Manolo's Shoe Blog

MAR
2011 15

I Want ‘em. I Buy ‘em. I Can’t Wear ‘em.

N.B. The Manolo’s internet friend Heather is not only the shoe-lover’s shoe lover, she is also the true deadpan wit, as you will see in this second installment in the Manolo’s Guest-blog-a-palooza. High, elegant, in-step curving, vertiginous heels. I want ‘em. I buy ‘em. I can’t wear ‘em. They line my closet shelves, singing their siren calls of elongated legs and a sexy pelvic tilt, mocking me with the knowledge that nothing about sad limping and oozing blisters is sexy. I fire back with every heel pad and shoe stickum thing on the market, but no. The burning of the…

MAR
2011 15

Botas del Baile Tribal

Manolo says, according to the Univision the pointy toed boots have begun to appear in Dallas! Here below, for your edification, are the photos of the evolutionary stages that preceded the current fluorescence. First the diversity of the color and the lengthening of the silhouette… Then the toes achieve the exaggerated state and begin to turn up…

MAR
2011 15

Botas Exóticas: Pointy-Toes, Poulaines, and Male Display

Manolo says, from the Vice Magazine comes news of the hot fashion trend emanating from the rural backwaters of northern Mexico. Last month we went to the dusty city of Matehuala, Mexico, in the northern state of San Luís Potosí on the high plateau of the Huasteca Potosina, in search of the pointiest long-toed cowboy boots ever made. Over the past year, the botas vaqueras exóticas phenomenon has overrun the rodeo dance floors and clubs of this area, much to the dissatisfaction of Mexicans who critique the fashions of their countrymen on hotly trafficked style blogs. […] Participants in these…

MAR
2011 14

The Caddy from Charles by Charles David

Manolo says, last Friday, when the Manolo was answering the question posed by his internet friend Meredith, who works in the office of the Congress person, the Manolo came very close to recommending these shoes, the Caddy from the Charles by Charles David. But, such is the sadness of the working girl, that fun shoes with interesting details are not appropriate in every professional situation.

MAR
2011 14

Malvolio’s Cross-Garter’d Yellow Stockings

N.B. Several of the Manolo’s internet friends have responded heroically to the Manolo’s plaintive call for help. This post, by the marvelously erudite and witty Sarah, is the first of the guest posts provided by these wonderful friends. The Manolo is in the rut. The Manolo is filled with the ennui. The Manolo has brought me such pleasure over the years that I have been reading his blogs, and has added so many touches of beauty to my life that I find this douleur completely unacceptable. It is true that March does have a tendency to bring in da funk,…

MAR
2011 14

Aubrey O’Day has Good Taste

And here we see miss Aubrey O’Day at the premiere of her new Oxygen reality show All About Aubrey (a program I can only imagine is going to be both titillating and inspiring).  Oh heavens, where to begin. First, I applaud her for the effort to draw attention away from her face ( made entirely out of fondant these days) with an “eye catching” outfit, something she tossed together at the very last minute by scrounging through a Frederick’s of Hollywood sales rack. But those shoes… Unless someone is planning on making a parody of the Spice Girl’s “Wannabe” music…

MAR
2011 14

FN Shoe Star, Episode 7

Manolo says, the seventh episode of the FN Shoe Star is now available for your viewing pleasure. This week the contestants are presenting to the judges their finished shoes which are to accompany the Rebecca Taylor runway collection. But, first, the they must make the detour to meet with Vasilios! (the Manolo has added the exclamation mark, because he deserves it), the chairman of the F.I.T.’s accessories department. All the Manolo can recall from these meetings, is that the Vasilios! likes to use the word “feisty”. And then it was straight to the judging table, where the Michael Atmore, back…

MAR
2011 11

Robert Clergerie for Opening Ceremony

It’s beauties like these that cause me to weep a little at the fact that I don’t have a Marry Poppin’s magically endless bag of cash. Robert Clergerie proves again just how elegant and sassy French designers can be in his Spring shoe collection for Opening Ceremony. My favorite style of the collection is the Saxo Leather Bootie. This sleek shoe with its elegant wooden heel, corset lacing and leather body is the stuff dreams are made of (at least mine, anyway). If only I could slip my brittle ankles into these striking booties and prance around the city, running…

MAR
2011 11

Manolo the Columnist: Air Talia Open-Toe Slingback From Cole Haan

Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post. Dear Manolo, I work in a congressional office on Capitol Hill, and I would like to know what shoes are work appropriate in the spring and summer. I love wedge sandals, but I always feel uncertain about wearing them to work. How about those gladiator style sandals? Any help is appreciated. Meredith Manolo says, from the casual observation of the C-Span, Internet gossip, and the police blotters, it is possible to say that the average congress being is the highly-strung, go-go-go, narcissistic, type-A lunatic with…

MAR
2011 10

Dov Charney is a Classy Businessman

American Apparel founder and CEO Dov Charney is apparently facing a $260 million dollar lawsuit this week alleging that he pressured a former teenage employee to engage in lewd sexual acts with him in order to keep her job at the fashion retailer. It’s gotta be the shocker of the year that the man who markets his business by taking back alley photographs of sex starved teenagers in spread eagle positions while wearing nothing but underwear in order to sell his products would turn out to be a creep. Is it just me, or should the mustache have been the…

MAR
2011 10

Guest Posting at the Shoe Blog of the Manolo

Manolo says, things have grown stale at the blog of the Manolo. The Manolo is in the rut. And so, to liven things up the bit, the Manolo would like to invite his internet friends to consider contributing the guest post or two the Manolo’s humble shoe blog. It does not matter if you are the fashion blogger, or the non-blogger, the Manolo would love to see what his internet friends have to say about such topics as shoes, runway trends, fashion history, shoes, celebrity misadventure, shoes, indeed almost any topic that is not overtly political, or overly controversial. All…

MAR
2011 10

The Manolo’s Thursday Miscellany

Manolo says, here are the few links which may perhaps amuse… Nude Shoes for Brown Girls. Zombie Stompers! I love the way I feel when I’m tossing bobbins.