Manolo the Columnist
Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.
Dear Manolo,
My banker boyfriend and I are going to Newport, Rhode Island, for a long Fourth of July weekend with some people from his work. We’re supposed to be boating in the afternoons, and going out on the town in the evenings. Please help.
Jenny
Manolo says, the Manolo hopes that his friend was not asking the Manolo to find the single shoe suitable for both daytime and evening activities, some sort of strappy, high-heeled, rubber-soled, deck shoe, perhaps.
Better the Manolo thinks, to purchase the decent blue canvas boat shoes to go with your Jackie-O, casual nautical outfit, and then expend your efforts on locating the perfectly gorgeous evening sandals for your disco nights.
As his friend will presumably be consorting with the WASPy old-money panjandrums of Newport, who together with their arriviste new money hangers-on and barely-titled European sycophants comprise the peculiar ecosystem of that region, she will want to be beautiful and stylish so as to subdue the restless natives.
The Manolo recommends something tall and metallic like this beautiful Sara T-Strap Sandal from Christin Michaels in the color known as “gunmetal”.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Clearly Manolo has spent some time in Newport! “WASPy old-money panjandrums” - so so true.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:51 am
What a beautiful shoe! I can always count on Manolo to brighten up my mornings.
However, Manolo, here is a ” strappy, high-heeled, rubber-soled, deck shoe, perhaps” that I bought “for walking” in Paris… although now I wonder if I’m crazy.
http://www.piperlime.com/browse/product.do?cid=29607&pid=567580
Is it ugly? I already tried walking in it and lost some skin on my toe (not too bad).
June 20th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Sorry - it’s not quite a deck shoe. But it’s (t) strappy, rubber-soled and high-heeled.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Somehow that wedge doesn’t quite make it. It is a very non-sexy variation of what can be very sexy if done right as in the Manolo’s suggestion.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Maybe I was going for too much of a compromise… I wanted to be able to walk a lot in it (hence the wedge). I should stick to Hogans.
June 20th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Great shoes, tall but not too talll, and silver goes with so much!
ps: Newport is not as old money as it used to be, more of a college town now (I should know as I spent 4 years of my life living that life!)
June 20th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Great shoes
June 20th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Fabulous find!
Cristina, I think that’s a great shoe for walking.
Not sure if it’s Paris-worthy.
Hopefully someone else chimes in…
June 20th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
The wedge is a bit dowdy, but with the right strappy sundress you would be just fine, Cristina! Boulevardier on!
June 20th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
The Cristina lost some skin from her toe while wearing the sandal, but it was “not too bad”? No, no. The shoe that inflicts such an injury is not a good shoe, no matter how pretty.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Cristina, may I offer you advice? Never, ever, ever bring shoes with you as your “walking” shoes on a trip if they are not already supremely comfortable. You will be walking much more than you thought you would, and if you are already experiencing discomfort, then I can guarantee you that Day 3 of your trip will see you on the Pont Alexandre III, flinging your shoes into the Seine. At which point a gendarme will see you and fine you for littering. And he won’t be a cute gendarme either, who will be enchanted by your fit of pique and invite you to go for a ride on his moped. Oh no. This fellow will be three years from retirement and cranky, and will write up a large enough fine that you will not be able to afford to buy a cute (and comfortable) pair of replacement shoes.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
The Deja would second the sage advice of La Petite Acadienne. In Paris, you will be walking on everything from gravel to cobblestones. You want to have enough padding under the soles to cushion the feets from the rough surfaces, and that will keep the feets happy even after having covered all vingt arrondisements.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Thanks peoples. I’ll save them for… don’t know. But I’ll stick my already comfortable shoes for walking (though god knows I wish a ‘walking heel’ existed that fit on my wide feets.)