Piles on Piles on Piles

Forget Marshalls, forget TJ Max, forget even Goodwill. Second hand souks are where it’s at. Talk about brand names for less, I once got a Burberry sweater for 30 dirhams. 30 dirhams. That’s less than 5 dollars. It doesn’t even really fit, and I’m pretty sure it’s Men’s, but it’s Burberry. I just had to! Not to mention my 8 dirham MANGO shorts. I’m serious, where else are you going to get brand name items for one dollar.

I’m a student, I live off a stipend. There’s no way I can buy an 100 to 200 dirham shirt, and I even if I could, I could never bring myself to. So what do I do when I need clothes? I go to the souk and get a shirt, 2 pairs of pants, and a scarf all for 100 dirhams.

So what exactly is a second hand souk? A souk is a market. Generally when someone refers to a souk, they’re talking about a vegetable souk, but a second hand souk is full of a huge variety of used clothes. You never know what you might find! Whether it be a brand named blouse or worn out combat books, that item peeking out of that pile is calling your name, so let’s go get it!

 You enter with scores of tables and stalls with brightly colored produce. Venture a bit further you’ll find all sorts of fish, try not to step on that crate of mussels or sardines lying out on a tarp. Then, as you get deeper into the souk, you’ll start to see house hold items, and if it’s a big souk sometimes even a couple jewelers. Keep walking and if you’re lucky, you’ll see some tables just ahead, piled high with all sorts of clothes just sitting there waiting to be sorted through. Jackpot.

The clock starts now. You’ve gotta get over there and start sorting before other women come. You pull out a skirt straight from the 70’s, then a shirt with the face of none other than Brittney Spears plastered on the front. Throw them back in!

 Too small. Too big.  I don’t even know what this is. Ohhh Scandaloussss. What in the world?

Then you see it, that little piece of colored fabric sticking out from the bottom of the pile. Your heart is racing as you pull it out. You just know you need it. You ask the stall keeper how much. 50 dirhams, a bit pricey, should you thing about it? You know that if you put it back on the pile it will quickly be whisked back into the sifting frenzy, so you hand over the bill. Mission Accomplished.