Cannot Live Without
Manolo says, the theme of this week’s Carnivale of the Couture (hosted by the Manolo’s internet friends at the Shangri Law) it is “the fashion things you cannot live without on the desert island”.
This it is the most difficult for the Manolo as he is not someone who likes to “rough it”. Indeed, the items the Manolo believes absolutely necessary for survival they would require the medium sized shipping container.
However, the lengthy list of items it is not in the spirit of the event, and so the Manolo he has limited himself to two things.
The one thing the Manolo he absolutely cannot live without, it is the shoes of the John Lobb, the best men’s shoes in the world. If the Manolo is going to spend the rest of his life on the desert island, he will not be chasing the coconuts and the wild boars in his bare feets.
The second item that the Manolo the Shoeblogger considers indespensible for the survival, it is the single, simple, perfect pair of the shoes from the maestro Manolo Blahnik.
If the Manolo the Shoeblogger is to be trapped on the desert island, he needs something to keep his spirits afloat, something beautiful, something sublime that he can contemplate when he become depressed at his condition. This simple, elegant, classical shoe it would remind the Manolo that he has not been forgotten, that the benevolent God continues to exist, and that His works they are mighty.
January 23rd, 2006 at 11:07 am
Mon tres cher Manolo — I hope you will take this in the spirit of affection with which it is said, but I must remind you, as an English teacher, that when you put a phrase or word in quotes, all other punctuation goes inside the quote, as in “rough it.” You are such a wonderful writer, and I adore and emulate you! Periods are the stilettoes of the grammatical world.
With admiration
G in a W, hoping for the day when she can afford Manolos
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:50 pm
The “English teacher” is advised that in the American style punctuation goes inside the quotation marks, but in the European style, punctuation goes outside the quotation marks. That the Manolo maintains in all things the European style surely goes without saying.
January 23rd, 2006 at 1:00 pm
I have always thought [with a mix of European and American style] that if a short phrase or word is placed in quotation marks as a noun of sorts, the punctuation is placed outside. If it is a sentence-quote, the comma is placed inside.
January 23rd, 2006 at 1:34 pm
Placing the comma inside is appropriate (under the European style) where the comma actually appears in a quotation:
– I am puzzled by the inclusion of the clause “as far as I am able,” in the first sentence of the second page.
– In the blank for “occupation”, he wrote “I am a farmer.”
It’s also appropriate for dialogue:
- “The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things.”
January 23rd, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Forget the puncuation debate, I am here to say that I am absolutely in love with those slingbacks. Thank you, oh fabulous Manolo, for that bit of beauty in my day.
January 23rd, 2006 at 9:03 pm
Here, I thought: “‘Johb Lobb’! What an interesting name…”
And then; what beautiful things.
The desertwind likes things.
January 23rd, 2006 at 9:17 pm
And here was the Fred, admiring the Manolo for his choice of the Shoe Tree as the essential for the Desert Island. The finest shoes I had assumed as a given, that the Manolo would never be so unprepared as to abandon the ship un-fantastically attired. And in the life-or-death situation, the Tree of the Shoe could be used for firewood, or to pummel the villain who would dare to sneak off with the John Lobb shoe in the dark of the night.
January 23rd, 2006 at 10:39 pm
“Whatever” with the punctuation - the Manolo slingbacks were the first pair of Manolos the Diva Leigh ever purchased, and those shoes are simply perfect everywhere!
January 24th, 2006 at 3:33 am
But our dear Manolo might not need the lovely slingbacks to contemplate in order to keep up his spirits if he instead chose to have “Thomas’ Guide to Practical Shipbuilding”, as suggested by G.K. Chesterton.
January 24th, 2006 at 9:12 am
A pair of Lobb shoes. Manolo joins The Prince of Wales as a wearer of this fine footwear; though I hear that HRH, he slips off the Lobbs and dons the wellingoton boots when in pursuit of the wild boar!
January 24th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
Oh. I had never heard of Lobb shoes. I clicked, thinking I might some day save enough money to get my husband a pair of such gorgeous shoes.
I clicked on the pricelist. Do any of y’all remember the gesture that Redd Foxx’s character used to use when his son Lamar would say something upsetting? The hand to the heard and stagger?
Yeah, that’s what I did.
January 24th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
I once again bow to the genius that is the Manolo.
The slingbacks of The Maestro are the finest in the land. I have them in a delicious shade of caramel and do not leave home without them. They are, in my vast shoe experience, the only sling back that does not slip down–which is ever so unattractive and makes you go step, step, tug, to keep the inferior shoes on your feet so they don’t end up going slap, slap, slap like a flip flop.
As for roughing it: anything less than 4 stars and/or any hotel that does not offer 24 hour room service.
June 27th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Well, I believe Mr. Blahnik would serve himself better with a handmade Italian shoe–I am thinking of either a Berluti or a Bontoni.
July 5th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
[…] receives many, many shoes as the gifts from the manufacturers, most of which, because he is particular about his feetwear, he tosses into the big box destined for the charity, to provide the shoes for the homeless street […]
September 14th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
bontoni are the best shoes