Manolo the Columnist
Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.
Dear Manolo,
I’ve been invited to Thanksgiving dinner at my new boyfriend’s home in Richmond. The problem is that I’m a New York girl, and from the way he talks it sounds like his family is still waiting for the South to rise again. Please help.
Rachel
Manolo says, to the Manolo this it sounds like the set up for the dreadful romantic comedy.
You know the sort; the boyfriend’s stern-but-essentially-sweet father is known to all as “Daddy Frank”, and the mother is the sassy-but-wise southern lady enacted by the Sally Fields. Add in the fat boyhood friend named Bubba, the pining old flame Ashley Sue, and the usual assortment of the wacky-but-loveable relatives, played with stereotypical broadness by the well-known character actors, and you have all of the elements of the perfect Matthew McConuaghey/Jennifer Anniston flop.
Happily, life is not so predictable, and the Southerners, like everyone else, are much more complex and interesting than the usual stereotypes allow.
So the Manolo would tell you to relax and be yourself, although, he would also tell you to somewhat moderate the edgy, New York hipster all-black with something more lady-like, perhaps like this playful Mary Jane style wedge from the Cordani, which would look good with either the pants or the skirt.
November 17th, 2006 at 11:59 am
“the Southerners, like everyone else, are much more complex and interesting than the usual stereotypes allow.”
Thank you, Manolo, for not succumbing to the temptation to feed the stereotype, and instead, take your usual position of tolerance and understanding for your fellow man, even if he is from the so-called backwoods.
Cute shoes, too.
November 17th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
Of course, the Manolo’s description of single female New Yorkers is conspicuously absent. The shoes are cute, though.
November 17th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
i am very grateful, too for you avoiding the nasty stereotypes heaped on the south.
November 17th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Cordani makes wonderful shoes, very reasonably priced for the quality and always with an interesting style twist. Nice to see this often-overlooked designer get some props!
November 17th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Perhaps a reduction of snobbery would make for a lovely complement to the lovely shoes.
November 17th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
La BellaDonna, she too appreciates the Manolo’s wisdom in finding more in people than stereotypes might suggest. She suggests to the Beloml that the part of the “single female New Yorker,” it was covered in the description of “Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Anniston,” and La BellaDonna is reasonably certain that it was not the Matthew McConahottie who was playing the female New Yorker.
November 17th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
I must congratulate the Manolo on finding the quintessential Richmond shoe. I am from Richmond, and I could not have chosen better myself. Rachael is sure to fare well in such shoes if she also takes with her a large dollop of tolerance for the absurd, particularly if the boyfriend hails from the West End, where ceremony and absurdity go hand in hand. I am also not at all surprised that the Manolo, being the class act that he is, avoided the usual droll stereotypes, though I am quite sure that I would have been greatly amused if he had not. :)
November 17th, 2006 at 3:32 pm
Love the shoes!
Of course, I don’t know the boyfriend’s family, but Richmond can be pretty cool. Check out the old tobacco warehouse district. And, some great architecture in the formerly kinda depressed but now lively downtown.
November 19th, 2006 at 1:55 am
Alas, once again a shoe that is only available in “M”. Unfortunately one-size- fits-all is not true when it comes to shoes. Surely there are those in NYC and Richmond who’d like to have this one in AAAA or C!
November 19th, 2006 at 11:38 am
This Bronx girl recently went to the capital of the Confederacy to attend a family wedding. I was (most pleasantly) surprised to find it chock-full of great architecture, lovely parks, funky neighborhoods and a decidely hipster vibe once you got away from the strip-mall ambiance of the main thoroughfare. My humble suggestion: go with an open mind (and the great shoes suggested by the Manolo!)
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:59 am