Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo says, ayyyy! The Magnificent Hasselhoff and two-surgically altered blondes!

Manolo says, the more the Manolo looks at this black patent leather bootie from Christian Louboutin, the more the Manolo has come to like it. For the Manolo it is the gold piping and the gold heel that have been both troubling and endearing.

“Is it too much? Maybe… No… Yes… Maybe… It is cute.”

Such are the internal deliberations of the Manolo.

As for the name, the Miss Fred Tacco, the Manolo has no idea.

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

C’est le rêve de tous les éditeurs : publier un livre qui marche.

But I digress. After returning to my senses, I thought: I really have to get a real job–a job where I can afford $555 red patent leather shoes. Then I scrolled down and I came upon these.

Ms. Mellon clapped her hands and cried, “I can’t take care of my shoes to save my life! I have to throw them away after three wearings. Otherwise, it looks like I spent the day working on a farm!”

Manolo says, the Manolo’s shoe-loving friend Wayne sends the Manolo the link to this article in the Toronto Star

Among the curiosities on the fall 2007 runways: Balenciaga’s Lego/robot shoes, Chloe’s curved cone heels, and Stella McCartney’s tilted platforms that angle the toes towards the sky.

Spring offerings are even more theatrical with Prada heels that look like floral doorstops. Marc Jacobs’ surreal runway styles included some where the models’ heels rested above the shoes.

The current selection at Holt Renfrew Bloor St. bears out the trend, with “hidden” platforms cloaked in green leather and heels that look like shiny black popsicles, or sawed-off coffee table legs.

No wonder the new shoe department at Saks Fifth Avenue’s New York flagship store has its own zip code.

“Footwear seems to be where it’s at when it comes to the forefront of design,” comments Tommy Ton, a photographer who documents street fashion in Toronto and abroad. After the recent spring ‘08 collections in Europe and New York, Ton believes that the excitement in fashion has shifted to ground level.

“Footwear has always been an art form but designers are really pushing the envelope and treating it like art,” Ton says. “They’re giving women something more visually stimulating and challenging to sink their teeth and pocketbooks into. Fabrications and ornamentation are becoming more elaborate and eccentric.”

“At the Dior store in Paris, some of the shoes are like works of art,” says Debra Anissimoff, owner of two Zola Shoes stores in Toronto. “They are embellished, and strapped, and so over the top, with heels like a series of red lacquer balls.”

The more cutting-edge styles are presented in a separate gallery-like environment that enhances the wow factor. “Seeing those shoes on the shelves – you could have been looking at a glass vase,” Anissimoff says.

That feetwear is currently at the forefront of fashion design is not news to the regular readers of the Manolo, for it is here, at the humble shoe blog of the Manolo, where shoes have always and forever been celebrated as high art.

That others are just now coming to realize this pleases the Manolo very much.

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

Reading…

Listening to…

Watching…

Simply put, Ratatouille, (which is now available on the DVD, and which the Manolo has purchased) is the best movie the Manolo has seen all year.

Manolo says, once again the Manolo has been mightily impressed by the level of stylist talent to be found among his readers. And thus once again the Manolo found it hard to make the decision as to which entry to pick as the winner.

However, after many hours of contemplation, the Manolo gives the prize to this entry, submitted by his internet friend Sam.

Here is Sam describing the outfit in his and/or her own words.

An outfit for the tall girl who’s a little bit sweet, and a little bit tough, part downtown, and little uptown too. She’s on the town for a gallery opening and some drinks. Her makeup is simple yet dramatic, her cheeks are highlighted with coral colored blush (to match the necklace), across her eyelids a shimmery sweep of copper shadow and around her eyes; loads of smudgy black eyeliner.

What the Manolo liked best about this, was the pairing of the haute Carolina Herrera skirt with the vernacular motorcycle jacket. This look it is uptown and down, funky and refined, the marvelous and witty pairing of unusual elements. With strong shoes like this the Manolo thinks that normally one should stick to basics with the rest of the outfit, avoiding patterns, and using the accessories to add color to the solids. (Red also would have worked well with these shoes.)

And now the Manolo must sent special props to his internet friend Heishe, whom he considers the runner up.

At first glance the Manolo rejected Heishe’s outfit as being wrong-headed, but then upon second look, he began to see the logic behind it, and it grew on him. In the end the Manolo came to regard it as brave and smart. It is light and flirty and altogether cute, and the completely unexpected combination. So, Bravo to the Heishe!

Manolo says, The Tom Cruise right hand, his pimp hand remains strong, and yet the other seems more…diffident.

P.S. From that genius among geniuses, Spirit Fingers.

Manolo says, yes, it is again Monday and you are back again at your desk. But happily, it is the the short week, only three days until Thanksgiving, the majority of which you will spend working out the complex seating arrangements needed to maintain harmony during the big feast. (As always, your father must be placed far away from your Cousin Andy the aggressive atheist, who makes little snorting noises when you say grace, which irritates your Uncle Bob, who made little Jenny cry last year with his “witticisms” about fat girls, and who also likes to mock your cousin Joe, the Ron Paul supporter, who last year got into the giant argument about “fiat money” with Jack’s wife, Lynn, the high school English teacher, whose lax notions about home cleaning and the desirability of take-out fast food make your mother angry.)

Better you should actually work on bringing peace to the Middle East, no?

Still, there is always time to look at the beautiful shoes, and there are few shoes more beautiful than these wonderful silvery peep-toe sandals from the Rupert Sanderson.

Ahhhh, the soothing power of beautiful shoes. Now you are refreshed! Back to the annotated seating charts, you’ve almost got it!

Manolo the bloggers the bloggers among the Manolo’s internet friends, especially the Mommy and Daddy bloggers, may perhaps be interested in the Teeny Manolo Sweepstakes!