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DEC
2005 09
Fashion Designers, Project Runway

All Hail the Tim Gunn!

Tim Gunn, Our Hero

Manolo says, after the reading of this article, the Manolo he is officially worshiping at the altar of the Tim Gunn.

Gunn is happy that the show has pulled back the curtain to expose style’s nitty-gritty side. “Everyone thinks fashion is glamorous, you sit at the end of the runway and you accept a bouquet of roses at the end of a show,” he says.

“Fashion designers need to think on their feet, problem solve at the drop of a hat, be able to use whatever resources they have available to them to make whatever it is work. They have to understand who their audience is, what their design philosophy is.”

As always, the oracular voice of calm sanity at the center of the fashion storm.

By the way, this it is exactly the point the Manolo has made on many of the occasions in the past, that the fashion designing it takes talent, training, and much hard work, and that not every Gwen, Serena, Carlos, and J-Lo celebrity designer takes it into account that there is more to the fashion design than merely liking the clothes.

DEC
2005 09
Shoes

Buying the Holiday Tie for the Man

Manolo says, one of traditional gifts for the man, one which is frequently and justifably open to the mocking, is the cravat. This it is because too often the purchase of the gift tie it has devolved into the opportunity to buy for your loved one the novelty tie made of the cheap material.

Trust the Manolo most sane men do not wish to wear the cheap novelty tie. Most sane men wish to wear the tie that compliments the complexion and emphasizes their superior sense of the style.

Yes, when you were twelve years of the age, your father wore to his place of employment the “super special tie” you presented to him for the Dia del Padre. And so you now believe that every man wishes to have the novelty tie, never mind that your father did not that year receive the promtion from his boss, who would never again give the poor old man the full measure of the respect he deserved.

This year, do not humliate the man in your life with the gift of the ridiculous and/or perhaps blasphemous tie, instead spend the little more moneys and buy for him the silk tie like this from the Ermenegildo Zegna…

Ermenegildo Zegna Ties Manolo Likes! Click!

This tie above, it meets the Manolo’s standards for the gift tie. Firstly, it of the highest quality, and secondly, the color it is strong, and the pattern it is interesting without being overpowering.

Here is the tie from the Dolce and the Gabanna that at the first glance appears to be less than it actually is…

Dolce & Gabbana Tie Manolo Likes! Click!

If you look at the closeup of the whole tie, you will notice that despite it having only the black and the silver, that the pattern nonetheless pops and is filled with the life-affirming pizzazz.

Here is another in the family of the yellowy gold, this one from the Kenzo…
Kenzo Silk Tie Manolo Likes! Click!

Again, the color is strong and the pattern it is just whimsical enough to enliven the tie, yet not so whimsical as to endanger the prospects for the promotion.

One of the Manolo’s rules for the gift giving is that the perfect gift it is something that the recipient would hesitate to buy for himself, but once owned could not imagine living without. This Kenzo tie, it is of that type, the type that will be worn more frequently than you would have initially imagined.

There are many more ties worth the giving at the Manolo’s Cravats Worth the Wearing.

DEC
2005 09
Celebrity

Yo Adrien!

Manolo says, at the least we now know who will star in the Rocky VII: Beat to the Pulp.