NOV
2006 28

What the Manolo Is…

Manolo says, it is the Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the young friend of the Manolo prevailed upon the Manolo to attend the screening of the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale.

Naturally, the Manolo had the low expectations.

Indeed, decades ago the Bond movies had become the formalized processions, as fixed in their parts and acts as the most solemn high mass, one that culminates in the miraculous, last-second transubstantiation of the earth-destroying bomb into the harmless object. (“Let us proclaim the mystery of Bond”).

And then there was the “acting”…the Manolo is still, decades later, scarred by the image of Roger Moore attempting to emote.

And so who would not be trepidatious.

Happily, the Manolo is able to report that the new James Bond movie is quite good, as is the new James Bond, the Daniel Craig. As the young friend of the Manolo said, the movie was “gritty”, which in this context is the very high praise.

NOV
2006 28

Manolo Blahnik, Sandals, Shoes

Celebratory Shoes

Manolo says, here are the shoes of the Maestro suitable to this auspicious occasion.

NOV
2006 28

Ayyyyy!, Celebrity, Manolo Blahnik, Shoes

Happy Birthday to the Maestro!

Il Maestro di Tutti Maestri

Manolo shouts, Happy Birthday to the Maestro Manolo Blahnik!!!

The maestro di tutti maestri whose miraculous birth occured this day in 1942.

NOV
2006 28

Boots, Diane von Furstenberg, Fashion Designers, Michael Kors, Shoes

Shoes for the DvF Dress

Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s many internet friends has asked the Manolo the question.

I’ve bought a fabulous black wrap dress. I wear it with stilettos for an evening dinner, but I’d like to dress it down a bit with boots. I want to wear that super fantastic dress at work too!

What type of boots would you suggest ? High boots ? Mid-calf ? Leather ? Suede ?

Thank you very much,

Julie

First the Manolo must compliment the Julie on her marvelous taste. Every super fantastic girl must have at least one of the Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses in her closet. They are the very definition of the word “classic”.

Beacuse the shilouette and fit of the DvF wrap is very soft and feminine and pretty and because it is also the very practical garment, the Manolo would recommend that the feetwear should have these same qualities of softness, practicality, and femininity.

Thus he would suggest this black knee-high suede boot from the Michael Kors.

Normally, the Manolo is not the fan of the chunky chains on the boots, but in this case, because of the black-on-black combination of the boots and the dress, the chain adds the needed flash to the ensemble.

NOV
2006 27

Celebrity

Tyrannosaurus Elton Redux!

Manolo says, here you see, yet again, the Tyrannosaurus Elton in his habitual pose.

Previous examples. Tyrannosaurus Elton, Tyrannosaurus Elton Returns, King of the Jungle, Jurassic Pop Star, Darth Elton, Thunder Lizards.

NOV
2006 24

Anne Klein, Boots, Shoes

Boots for the Black Friday

Manolo says, today is the Black Friday, the craziest shopping day of the year, and your young nephew has demanded the new Crunk-Dancing Tickle Me Elmo Extreme (Now With Twice the Giggling Power!). This means that you must forcefully wade into the surging, angry mass of humanity at the Target store and attempt to extract the ticklish Elmo from the clutches of the mindless mob.

Trust the Manolo, you will need the aggressive, militaristic boot to see you through this ordeal. Something that will allow you to kick the butt and take the names, something like this handsome boot from the Anne Klein New York.

NOV
2006 23

Doings of Manolo!, Manolo's Internet Friends

Happy Thanksgiving!

Manolo says, today as the Manolo gathers with his friends and family to give heartfelt thanks for the true blessings that Divine Providence has bestowed upon him, you may be assured, dearest internet friends, that you will be counted among the foremost of these blessings.

NOV
2006 22

What the Manolo Is...

What the Manolo Is…

Manolo says it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…

Reading…

Watching…

Listening to…

The Manolo must say that he found the Borat movie to be completly hilarious.

Yes, the central premise is ridiculous, (the intelligent person pretending to be the silly person with the fake accent, who could believe such nonsense!), but it is none the less executed with great mastery and the perfect comic timing.

Of the course, the Manolo was disappointed by the fact that the targets for the Borat humor were those who are most frequently and easily picked upon, and who are mostly from the southern working classes. (Yes, there were the exceptions.)

The best comedy is that which afflicts the rich and comfortable.

Consider the absurdist comedies of the Brothers Marx, whose humor targeted the pretentious nabobs, muckitymucks, and big wheels of the American society, such as the self-satisfied college professors, the tuxedo-clad opera goers, and the stout society women, and not the poor working man who earns the honest living teaching others to drive.

How much better it would have been to have seen the Borat make sport of the matrons of the Upper East Side, or the comfortably smug West Coast NIMBYs in their Toyota Prii, or even the editorial board of the New York Times!

Yet, even as the Manolo was disappointed by this, he was not disappointed by the quantity of the laughs in this movie. There is the sort of glorious mad genius at work here, one that would have done better to have cast his net in more fertile waters.

NOV
2006 20

Manolo's Internet Friends

Seasonally Appropriate

Manolo says, from the Manolo’s super fantastic internet friend Erin comes the Turkey Dress for the Turkey Day!

Also, Mr. Henry’s recipe for the Orange Cranberry Sauce!

NOV
2006 19

Doings of Manolo!, Fashion, Manolo's Internet Friends

Manolo in the Antipodes

Manolo says, once again the Australian newspaper has quoted the Manolo.

FASHION blogs are giving weary shoppers the chance to offer their candid takes on the dreary 07 spring/summer collections with the click of a mouse.

“I hate those turban-wannabes on the models’ heads, I hate the tribal-looking dresses and a lot of the colourful tops with geometric shapes just remind me of collections from many seasons back,” reads a recent Prada review on fashion blog, Iamfashion.blogspot.com.

Meanwhile, Manolo the Shoe Blogger (www.shoeblogs.com) is willing the Croc craze to “go away” while Birkenstocks rate even lower: “Put together by the blind medieval monks for wear by the peasants in the mud.”

These observations are among the vast number of style blogs continuing to explode on the internet. Sharing their passion for fashion, bloggers are free to love or loathe, and write all about it.