Manolo the Columnist
Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.
Dear Manolo,
I’d like to get my father a pair of shoes for Father’s Day. I’m considering a pair of good quality leather sandals. What do you think?
Melissa
Manolo says, what does the Manolo think about the “mandals”?
In the word, “ugh”.
Trust, the Manolo, no one wishes to see the 60-year-old man toes. Not even your mother, who has spent the lifetime in love with this nice man with the weird ear hair wishes to see your father’s toes. Why else would she give him the same pair of the J.C. Penney slippers every year for Christmas?
No, it is much better to give your father one of the traditional gifts of the day, such as the tie with the pictures of the trouts on it, or the book of Civil War History written by that man in the bad suit you saw on CSPAN.
Perhaps the Melissa is one of those peoples who feel they must absolutely break with the traditions. Very well, in this case the Manolo recommends the very popular Newports by the Keen, as being the sporty and manly footgear which is sandal-like, and yet does not expose the unsightly man toes to the wider world.
June 15th, 2007 at 8:31 am
Those are atrocious!
How about a pair of cydwoks or something?
June 15th, 2007 at 9:56 am
I saw an otherwise distinguished looking older gentleman wearing sandals….with white socks. The horror.
June 15th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Unlike ana, I am delighted to see the Manolo endorse Keens. My 60-year-old beau wears them on weekends. His intent is less to cover aging toenails, and more to protect his feet from debris while hiking, doing yard work, etc. But they do look good on him when he is at a cook-out wearing khakis and a Hawaiian shirt.
Keens are not fashionable shoes, but they are practical, comfortable, and versatile — everything the evil Crocs claim to be and are not. So please allow me to second the endorsement.
June 15th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
What’s with the hate for men’s toes? Basic Hygiene and the most cursory pedicure would take care of the worst offenders, Besides I have visions of Great-Aunt Agnes on her way to the early bird special in Boca;curb-feeler toes and those fritos she insists are toenails on display….It work’s BOTH ways.
June 15th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Does the Manolo have an opinion on boat shoes?
June 15th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Joel:
Men are many wonderful things, but they’re not pretty. Men’s feet are very large and often hairy. Very few people want to look at men’s feet, especially as the men who own them get older. My husband, for example, happens to have very nicely shaped feet that are small for a man, and he looks fine in man-slides–but ONLY AROUND THE HOUSE.
I agree that old ladies who don’t take care of their feet look equally revolting below the ankle. That’s why no older woman should ever, ever wear sandals (or, frankly, any other kind of shoe) without a recent pedicure and nail polish–and short toenails, please!
June 15th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I’m not exaggerating when I say that almost every other man at the airport seemed to have been wearing these last weekend.
June 15th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Surely the Manolo is making a funny by presenting this clumsy “sandal” that has the turned up elf toe! And please stop saying cruel things about the feets of men. Men often have lovely feets, unmarred by bunions and hammertoes. This is not the case with the feets of ladies, especially the chic, who wear silly shoes, including the “cucaracha killers.”
Hugo Boss has a very simple and tasteful sandal, the Paolo.
I do not want to think that the Manolo has “issues” with his own feets!
June 15th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
The perfect solution for my father’s tendency to do the socks-with-sandals thing (it’s even worse- he wears BLACK socks -he IS german, but that doesn’t make it ok).
June 16th, 2007 at 12:36 am
Speaking of men’s footwear…did anyone see Leno tonight? Bill Cosby was on and he was wearing, oh lord, crocs WITH socks. Can someone please tell this man that a sweatsuit and plastic shoes are not appropriate attire when you’re going to be on national television?
June 16th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Here’s a good use for Crocs - give them to your pet racoon to play with!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/latenightowl/549086977/
June 16th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I concur that these are u.g.l.y. To Boot New York makes a gorgeous man’s fisherman sandal–perhaps a little pricey at $198, but dignified and discrete. It’s available at Saks, and perhaps other places . . .
June 16th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I have those and they are uncomfortable. It feels like flippers with no heels.
June 18th, 2007 at 9:05 am
I have to chime in with support and even love for the Keen sandals– however, I would never recommend them for around-town wear. I wear mine specifically for sport activities– for example, when one of my hiking days in the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon involves several hours of navigating through canyons so narrow that one must walk up a flowing creek– Keen’s Newport sandals are the PERFECT alternative to hiking boots that would quickly become waterlogged. The Keens are also great for kayaking locally, where I often have to portage around large obstacles / shallow spots. But for general wearing-about-town– no, I would not recommend the Keen. They are definitely a ‘one-trick shoe’, and I find them not only unattractive, but also rather awkward-feeling on pavement or regular flooring.
June 18th, 2007 at 9:54 am
I have a coworker who wears those sandals all the time. He even wore them on a first date. His date was not impressed.
I usually agree with The Manolo, but I think these sandals are unsightly. I say: wear them in nature for utilitarian purposes, but nowhere else!
June 18th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
How interesting to come across these opinions of men’s feet and not wanting to see them. My wife is constantly on me to wear shandals or whatever instead of what I prefer to wear, which are decent work or hiking shoes (or cleats or boots as the occasion demands). Generally I think that sandals are a complete technological failure, in that they do not hold a traction surface securely to the bottom of one’s feet, and I refuse to wear them - although the keens look good for white water rafting. Now I can add to my objection the fashion angle, although I don’t think she will take it seriously coming from me. However I can always try, and maybe some day she will give up and be content with dressing her own feet. Thank you.
June 18th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Dear Manolo, thank you so much for my favorite new phrase of the year: “the unsightly man toes.”
June 20th, 2007 at 6:47 am
Manolo, it saddens me to see this post. I have been following your blog for a long time and I am crushed to see that shoes owned by my fabulous boyfriend have made it to your blog before I have seen any shoes owned by moi.