APR
2009 30

Boots, Cole Haan, Michael Kors, Shoes, Taryn Rose

Boots on the Sale

Manolo says, perhaps it is because it is fall here in the upside down part of the world, but the Manolo has been thinking about the boots these past few weeks.

Happily for many of the Manolo’s internet friends, it is spring in the northern hemisphere, which means that many of the most handsome and wonderful boots are deeply discounted in the price.

What is that you say, “But Manolo, the summer is coming and the boots, they are hot on my feets when it is hot outside!”

To which the Manolo replies, trust the Manolo, the cold, it will return quickly enough so as to make buying the boots now seem the wise decision later.

Here are three deeply discounted boots that would work well in almost any super fantastic girl’s wardrobe.

Above is the Sierra Air Tall Boot from Cole Haan, the classically stylish boot with the modern Nike technology that reputedly makes them super comfortable for the working and walking girl. Mira! They are 46% off of the usual price, the savings of more than $230 American dollars!

Here is the Danya from Taryn Rose, the handsomely practical, everyday sort of boot that can be worn almost anytime of the year. It is on the sale, 35% off of the regular price, the savings of almost $200 of the American dollars.

Finally, here from Micheal Kors is the super sexy, super sleek, Ava, the boot which is on sale for more than 50% off of the regular price, the savings of nearly $470 of the American dollars!

APR
2009 30

Whose Shoes Wednesday

Whose Shoes Wednesday…The Answer!

Manolo asked, whose shoes?

Kate Hudsons Shoes

Manolo answers, it is the Kate Hudson!

Congratulations to the Manolo’s internet friend Nancy, who was the only person to correctly identify this week’s person of note.

APR
2009 29

Shoes

The Zappos Map

Manolo says, from the Manolo’s shoe-obsessed friend Wayne, comes news of the Zappos Map, perhaps the greatest advancement in entertainment since the invention of the talking pictures.

It is the brilliant idea, to be able to see in real-time what people in various parts of the United States are purchasing from the Zappos. The Manolo has found himself staring at it for hours on end, despairing when someone in Pittsburgh purchased the pink crocs, thrilling when someone in Topeka choose the Stuart Weitzman strappy sandals.

The Zappos Map, more riveting than your favorite telenovela!’

APR
2009 29

Whose Shoes Wednesday

whose shoes?

Manolo asks, whose shoes?

APR
2009 28

Sandals

Stella McCartney For the Tuesday

Manolo says, it is Tuesday and you are back at your desk doing whatever it is you do to earn you this day your daily bread.

“How’s it going,” asks your coworker/friend Jennifer.

“Meh.” You answer, with the semi-theatrical, head-tilting, shoulder shrug.

“Meh?” she answers, her palms up, “or, meh?” With the palms down.

“Meh,” you reply with the lugbrious eye-ball roll.

And this pretty well describes your 2009 thus far. Meh.

Things could be worse. Things could be better. Meh.

You have the job, even if the last round of layoffs came perilously close.

Your children are doing well in school, even though their incredibly dextrous thumbs never stop with the incessant texting, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Your husband still loves you, even though his pot belly, nostril hair, and curmudgeonly old man behavior grow with each passing season.

And, you, you still have your health, even if each morning the mirror mocks your slowly decaying flesh.

And this, perhaps, is the main reason for all of the meh-ing: the certain knowledge that you are undeniably part of the entropic system. What was once so young and supple has now begun to slip into chaos.

Isn’t forty supposed to be the year when all of this starts to happen? Isn’t that the turning point for women?

Ha! Forty is nothing. At forty you were still aglow with the final autumnal flush of youth!

No, no, no. It is after 45 when the cruel, implacable nature of the universe is finally and fully revealed to women. It is then that everything begins to spin away; it then when the leaves–so fresh in spring, so beautiful in autumn–finally begin to fall from the tree and wither upon the ground.

Everyone talks about old men, but, men, what do they know from aging?

Look at your man Gary, standing out on the lawn yelling at the neighbor kids. He still struts around like the cock-of-the-walk, with his pleated, XXL, big-boy khakis hiked up around his armpits. He is still confident in his physical person, still convinced of his own desirability, even if he is now beginning to look like the hairier version of Alfred Hitchcock.

Men can go on believing they are 23 right up until the very end, until Death knocks them down mid-stride, stands over the corpse and shouts, “How you like them beans, old man!!!”

No, it is women who suffer the most from the aging process, from its inevitabity and unfairness.

