Manolo the Columnist
Manolo says, the latest column of the Manolo it is now available for the downloading from the website of the Express of the Washington Post.
The topic it is the shoes suitable for the summer house in Maine.
Dear Manolo,My new boyfriend has invited me to spend Memorial Day weekend with his family at their summer house near Bar Harbor, Maine. I want to make a good impression, so no flip-flops. What would you recommend?
Brooke
Manolo says, ahhh, the Day of Memorializing, it is the traditional beginning of those lazy, crazy, hazy…daisy…mazy… days-y days of summer, or so the song almost goes.
And these days of summer, they also bring the occasional invitation to the summer house to meet the parents, Biff and Muffy Boddlington, of the Bar Harbor Boddlingtons, who will indeed not be impressed by the flip-flopping of the latest girl that the Biff the Third has dragged back to the “cottage”, for the early afternoon cocktails and repressed, Cheeveresque family dramas.
It is especially good for the Brooke to remember that the coast of Maine, it is not the Myrtle Beach, and that the thong sandals that would have been appropriate to wear while playing the round of dinosaur-themed mini-golf are not the shoes that will be suitable for the rocky, WASPy coast of the Maine.
This it is why the Manolo he would recommend to the Brooke the Geox D Euro Loafer in the light green suede. The Geox it is the stylish and practical shoe with the grippy bottom perfect for those afternoons, when the Boddlingtons take you and their antique sailboat onto the water for the gin-fueled voyage into the rocks.
May 19th, 2006 at 8:56 am
While I hold all the wisdom that comes from the mouth of the manolo to be sacred, I must argue with one part of the recommendation - if Brooke is truly to go sailing and canape-eating with the Boddingtons on their impressive yacht, then is not a suede shoe a bad idea? Perhaps Brooke should get the lovely suede version for walking on land, and another loafer of a more Maine mist-friendly persuasion for the yacht. Just please, not those ridiculous two-toned Topsiders.
May 19th, 2006 at 10:24 am
I must gently disagree with the Manolo- suede, salt water and gin! Ayyyyy!!! The destruction of a charming pair of shoes looms on the horizon. While they would be most practical for the strolling of the historic streets and the looking adorable on the boyfriend’s arm while chatting up the parents during the afternoon cocktails.. Might I suggest one of the new, not so horrid styles from the Sebago? The Bolton model is more functional than the suede for the salt and the perhaps tipsy deck sliding upon the gin fueled voyage.. A bit more modern looking than the traditional (and rather ugly) deck shoe, but built for the water and thus saving the Brooke from the mortification of falling in front of Biff and Muffy..
May 19th, 2006 at 10:58 am
Kiwi makes a wonderful suede protectant that is water repellent. I’ve used it on all my suede shoes and it holds up quite well, even in rain.
May 19th, 2006 at 11:20 am
ah, Manolo -
it is not even the suggestion of the shoe that makes the Manolo the genius -
it is the Manolo’s ability to visualize the entire environment in which the shoe in question will be required to complement…
It is the Manolo’s all encompassing brilliance which makes him such a delight to read.
May 19th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Well Manolo, you have cured me of ever wanting to visit the coast of Maine. Ew.
May 19th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
Did the Manolo write the episode of Curb Your Enthusaism where Larry tries to get into the WASP golf club? Theough the one after that, when he picks up the hooker so he can use the car pool lane is my personal favourite
May 19th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
To me this this sounds more like Marblehead MA than Maine. I recall a Marblehead family whose oldest son was nicknamed “Tack” because he shared the first name “Brad” with his father, and the son’s nickname came about because he was thus “Little Brad”. True story.
May 19th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
pbird, the coast of maine has it all - millionaire estates and mini-golf. i’ve visited a house that looked like a hotel in scarborough, and also gotten drunk while sitting in plastic chairs outside a motel at wells beach. ’tis something for everyone!
May 19th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Suddenly my life seems really dull.
May 19th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
As a former Mainah I can state that no shoes are ever too dull and boring for the old and moneyed Maine family. In fact, the more money they have to buy the super fantastic shoes, the more likely they will be dressed 24/7 in the topsiders or weejuns grandpa left behind when he shuffled off this mortal coil.
AskMom does know of a woman who made a wonderful impression at a gathering of Bah Hahbahites wearing a pair of immensely faded and runover lands end boat shoes bought at a second hand store and further abaded down at Higgins Beach while surfing. Originally red, the shoes became a gloriously Maine kind of blotchy faded salmon pink and had to be defended against theft attempts on the part of the 9 year old boy of the house. There is no higher praise to be earned in Maine than to have the pre-adolescent heir try to filch your shoes; being as how his mom will be wearing his grandma’s castoffs and he has no way to accquire the proper stained and salt rubbed shoes himself before he grows out of them again.
I’m just sayin’. And remember, NO SOCKS EVER.
May 20th, 2006 at 2:36 am
Ah! Manolo, I am truly humbled to see that you reccommend the shoes of which I am the humble, part-time saleswoman, as I study and hope for better things (And more expensive shoes!)
The Geox are a unique brand of shoe because the have one-way valves in the soles that allow circulation of air, which keep one’s feet feeling great all day. Viva!
May 20th, 2006 at 8:03 am
Wow, I see that the old preppies of the Lisa Birnbach book still exist. I was noticing at J Crew you can buy your polos and chinos already “broken in”, which is to say frayed at the colars, hems and pockets.
May 20th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Ah! The summer shoe of my dreams! How does the Manolo know these things??
May 22nd, 2006 at 11:08 am
Tsk Tsk… loafers on Memorial Day. While you won’t be shunned for those shoes, let me let you in on a little secret. Well, not so much a secret but when amongst WASPs in the summer, you can never go wrong with a pair of Jack Roger’s sandals. Flip flop-esque, yes, but in all likelihood your boyfriend’s mother AND younger sister will be wearing them…and you will immediately be part of the club.
May 23rd, 2006 at 2:26 pm
[…] I’ve already got mine, and they’re on my feet now! Manolo’s Shoe Blog: Shoes, Fashion, Celebrity, and Manolo! This it is wh […]
January 29th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
WASPS NEVER, EVER wear Manolo….too, too “celebrity” for any of us. We don’t wish to look nouveau riche, God forbid!! The “Establishment” of New England NEVER dress to impress each other, especially the lower social strata.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:23 am
http://replicawatchess.jubiiblog.co.uk
September 28th, 2007 at 6:41 am
http://videomovieclip.joolo.com/videomovieclip1.html
October 1st, 2007 at 12:47 pm
October 1st, 2007 at 12:47 pm