I grew up wearing slippers at home and had many pairs that I loved and of course grew out of. As I got older and lived in my own homes we always lived as ‘shoes off’ houses but I rarely had slippers as on carpeted floors they seemed unnecessary. Once we moved to Northern Europe and the world of wooden floors, I had a renewed relationship with slippers, especially in the winter.

But I could never find ones that really worked for me – they were either too slippy on the floor, the soles were too heavy, they made my feet sweaty or the soles wore out too quickly. I gave up and moved to thick socks in the winter and nothing in the summer.

Earlier this summer one of my clients moved here with her family and they live close to  a building site and thus found their floors were covered in a fine dust. She bought the whole family some simple but stylish looking Chinese style slippers. After seeing them on her Instagram account I inquired as to where they were from and the surprising answer was Irma.

Once she said this I recall having seen little pairs of black slippers packed flat and held together with elastic bands ever since we have lived here and never really given them a second glance. I headed to an Irma on Gammel Kongevej last week as the weather was getting colder and I felt the need for slippers. For less than 50dkk I am now the owner of the best slippers I have ever owned since I was a child.

They are not an exciting colour but have plenty of scope of customising them, especially if everyone in the household has them. They are comfy, breathable and have a nice padding inside and soft soles underneath. And they are inexpensive to replace. The perfect combo for Danish hard floor living.

I wrote a popular post earlier this year about apartment noise and one of the recommendations was about not wearing heavy shoes indoors. Most Danish homes I have visited have been shoes off homes and no doubt these plain little beauties can be found in many.