Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo’s beloved Malibu is on fire!

Manolo says, last week the Manolo posted the link to the optical-illusion that supposedly tested whether one was left-brained or right-brained.

It turns out that the actual explanation of why she seems to spin one way, and then the other, is much more interesting.

Manolo says, ayyyy! Ben Kingsley, Gushing Fanboy!

Manolo says, you must go look at this posting from the Coveted. It is based on last week’s article in the New York Times about the lack of black models on the runways of this seasons New York fashion week shows.

Here is the excerpt from the Times.

Of the 101 shows and presentations posted on Style.com during the New York runway season, which ended a month ago, more than a third employed no black models, according to Women’s Wear Daily. Most of the others used just one or two. When the fashion caravan moved to London, Paris and Milan, the most influential shows — from Prada to Jil Sander to Balenciaga to Chloé and Chanel — made it appear as if someone had hung out a sign reading: No Blacks Need Apply.

The article is quite good and not the little disturbing and depressing, and thus it is well worth the reading.

What Jennine at the Coveted has done is gather together the head shots of the models from the runway shows, and in so doing has dramatically shown that the look of the moment is very pale, young, skinny, and blond. But when has it not always been thus?

Manolo says, this is one of the better fashion-based pranks the Manolo has seen.

Manolo says, here is some of the week’s best writing from the Manolosphere

Never teh Bride…

I hate sock monkeys. I hate them with a burning passion.

Mr. Henry…

It all starts, as things do, with one small misstep, a minor oversight that unwinds balefully into tragic chorus.

Twistie…

I’m still amazed at the expectation that stress and misery are the primary emotions involved in wedding planning.

Francesca…

Francesca always tries to make sure that she has more than one white blouse in her closet.

Glinda the Good…

Somehow it reminds me of a bed that the Dowager Duchess of Cornwall should be climbing into at night, demanding querulously that her servant place a warming brick at her feet, rather than a three year old.

Spirit Fingers…

Everytime Michelle Rodriguez hits the clubs and springs headlong into a vodka haze, she faces that age old dilemma of deciding between her two most trusted counsellors.

Isidore Gallant…

If plagiarism is a fashion crime, then the fashion detectives has better investigate this suspicious case.

Raincoaster…

Then there’s the Donald Trump, although why in the name of all that is holy you’d want your precious treasure to resemble that cotton-candy monstrosity of a comb-over I cannot imagine.

Plumcake…

Let’s face it, it’s hard to dispel the “all big girls are desperate” myth when confronted with seventy three plus-size stewardesses inviting you to “fly the friendly thighs” in the span of a night

Manolo says, here is the most amusing article about the Neiman Marcus 100th anniversary celebration, part of which was the giant western-themed party at the Cotton Bowl. The best part, however, is that one of the attendees was the Maestro Manolo Blahnik, kitted out completely in cowboy western style!

As the cocktail hour wore on, guests wandered between pig races, dressing goats in tutus and wigs (yes, it’s true) and posing for pictures with a longhorn steer. A few brave souls signed waivers and rode the mechanical bull. As Andrew Rosen was climbing aboard, Carmen Marc Valvo cried, “Take off your glasses! Everyone says it’s slippery. This is crazy. There’s no seat.” After Rosen took a tumble, Valvo took his turn and hung on for 25 bucks of the bull before being flung. “I’ll take it. That was fun. Now let’s go look at the pigs,” he said.

[…]

As Chris Isaak played through his repertoire — thanking Neiman’s for inviting him and his band because “we really didn’t have anyplace else to go. Well, I mean, we do have other places to go, but it’s great to be playing Neiman Marcus. We could have been playing Sears Roebuck” — guests continued to discuss business, the balmy weather and their own clothing. British jeweler Stephen Webster, who’s been on a tour of Neiman’s throughout the U.S., landed in Dallas that morning and, like many, headed directly to a Western gear store to grab his cowboy hat, boots and cowboy shirt. “It seemed like the right idea,” he said, before adding: “Although I don’t know when I’ll wear it again.”

Manolo Blahnik did the same the night before to get his getup, which he paired with his own bespoke Anderson & Shepherd double-breasted jacket. “My feet are killing me,” he moaned, pointing to his cowboy boots after doing some cha-chas on the sidelines. Why didn’t he just design his own? “No time, so I bought these at some shop in town, along with everything else. I’ve always admired John Wayne.”

But proving more than anything that the night was all about fashion, Blahnik had his own twist on the Western theme: “It’s all vintage, honey — vintage. I insisted.”

And here is the other picture of the Maestro Manolo himself, in the cowboy boots and the 20-gallon hat.

He seems to be having the most fabulous time, despite the foot pain.

Manolo says, ayyyy! Double your pleather, double your fun

Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.

Dear Manolo,

I’m looking for an everyday shoe that can be worn with jeans, slacks, or skirt-and-tights. So far my search has brought me only headaches, as it seems every shoe is obnoxiously trendy, has too-high a heel (defined as more than 2 inches), or looks too much like a man’s shoe. Is it too much to ask for something stylish, feminine, classic, and practical?

Karin

Manolo says, here is the example of the person who is expecting too much from the single pair of the shoes, hoping to find that perfect and magical pair that looks beautiful with the jeans, the dress slacks, and the skirts.

This is like shopping for the economy car with the performance of the Ferrari and the roominess of the school bus; after the lengthy search you will finally end up buying the Chrysler minivan.

Still, the Manolo sympathizes with this request, for it is born of the desire to be frugal, to buy only one pair of the shoes instead of many. But this is the false economy, for one needs several pairs of the shoes, so that one does not wear the same pair of the shoes two days in succession.

Look here is the All Tied Up from the Kenneth Cole Reaction, practical, stylish, feminine, and perfect for wearing with the dress slacks, or perhaps the skirt.