Black Friday Blogging
Manolo says, the Manolo he has been so busy the past week, doing the various things the Manolo does, that he has neglected to point to the efforts of the Manolo’s internet friend, the Almost the Girl in what she has named the “Black Friday Blogging”.
Here is the Almost the Girl’s call to the arms.
Thus I am inviting you to participate in a fashion blogging event. Next Friday is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day in America. I am asking other fashion bloggers to join me in blogging about their own views on fashion, consumption, individuality, and the importance of fashion in our lives. I am encouraging any other fashion bloggers to join me in this endeavor, just make your own political fashion statements about your view on consumption and fashion and I will link up and we can hopefully dialogue about the importance of individuality in fashion! I would like this to grow organically so please email your fashion blogging friends to join the fun!
Many times over the past year the Manolo he has discussed the importance of the fashion, usually in connection with the utterances of the Manolo’s muse, the Miuccia Prada.
However, here for the Black Friday are the Manolo’s political beliefs, summed up in the following short statements.
1) Everyone has the right to be super fantastic. The Manolo he is the proud and strong believer in the personal freedoms, in the ability of the autonomous individual to dress in manner he or she desires (even if the manner chosen it is awful).
2) Manolo loves the Capitalism! Nothing is more worthy of the ridicule than the fashion sense of the dictators, politburos, autocrats, and tyrants. For the example, the most horrible, deadening, life-sucking piece of the fashion ever invented, it is the Mao suit, for it reduces the individual to the mere cog in the ideological machine. Happily we live in the system in which the marketplace it is free to deliver to the peoples the beautiful clothes, enabling each individual to dress in the manner he or she chooses.
3) The luxury it is often worth the expense. This it is currently the topic of the discussion between the Manolo’s friend the Virginia Postrel and the Almost the Girl, where they are pondering whether the Bottega Veneta handbag could be worth $21,000. The answer of the Manolo to this question: it depends on the handbag. (He has not seen this particular handbag, so he cannot pass the judgement yet.) There are certain items that truly justify great expense. This it is why the Manolo he repeatedly advises his many internet friends to save their money and purchase the most super fantastic shoes possible.
4) Sometimes, the luxury it is not worth the expense. This it is why one must come to know oneself, to know what works and does not work as the suitable personal style, and to know what is truly luxurious and what is the fraud.
5) The clothes they are important. They say important things about your identity, even if you pretend that they do not.
6) The fashion it is not the nuclear rocket brain surgery. One does not need the grounding in the theoretical sciences to know how to dress well.
7) Manolo loves the shoes! Enough said!
We shall continue this discussion in the comments section.
November 25th, 2005 at 5:14 pm
Manolo,
Remember me from the Payless store last night? We chatted by the display of imitation Hush Puppies. You told me that the tassles made me look fabulous. You left in a hurry before we could discuss socks. I also am stumped when it comes to slippers. Should I go with the novelty footwear that makes my feet look like sneakers or the pink fuzzy bunnies?
November 25th, 2005 at 5:20 pm
[…] ack Friday Blogging fun! Please go check out the super fantastic Manolo’s musings on fashion, politics, and the right to be super-fantastic! So for everyone j […]
November 25th, 2005 at 5:40 pm
You are SUPER FANTASTIC! And isn’t that what fashion is all about? I am so glad to have you involved. Ahhh dictators and fashion and super fun!
November 26th, 2005 at 12:57 am
Normally, I come to your shoe blog for the entertainment, but today I also got thought-provoking debate! I think my tolerance for high prices is much lower than the Manolo’s, but that’s an occupational hazard when you are a social work student.
Thanks for the discussion!
November 26th, 2005 at 4:15 am
I’m a fashion photographer, and American although I live in Rome. I share the idea of everyone having a right to look great nd wear the best quality clothing, I love Prada almost as much as you do. However, I also hate to see peole use fashion as a replacement for personality, and labels and high quality clothes as a reflection of their self worth and a way to define themselves. I see people all the time - especially during fashion week in NYC and London and even more in Tokyo and L.A. who are so caught up in the compulsion to be labeled out they really lose a sense of perspective on far more important issues like quality of character and reasonable living within ones means. I love excess and Galliano and thousanddollar boots and even more decadent luxuries for those who can afford them, but I also think taking a semester off to use the money to pay for a handbag your middle class parents won’t buy you (something I saw happen when I lectured at NYU) is ridiculous.
