Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo says, many wonderful entries have already arrived at the Manolo’s Forums for the latest version of the the Manolo’s Build the Outfit contest, in which the erstwhile amateur stylist must put together the outfit to go with these Celine ankle strap pumps.

If you have not already registered at the Manolo’s Super Fantastic Forums and submitted your entry, go do so now, as on Friday, the Manolo will announce the winner of the $100 gift certificate from Zappos.

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

Reading…

Watching…

Listening to…

This has been the very busy few days for the Manolo, but he has still had the time to read one more of the Martin Amis novels he had missed. Few other writers are as amusing and appalling as the Martin Amis, who never fails to make the Manolo laugh even at the most awful things.

Manolo says, please forgive the recent unreliable nature of the Manolo’s websites. The posts and the comments have been appearing and disappearing for the past two days. This is because the Manolo switched the webhosts over the weekend, and the “propagation” to the new host has been slow to come to completion. With luck, all should be well by this time tomorrow. (Or so the Manolo has been told.)

The normally deplorable Tara Reid looks so beautiful and sophisticated and grown up in this gown.

Ayyyy! Until she turns around!

This time the Manolo has heeded the suggestion of his friend the Sarah to play with the variations, and so he gives you the Manolo Survivor: Build the Outfit for the Poor Girl version of the game.

Here, then are the shoes…

Pretty, no? But you are not completely certain about them, as the buckle seems perhaps slightly excessive. But, they are from Celine and they are $500 of the American dollars!

Of the course, you would never buy them for yourself, as you are the poor girl, but your crazy friend, who is dating the Greek billionaire named Stavros, recently purchased these shoes, wore them once and now does not like them, and so she has given them to you, and they fit perfectly.

So you must build the outfit worthy of these shoes, but you only have $200 with which to do so. Still you are clever, and your crazy friend says that Stavros has the single cousin who is nice and quite handsome, and perhaps there may be the chance at the double date.

Go! Hurry! Build the Outfit!

Please be so kind as to post your answer in the Manolo’s Forums.

On Friday afternoon, the Manolo will pick what he thinks is the best outfit made for under $200 of the American dollars and award the person who composed it with the $100 gift certificate to the Zappos.

Manolo says, here are the few links which may perhaps amuse…

So with much ado and in no particular order I present you with wonderful shoes.

I attended college in Los Angeles and wore black pumps to work every day. I ate sushi and treated myself to pedicures on a semi-regular basis.

Model Simona Gotovac stunned the crowds…

Manolo says, yes it is again Monday, and you are again back at your desk, but do not despair, the Manolo has brought forth from his tricksy bag of shoes this sophisticated, yet lighthearted flat sandal from the Stuart Weitzman to cheer you.

It is called the “Tweety”, which is the ridiculous name as it is not yellow. But, as we know, sometimes the shoe designers have trouble thinking up the good names.

Manolo says, here is another review of The Consolation of the Shoes, this one from the Manolo’s internet friend, the Shoesense writing at the ShoeBlog.

What follows is a tour de force like no other–for although it is solidly grounded in that best and most elegant of philosophical tradition of the Socratic inquiry, Manolo’s opus is at the same time breezy, funny, unpretentious, and eminently readable. The Manolo is trying to both grasp the meaning of Lady Fashion’s words and to find that elusive perfect pair of shoes. His quest is peppered with the occasional accounts of Manolo’s pitiable childhood, the description of the boisterous, mustachioed senor Mercurio, Manolo’s first employer, and others of the sort, but also the metaphysical musings on that very serious topic that we all love dearly, the Shoes. Revelations spring out of Manolo’s variegated and amusing prose like rare resplendent orchid flowers from the luxuriant tropical vegetation…

Ayyyyy! How can the Manolo express his gratitude for such the marvelous words?

Manolo says, here is the very first review of the Consolation of the Shoes, from the Utne Reader “From the Stacks” column.

The Consolation of The Shoes –the sixth and newest release from the New Pamphleteer press — is a personal account by the elusive “shoeblogger” Manolo of his philosophical journey to find the perfect pair of shoes. After a fleeting visit, “as in a dream,” by the Lady of Fashion, Manolo is left with only a glimpse of the world’s most beautiful shoes and her cryptic message: “We shall always have the shoes.” Riffing on Christian philosopher Boethius’ 6th-century work, the Consolation of Philosophy, Manolo’s writing integrates medieval-style text about longing for inner happiness with a fashionisto’s 21st century crisis of faith to create a social statement of footwear equality. Manolo’s erudition leads the reader on a humor-filled treasure hunt through oblique pop-culture references, quotes from Paradise Lost, the annals of European art history, and world culture. (For more on the New Pamphleteer press, check out “Attack of the Pamphleteers” by Utne Reader librarian Danielle Maestretti in our May/June issue.)– Eric Kelsey

Ayyyyy! This is very exciting!