gulf pearls. Less costly antique items range from about $150 and up.

Con en Verdonck (No. 30) has a magnificent collection of handmade carpets brought from Tibet, Morocco, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China. Prices range from about $50 for small mats or carry bags made from rugs, to $25,000 for superb room-size samples from Shiraz or Shanghai.

In den Silvern Molenbeecker (No. 31), founded during the 1860s, sells its own stunning patterns of expensive silverware and silver service, but most unusual are the antique molds (those that are worn out or are for discontinued patterns) that are sold as unusual home-decorating items.

Focke & Meltzer (No. 33) features tableware, tiles and vases by Holland’s finest potteries, including De Porceleyne Fles blue-and-white Delftware and colorful Makkum patterns, as well as beautiful Baccarat and Saint Louis glassware.

Prices are on the high side, but smaller items, such as Makkum tiles ($19) and De Porceleyne Fles souvenir plates ($85 and up), make lovely gifts.

Hoogstraat runs into Noordeinde, with another collection of fine shops. Pauw (No. 42) features Dutch designer Madeleine Pauw’s women’s fashions with an appealing countryside style.

There are floral print tops ($100) and calf-length skirts ($145), as well as linen bolero jackets ($345) and woolen ($420) or linen ($400) double-breasted blazers, plus a wide range of small ($14) to large ($100) floral print scarfs and shawls. A very attractive collection.

Tesselschade-Arbeid Adelt (No. 92), a shop that profits philanthropic projects, sells charming Dutch-made handcrafts, including folk dolls ($20 and up) and toys ($16 and up), table mats ($5 each), tea cozies ($25) and hand-painted canisters (about $15).

Noordeinde has a string of intriguing antique shops, including Damen (No. 95) for old pewter, Ten Boom en van Duffelen (No. 132) for antique clocks and barometers, Smelik en Stokking (No. 156) for more old pewter and S. van Leeuwen (No. 164) for ornate Dutch furniture and vintage Delftware.

These shops have top-quality merchandise and tend to be quite expensive, but looking is free and browsers are welcome.

Prices quoted in this article reflect currency exchange rates at the time of writing.