The Dutch office and air conditioning have a famously distant relationship, so when the heat arrives, the well-dressed man needs a strategy that isn’t just “shorts and hope for the best.”
We’ve already watched Dutch readers argue in circles over whether shorts belong at work at all. The verdict? Maybe, if they’re nice ones, and please, no palm trees.
Sure, you might work at an office where anything goes and there are no meetings, good for you! But then there’s workplaces like the Zuidas or the lawyers’ offices, and dressing cool to actually be cool is a thing.
So let’s skip the shorts debate and sort out the rest of your hot-weather wardrobe instead. Here’s what to have ready before the mercury climbs and your air-conditioning-free building turns into a greenhouse.
1. A breathable linen shirt for when someone’s actually watching
Some summer days you can dress for comfort. Others you have a client in the room or a camera pointed at your face, and gym gear won’t cut it.
This is where a good overhemd (dress shirt) earns its place. Linen is the trick: it breathes in a way cotton simply doesn’t, which matters enormously in a meeting room with no air flow and eight people in it.
A crisp Ralph Lauren overhemd in linen or a linen mix gives you the smart end of the scale without the swamp. Roll the sleeves, skip the tie, and you look deliberate rather than melted.
READ MORE | 11 must-have closet items to survive the Dutch weather
2. Sunglasses that survive the cycle home
You commute by fiets (bicycle), which means two things. You’ll be squinting straight into low evening sun on the ride home, or you will, at some point, sit on your sunglasses.
Buy accordingly. A sturdy pair you don’t have to baby beats an expensive pair you’re terrified of scratching.
Function first, vanity a close second. Nobody looks composed cycling one-handed while shielding their eyes from the sun with the other hand (well, maybe the Dutch do sometimes, but they’re biking wizards).
3. Formal sandals or summer sneakers
Let’s start with the safe bet. A clean pair of summer sneakers is the closest thing the Dutch office has to a universally accepted warm-weather shoe.
But careful: go for minimalist leather styles that could be mistaken for smart shoes, not the trainers you’d wear to actually exercise. Would they survive a glance from your most formally dressed colleague? Then you’re fine.
Sandals are where it gets controversial. Closed-toe leather styles might just pass in a relaxed office. Anything that looks like it belongs on a beach will absolutely not, and no amount of confidence can change that.
Our advice? Perhaps if you have to ask whether your sandals are too casual, they are. Wear the sneakers.
4. A polo for the days when nobody’s around
Then there are the Fridays. The quiet weeks. The stretches where half the office is on holiday and the other half has stopped pretending to check.
For those, a polo is the answer: collar on, effort low. It’s a notch above a T-shirt without asking anything of you.
The Ralph Lauren polo heren is practically a uniform for a certain type of Dutchman (you know the one: hockey club, boat shoes, opinions about wine). Lean into it or don’t, but it’s a reliably safe shout when you can’t be bothered to think.
5. One jacket for the bike and the inevitable rain
Here’s the thing about a Dutch summer: it can be gloriously warm at noon and pouring by four in the afternoon. The sunshine is not a given.
So the final item is a light, water-resistant jacket that works on the bike. Something you can throw on over a shirt when the sky turns, without cooking on the days it doesn’t.
It’s the least glamorous thing on this list and quite possibly the one you’ll use most. Welcome to the Netherlands.
Where does your office draw the sandal line? Tell us the boldest heatwave outfit you’ve watched a colleague commit to in the comments below. 👇
