Furry clogs, orange milk-maid caps and Edam hats have all featured in the past, but the helmets were particularly pertinent to the German-held World Cup, he said.

Their penchant for orange has earned Dutch fans both admiration and ridicule abroad.

"Your orange uniforms cause blindness," sneered Berlin's BZ tabloid during one previous Dutch-German encounter.

"In Berlin only the garbage men wear such bright orange dress."

ORANGE CUSTARD

Not everyone is comfortable wearing orange everywhere -- according to a survey 43 percent of Dutch people said they would not appear at work dressed in the colour during the World Cup.

That has not stopped people buying orange however.

Sales of orange goods and other World Cup-themed non-food products should boost sales nationally by 70 to 85 million euros, according to the Dutch Retail Council (RND) .

Sales of food, including orange custard, orange eclairs and orange sauce for chips should add another 50 million euros to sales.

"It's a lovely colour -- orange -- everyone likes it," enthused a spokesman for supermarket chain Dirk van den Brock.

He disagrees that orange food can appear a tad unappetising.

"I don't think it's the case that if something is orange you shouldn't put it in your mouth -- what about carrots, and orange juice," he said.

Even those who make money from the orange fad confess it can all get a little wearing.

"They do go a little bit further here than everybody else," said Harry Nieuwamerongen, who manufactures contact lenses, including a novelty orange line.

"I think it is getting too crazy, it is a little bit too nationalistic," he said.