Thongs of the Master
Manolo says, once again Manolo the Shoeblogger he is humbled by the simple perfection of the Maestro Manolo, the Manolo Blahnik.
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May 31st, 2005 at 4:52 pm
I fear you are showing your age, Manolo. I too called a shoe of this style a “thong” and was informed by my teenaged daughters that the crack into which a thong fits is not between one’s toes.
;-D
May 31st, 2005 at 8:08 pm
Me wants the pretties…
And my dear Manolo, Talmida is right. :-)
May 31st, 2005 at 10:30 pm
The Mimi has two questions: 1) What is wrong with showing one’s age? and 2) Why can’t both definitions for the word “thong” peacefully co-exist?
May 31st, 2005 at 11:06 pm
Heh, the flower one on the left looks quite similar to one of the designs from our local brand Charles & Keith.
June 1st, 2005 at 6:34 am
The pink one is perfect for my feminine moods. The silver one perfect for the rest of my moods. I love them.
June 1st, 2005 at 8:37 am
To LaBellaDonna, as well as the Manolo and others, these are the “thongs.” What is it that the young are calling them now? Did the Talmida’s daughters share that information?
And it must be pointed out to the young, that while they may certainly name the undergarments after the shoes, the shoes had the name first.
La BellaDonna also agrees with the Mimi; just because the one item, it is a “thong,” does not mean the other item cannot also be the “thong.” There are the many, many instances throughout the history of the fashion, where two different garments or items they may have the same name; also, the two identical garments or items, they may have different names, thus giving the years of entertainment to the poor frustrated student of the history of fashion.
June 1st, 2005 at 10:39 am
Not to mention, the Neiman Marcus refers to the shoes as thongs. I believe the Neiman Marcus knows more than Talmida’s daughter. I believe the Neiman Marcus knows more than anyone, except perhaps the Bergdorf Goodman and the Henri Bendel.
June 1st, 2005 at 10:52 am
The preferred term for shoes of this style - flip-flops - is more wrong for the Maestro Manolo’s things of beauty than the word “thongs.” Perhaps they flip and flop, but nothing from the Maestro Manolo should be given such a silly name. Be it between your buttcheeks or between your toes, a thong is a thong. I own a pair of Jimmy Choos that consist of straps, running between my two largest toes - the straps adorned with huge Swarovski crystals. And I call them thongs. (By the way, I bought them at Off 5th for $250 … it’s good to fit into Jimmy’s size 5½s).
June 1st, 2005 at 11:07 am
My girls do indeed call them flip-flops. But now that I know how much Manolo likes all kinds of music, perhaps I will call them shoes of the flop and the flip. Or even (if you are a fan of the Coen Bros’ “The Ladykillers”) flippety-floppety shoes.
The shoe can certainly remain “thong” in my mind, but not out loud. The young ladies today are very inconsistent about modesty. If one asks “Why are you wearing a shirt that displays your bra straps?” you are told, “MOTHER! Don’t say “bra” in public!”
June 1st, 2005 at 11:26 am
Ayyyyy! La BellaDonna, she remembers the time when the “flip-flop,” although indeed a subcategory of the “thong,” was most identifiable: it was the flat, rubber thong shoe, and it was worn on the hot hot hot surface surrounding the public and the private pool; it was worn also to the beach.
Let the Talmida have the fun with her lovely daughters! She should remind them that algebraically, the “flip-flop” is a subset of the “thong.”
They should enjoy that.
La BellaDonna also points out that, technically, without the bra, the daughters of the Talmida would also flip and flop, so perhaps if the Talmida is not allowed to call the mystery garment a “bra” in public, she may also call it a “thong.”
La BellaDonna does not wish to dwell on the other flipping and flopping that often accompanies the “thong,” as defined by the young …
June 1st, 2005 at 1:58 pm
Am I the only one left alive who calls them “zorries”?
June 1st, 2005 at 3:59 pm
My problem is, Britney Spears has forever ruined the word “thong” for me. I blame it all on her.
June 1st, 2005 at 7:50 pm
No, Desertwind, now that you mention it, I do remember them as “zorries.”
June 1st, 2005 at 9:14 pm
Desertwind and Mimi: Where I live (Honolulu) they are not called “thongs,” but “slippers” or more properly “slippahs.” This term applies to fancy and stylish shoes like the ones to which the Manolo has introduced us, all the way down to the rubber flip-flop variety. A local store called “Slipper Hut” sells the whole range. “Zori” is a Japanese word that means a thong-style shoe, originally with a flat wooden sole and worn with special socks (distinguished from the “geta” which has wooden bars across the bottom). But here in Hawai’i, where a lot of people are ethnically Japanese, rubber slippers are sometimes also called “zoris.”
June 2nd, 2005 at 12:08 am
JellyGirl, those shoes look excellent, especially for the price. But then I realize the costs of shipping from Singapore to Chicago…
June 2nd, 2005 at 6:36 am
I am loving these shoes!!!!!!!
June 2nd, 2005 at 10:14 am
Thanks, Xiaolongnu, for that explanation. Looks like “zorries” is probably a plural derivation of the word “zori,” and that the “zorries” were probably made in Japan back in the day when Japanese imports were (and were considered) cheap.
June 2nd, 2005 at 6:45 pm
As one of the lovely daughters of the Talmida, I would like to come to the defense of myself and my sisters. If the Sisqo had made his “Song of the Thong” about the shoes, they would be the ones to come to mind the most. As it is, I cannot wear the flip-flops or the thongs of either type, so I rarely use such words in conversation. Such arguments are best left to my younger, less experienced, sisters. ;)
June 3rd, 2005 at 2:43 pm
I am following this debate with great interest, as I am having a serious language crisis. Flip flop is simply too flip (!) a word to describe such gorgeousness. And thong. Well. No more. No more. Whatever NM says, we just can’t use that word anymore. And zorries are rubber, aren’t they? And slippers, like they say in Hawaii, that doesn’t work. So???? Sandals? That’s it??? I asked a 25 year old friend about the word “thong” and he was horrified to hear it applied to sandals. I think I may just buy these in order to make myself feel better about the whole thing.
June 9th, 2005 at 9:25 am
And they’re only $311 for the pink. Come on, lottery. Baby needs a new pair of shoes.
October 10th, 2005 at 12:52 pm
I call them open toe sandals or Sandals=thongs……
: )