Manolo says, here is the very handsome and unusual ballet flats from the Chloé, unusual because it is the very feminine form with the very masculine material. And yet, it works well in this case beacuse the leather and the stitching looks so rich.
Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s internet friends has asked him the question.
Dear Manolo:
Please help. I am a CPA, and as such, I am accustomed to relying on rules to help me make decisions. I am unsure of the specifics on several shoe rules, so am turning to you, the highest authority thereon, for clarification.
I was of the belief that ladies should never wear black shoes with navy blue business clothing. I thought the rule was that navy blue, brown or cordovan were the only acceptable choices for shoe color. Have the rules changed?
In addition, what are the rules for the wearing of suede shoes? The wearing of suede shoes seems wrong to me during the day in the spring and summer, but okay during the day in the fall and winter, or anytime of the year at night. Please advise if such a rule exists.
Thank you very much for your assistance.
Rebecca
Unlike the summer-only rule about the white shoes, which the Manolo suggests you mostly ignore, the rule about the navy blue clothes and the black shoes is one you should mostly not ignore.
The problem is that the navy blue does not have the glamourous connotations, instead we think of it as the professional or the nautical color, and thus when we pair it with the black shoes it has the potential to become too drab, or too uniform. (Black clothing and black shoes do not suffer from this drabness because black has the glamourous associations.)
The trick to the navy blue clothing is to wear the shoes that offer the color contrast, such as the tans, the cordovans, the creams (especially in the springtime), and if you wish to really make the statement, the light blues and the greens.
Here are the pair of the super fantastic, cream-colored Giuseppe Zanotti shoes to wear with the navy blue clothing.
As for the suede shoes being acceptable only in the fall or the winter, or during the nighttime, the Manolo does not consider this the rule so much as the powerful suggestion.
Finally, and most importantly, the Manolo asks his friend the CPA Rebecca, why is she worrying about the navy and the suede? Now that the tax day has passed, should she not be laying on the tropical beach with the Raspberry Jumborita and the cabaña boy?
Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s internet friends has alerted the Manolo to the following story.
Germany’s militant Red Army Faction considered kidnapping fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld in the 1970s, said a former member of the radical left-wing group that shook the West German establishment.
The comments from Peter-Juergen Boock, who has served 17 years in jail for his role in the RAF, are the latest in a string of revelations which have caused a storm in Germany.
Some of his comments have sparked calls for a re-examination of the 1977 murder of a federal prosecutor.
Boock told Der Spiegel magazine the RAF had a list of possible targets for ransom in the late 1970s when it was trying to raise funds to help the group’s leaders escape from jail.
Lagerfeld was from a rich family and was already a big name in the fashion world, so seemed an ideal candidate.
“We considered kidnapping the owner of the lingerie maker Palmers factory and also Karl Lagerfeld,” Boock told Der Spiegel in an interview. “There were a row of people whom we collected material about and they were all wealthy.”
The Manolo’s immediate thought? The Ransom of the Red Chief.
Manolo says, yes, the Manolo thinks that the platform mania is coming to the end, but that does not mean that you should not enjoy it while it lasts, just that you should do so in the shoes that will not break your leg.
Here is the cute platform from the Stuart Weitzman. The Manolo especially thinks that this would rock your summer in the whitish “chalk” color.
Manolo says, for the past few months the Manolo has tried to avoid writing about the Yves Saint Laurent Tribute pumps, the peep-toe mary jane platforms with the six inch heels.
These shoes are the current “it” shoes, the hottest of the hottest, worn by the celebrities such as the J-Lo, the Becks, the Gwen Stefani, the Christina Aguilera and other hot young chickies who are in the eye of the public (often like the persistent sty).
The reason the Manolo has avoided writing about these shoes is that he does not particularly care for them, and because it is the policy of the Manolo to avoid whenever possible becoming involved in the extraordinary popular delusions and in the madness of the crowds.
However, the Manolo has now decided to write about them because there is the amusing article about them in The Mail of London.
Last night, I walked in the hallowed heels of Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera and Gwen Stefani, risking vertigo and personal injury for the sake of high fashion.
And “high” is the key word here. Having survived the experience, girls, I doff my cap to you.
The Yves Saint Laurent “Tribute” Mary Janes are this season’s must-have shoes. In London, they are sold out and there is a waiting list of 200.
On American eBay, the last resort for a desperate shoeaholic, they are changing hands for $1,295 (£648). Mercifully I managed to get hold of one of the last pairs at the YSL store in Manhattan. Next delivery isn’t until mid-May.
The shoes come in three colours: black (with a cream-coloured heel), red or purple, and two heel heights; four inches or five-and-a-half. At the front they have a one-and-a-half inch platform and a thin ankle strap.
“Oh my, they are very, very sexy,” purred Paulo, my Peruvian sales assistant, as I strutted in front of the mirror. I’m 5ft 5in, and was now nearly 5ft 11in. For $660 (£330) – a bargain by today’s designer shoe prices – my legs looked impressively long.
“You could dance all night in them,’ Paulo assured me. “The platform sole actually makes them more comfortable because it’s like your foot is only really working with a two-and-a-half inch heel height. You see?”
As the Manolo has said in the recent past, we have entered the final phase of the platform mania, and these shoes are yet more proof of the Manolo’s thesis.