November 26th, 2005 at 4:48 am
I work as an assistant for a known spanish designer.I wear uniform to work.And eeeeeveryday someone HAS to tell me how beautiful I´d look if I ´d wear loose hair,trousers,heels…blablabla…Women are worst enemies to woman.I believe in the power of fashion,of our own and intimate sense of fashion…and that includes your way of life.And yes,I LOVE SHOES!!!
November 26th, 2005 at 10:39 am
Manolo!!Have you read the article about the interview to The Miuccia in the Sunday Times Annual lecture last night?This time,she´s even more nonna than ever!! God save the Emperatrice!!!
November 26th, 2005 at 10:49 am
I hate when people trade a big name label for fashion common sense. When they think that because they’re wearing Gucci, they don’t have to care that none of the Gucci they’re wearing was meant to go together…
November 26th, 2005 at 11:20 am
The Manfesto of the Shoe Blogger
Speaking of the Manolo, he writes:Here for the Black Friday are the Manolos political beliefs, summed up in the following short statementsRead the whole of the thing–the Ed is in the complete of the agreement on all of the items…
November 26th, 2005 at 7:19 pm
I TOTALLY agree with what you said. Honestly, I hate it when people go all high and mighty and say they don’t care for fashion. It’s like what I read Miuccia said recently (or something like that,) you obviously care since you’re bothered enough to dress up. And capitalism is great. I was just going to write a post on something like this and the quote from Miuccia. Great post darling!
November 27th, 2005 at 10:12 am
Bravo, Manolo!
November 27th, 2005 at 11:14 am
About the Mao suit: someone told me long ago that soldiers in the Chinese army do not wear their rank. But they are allowed to carry pens in their shirt pockets. Rank was discerned by the quality of the pens.
November 27th, 2005 at 1:03 pm
“Rank was discerned by the quality of the pens.”
Lori, why is that such a revelation? Even the Chinese military knows the pen is mightier than the sword. And the Manolo will be the first to tell you, some pens are mightier than others. After all, it isn’t the size of the pen, but how you use it. Write?
November 27th, 2005 at 8:19 pm
The Brother Bark, he loves the whoos. :)
(It’s a bit subtle, but hey, you know).
November 28th, 2005 at 5:38 am
[…] The Manolo he loves the capitalism! Political support from an unlikely source: However, here for the Black Friday are the Manolo’s p […]
November 28th, 2005 at 9:04 am
The Manolo makes me feel super fantastic EVERY time I read his blog! You put a smile on my face!
November 28th, 2005 at 2:01 pm
I choose to be super fantastically comfortable rather than super fantastically fashionable. I figure that if I need to dress for it then it isn’t success. I certainly do not pretend that this doesn’t say important things about my identity.
November 28th, 2005 at 3:25 pm
Comfort and fashion are not mutually exclusive. Stylish clothing that is well-made and fits properly is usually quite comfortable as well.
November 29th, 2005 at 10:04 pm
“and fits properly”
Alas, therein lies my problem— I cannot find clothes that fit well, and I have the ability to discern it. To make matters worse, I am currently in a job that requires both professional attire and physical work, so higher-end clothes that might possibly fit better are off-limits due to how quickly they would be destroyed.
Yes, I have been told that my outfits make me look bad. Unfortunately, Even the “safe” stuff— like short-sleeved shirts— is turning out to be full of pitfalls, like too-short shoulder seams. And don’t talk about my half-sleeve shirts that are supposed to be three-quarter, or the full-length sleeves that never are.
I hate shopping because there never seems to be the thing I’m looking for: clothes that FIT.
(Six hours in the mall on a not crowded day looking for slacks. Six HOURS. And not a single pair that fit better than a sack.)
Incidentally, my feet are perfectly normal, and I have no problem finding shoes that fit. Nothing to go with them, though.
March 5th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
You are SUPER FANTASTIC! And isn’t that what fashion is all about? I am so glad to have you involved. Ahhh dictators and fashion and super fun!