I bought my first pair of Moroccan leather slippers about 6 years ago .. and they are still going! I now have about 4 pairs (i´m not ashamed) .. I just love the cool soft leather under my feet, perfect for pottering around the house (esp in the kitchen), I even wear mine out in the garden in the summer for spot of weeding and watering (glass of vino optional of course).

Therefore, they were near the top of my list for starting off the Happy Hammock range and in Novemeber 06 I headed back to the Marrakech Souk to check out the new styles and see what I could bring to you.

Et voila …

These are a new style and come in 5 glorious colours … Turquoise, Bright Red, Orange, Cream and Dark Brown. Retail Price GBP15. The patterns on the front are cut out of the leather.

These were sourced in the Slipper Souk area of the Marrakech Souk. If you explore some of the side streets and alleways of this area you will find little cubby holes and streets where the leather is bought and sold and where some of the slippers are made.

Here are some pictures of the artisans taken in the side streets …

A couple of tips for those of you thinking of visiting the Marrakech Souk for a spot of shopping …

1) Approach … it is more than likely that you will enter the souk via the main square or ´jamma el fina´. The shops around this front area are typically the most touristy, most expensive and in my opinion the least interesting. Keep walking as far down into the souk down the main streets as you can … the deeper you get into the souk the better it gets. In fact, I often try and enter via the back alleways avoiding the front bit all together. It´s actually not as big as it first seems so a couple of times wandering around and you should get the hang of the key streets to look out for. If you do feel lost just ask for dirrections to the ´jamma el fina´and someone will help you get your bearings back.

2) Bartering … the Moroccons are very good at hooking you into a sale, even if you weren´t aware you actually wanted the item that much in the first place .. if you start to barter at all they will think the sale is made and all you have to agree on now is the price. If you do decide mid barter that you really dont want it … say so, smile sweetly and walk away quickly and politely …don´t get drawn in to more conversation, just walk away not looking back.

3) What to pay? There are a few good things to remember. Firstly, what is it worth to you? It doesn´t matter if someone else paid $1 less than you .. what do you think its worth? Secondly, as a general rule of thumb i test things out by flippantly offering half of what they initially suggest, if they look at you in disgust and walk away then maybe you´ve gone to far … if he enters into a discussion about it .. say offering 15% discount then have a play around, see if via persistance you can get him to half price, all the time saying that you´re not that interested in the item anayway. If by pushing hard on one item you can get your maximum discount then this should apply to other items as well. It´s worth noting that I frequently cut costs in half in the souk .. in other markets around the world the maximum you could get off is say 20%. Remember bartering is a GAME and should be done with good humour. ´

4) Stress levels in the souk … You´ll have a better time in the souk if you can keep your sense of humour about it and not get too stressed or over whelmed by the level of attention. For example, they have taken to shouting ´fish and chips´at me … now I tend to counter with either ´tagaine´or ´cous cous´and this tends to get a laugh. They will always shout after you to come into their shop, dont get drawn in if your not that interested, just smile and say no thank politely and keep walking. It´s just an approach .. but it works for me and i´ve been shopping in this souk on and off for c. 10 yrs now. I also find avoiding direct eye contact helps me but then I am a woman on my own .. so maybe this won´t be necessary for you.

Hope you like the slippers!

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The Little Hobo trip to source amazing items for the Happy Hammock range and ultimately your delight … begins in Mexico City. The biggest city in the world no less. I arrived here in mid Jan, a little over a week ago and proceeded directly to a couple of the main craft markets to get a sense of the types of things that might be of interest to y`all in Mexico. I`ve been very lucky to be staying here at the lovely home of Dave and Sue who work for the Bristh Council. Sue will be joining me on a couple of the sourcing trips as her Spanish is very good and mine … isn`t.

Inital thoughts from the maket are silver (amazing quality), hand painted laquer boxes (beautiful), some lovely cotton embroidered childrens clothes and of course traditional vibrant wool textiles. Here are some pictures that i took in the market that first day …

Trying to plan this trip to get to the right regions for certain products has been a little tricky as time is tight and Mexico is ENORMOUS. I have a rough plan and direction with key places to hit … so we`ll see how it goes.

As in all good trips … this one must start with a few days on the beach to unwind and plan PLAN PLAN … purely selfish but I´m feeling a little bit white and pale right now and I`m sure I will feel a whole lot better when I have the startings of a tan and I can contemplate not wearing make-up in the day. Also … I need to get rid of those dark circles under the eyes that the English winter and office life seems to so readily bestow on me.

Soooo … firstly I`m off for a few days rest to catch some rays and start to morph in to the hippy happy sourcing hobo that I love to be.

Initial impressions from Mexico City …. VW Beetles EVERYWHERE .. I never expected that. There are big Beetle factories in Mexico so most people are driving them .. most of the taxi´s are green and white Beetles, so easy to spot although I´ve heard that they`re not that safe. Also, for all those clothes horse girls out there … ZARA is here (and currently has a sale on!) and about 1/3rd of the price of the UK .. I may have to stock up on some fabulous items when I come back to the city and post back to the UK.