Derkinderen-Besier was a member of the patrician family of Besier and a daughter of August Adriaan Henry Besier (1827–1905), a civil servant at the municipal clerk of Utrecht, and Albertina van Ewijck (1836–1898), a member of the Van Ewijck family.

She married the artist Prof. Antoon Johannes Derkinderen (1859–1925) in 1894, but the couple did not have children.

She became known as a needle artist and as leader of the costume department of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

She published several books about fashion in the 16th and 17th centuries, some of which remain "seminal works to greater or lesser extents.

The text featured a portrait of Derkinderen drawn by one of his students, the artist Debora Duyvis.