You thought you had made it through the most difficult part of life and emerged on the other side the fully-formed and capable adult woman–confident in your own abilities and opinions, able to meet any challenge and over come it.

But this, this is different. There is no overcoming it, only endurance until the final day

…Heavy sigh.

Ayyyy! Such depressing and morbid thoughts! Look at you, you were never so vain. Imagine how much worse things would be if you were some Holllywood starlet, whose looks were all she had?

No. Emphatically NO!

There are models for aging gracefully, for remaing vital and useful and full of life even into advanced old age. (And you are still very, very far from that.)

So, pick one! Or make your own!

Have your little pity party and then get on with living your life.

In the meantime, look, beautiful sandals from Stella McCartney!

Proof that God wishes us to be happy!

APR
2009 24

Elie Tahari, Sandals, Shoes

Manolo the Columnist

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

Dear Manolo,

I’ve been surprised to see that gladiator sandals continue to be trendy, long after one would have thought that they would have gone out of style. In fact, I confess that I’m now powerfullly tempted to get some for myself. So here’s my question: are gladiator sandals appropriate for a woman of “certain age, “ and if so, what would you recommend?

Gloria

Manolo says, the Manolo is also surprised that the sandals of the gladiators contiue to be fashionable long after the empire waist of the previous seasons had declined and fell.

But such is the state of the world in which we now find ourselves; fashion retailers avoid taking risks on unproven items by selling subtle variations of the previous seasons’ winners, just as consumers are more concerned with getting their money’s worth out of costly items, thus wearing things longer than would have been usual in our recent and richer past.

As for whether or not adult women can wear the gladiator sandals, the Manolo says yes, but only with some careful thought. One should avoid pairing the full-out knee-length gladiator sandals with drapery, lest one look like Cato the Elder denoucing Carthagenian aggression from the floor of the Senate.

For best effect, ladies of the certain age should perhaps wear sandals that are more evocative of the Ancient world rather than literal. Here from Elie Tahari is the Ava Sandal in the gold metallic leather. More Diana, Mistress of the Hunt, than Russell Crowe, Mister of the Colosseum.

APR
2009 23

Whose Shoes Wednesday

Whose Shoes Wednesday…The Answer!

Manolo asked, whose shoes?

John Malkovich's Sensible Shoes

Manolo answers, Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich!

Congratulations to the Manolo’s sharp-eyed internet friend Marita for correctly identifying this week’s personage of note.

APR
2009 22

Whose Shoes Wednesday

Manolo asks, whose shoes?

APR
2009 21

Doings of Manolo!, The Manolosphere

The Return of the Prodigal

Manolo says, it is Tuesday, and the Manolo has returned from his most recent Patagonian adventure, more or less in the single piece. Sadly, the Manolo’s beloved MacBook did not fare so well, as the glass of mineral water was poured into it, with the predictably hilarious results.

Unfortunately for the readers of the Manolosphere, this accident and the Manolo’s travel to remote and unwired regions of the world, coincided with the acting up of the Manolo’s internet servers. Because of these circumstances the Manolo was unable to adequately address the server problems, and thus you may not have been able to see this site or the others for the better part of last week.

Please accept the Manolo’s apologies for this difficulty.

Happily, the Manolo has now returned to Buenos Aires and next week the Manolo returns to America for at least the next several months.

APR
2009 10

Sandals, Shoes

Manolo the Columnist

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

Dear Manolo,

I have a small personal ritual. Every year since I graduated from college
and found my first job, I have bought myself a new pair of shoes on the
day after Easter. This year, however, like a lot of people, I am worried
about the economy and want to be careful. Can you suggest something not
too costly, and yet also super fantastic?

Paula

Manolo says, this is the sort of personal ritual the Manolo can fully support. Indeed, the Manolo would suggest expanding it, by purchasing new shoes after all of the major holidays, such as the Christmas, and the Thanksgiving, and the Arbor Day, and the Flag Day, and the Groundhog Day, to name the few of the many dozens of dates available for personal reaffirmation.

Although, if you must limit yourself to the single holiday, Easter is especially well-suited, marking as it does the season of rebirth, and the triumph of hope and colorful summery sandals.

Speaking of the colorful summery sandals, here is the Lulu patent-leather croc sandals from Lauren by Ralph Lauren. The Manolo is partial to the color “Baltic Blue”, although the “Tangerine” color is also suitably vernal and quite fetching.