Saddles for sale in the central market of Durango; copyright-free image courtesy of Adam Jones of Kelowna, BC, Canada made available through Wikimedia Commons.

Besides very ornamented and well made leather belts, jackets, boots, and saddles sometime found in mercado stalls, and the equipal furniture of leather and wood described in the furniture section, since we're emphasizing traditional products found in and around average Mexican mercados, special mention should be made of huaraches.

Huaraches are Mexican sandals, such as those shown below. (The word huarache is also used for a kind of griddle-cake produced in central Mexico, but that's something else entirely... )

Huaraches on sale at the Thursday weekly market in Zaachila, Oaxaca; copyright-free image courtesy "AlejandroLinaresGarcia" made available through Wikimedia Commons.

Quintessential Mexican huaraches possess soles cut from old tires. Therefore, the tire's zigzagging treads show plainly on the sandal's footprint. Good huaraches are sown with sturdy thread, else they begin coming apart very soon. Big-footed gringos often have problems finding huaraches to fit. However, some shoemakers -- usually found in little stalls somewhere in or close to a mercado -- will gladly outline your foot on a piece of cardboard, and provide you with just what you want the next day.

One special leather item to look for in arid northern Mexico is cuero piteado, leather intricately embroidered, at least traditionally, with a special cactus fiber.

A piteado belt spotted in Colotlán, Jalisco; public domain image courtesy Arturo Ramos made available through Wikimedia Commons.