Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo says, here is the oldie, but the timely goody from the archives of the Manolo.

Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s many internet friends has asked the Manolo to comment upon the clothing of the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the koo-koo-nutty president of Iran.

Normally, the Manolo he does not care to think too much about the sartorial choices of such ridiculous and dangerous peoples, preferring in the stead to devote his precious thinking time to weightier matters, such as whether or not the loathsome Jeffrey will be one of the Project Runway final three, or if the Hasselhoff will ever again find the true love with the career chick of his dreams.

But, the Manolo he is nothing if not obliging to his internet friends, and so he will make the brief remarks.

Briefly and remarkably, the President of the Iran wears the same khaki windbreaker, wrinkled trousers, cheap oxford shirts, scruffy beard and wild eyes favored by the aging high school chemistry teachers everywhere.

Yes, in his youth he was the firebrand who would shake the very foundations of the society, but today he is content to expound upon his paranoid conspiracy theories while exercising his petty autocratic powers over the dull kids who sit in the back of the class.

In the word, he has tenure.

“Umm, Mr. Ahmadinejad, it’s time for recess.”

“Shut up and sit down, Chad, we’re not done discussing how the international Zionist cabal is controlling the lunch room.”

The Manolo has nothing more to say about the clothes of the Ahmadinejad, other than that they are bad, terribly bad, even when judged against the already lamentably low standards set by the current crop of tyrants, despots, and dictators-to-be.

Please go read the whole thing, even though, lamentably most of the photos the Manolo selected to go with this are no long valid.

Manolo says, ayyyy! It is the Goddess Diana as interpreted by Mammy Yokum!

Manolo says, some ideas are so ridiculous that they should not merit our discussion.

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“Mantyhose”or pantyhose for men have become a popular sheer garment from truck drivers to cowboys.

A self confessed male hosiery-wearer, Harisnya is so passionate about the issue he set up e-MANcipate, a website which he says aims to “accelerate the acceptance of male pantyhose as a regular clothing item”.

[…]

“Men have great legs and hosiery is a great way to show them. It’s quite practical in some ways. It prevents chafing, for example, when horse riding or cycling, but it’s also a good alternative to bulky underwear if you need some warmth,”News.com.au quoted Harisnya, as saying.

“Going to work on a cold autumn day in regular trousers with 20 denier hose underneath helps to avoid getting cold. Plus you won’t ever have to worry about loosing or matching your socks. It’s fun, but no joke,”he added.

The men’s pantyhose come with a “male comfort panel”that better fits a man’s shape, and sometimes offers a convenient fly opening.

Harisyna’s love of pantyhose is backed up by testimonials from truck drivers who swear by nylon hosiery for its circulation benefits and cowboys who don them under their Levi’s for warmth.

He believes that men’s pantyhose is an easy way to dress differently.

Naturally the Manolo never approves of dressing differently solely to be different. That way madness and the profusion of bad tattoos lie.

Also, at the moment when the majority of women have ceased to wear the pantyhose, why should men put them on?

Of the course, there has been at least one famous wearer of the mantyhose…

P.S. Hat tip to the Manolo’s internet friend Orrin Judd, who recently and kindly reviewed the Manolo’s short work, the Consolation of the Shoes.

Manolo says, here are the few reminders that the past was not always so golden:

First, Rayon, the wonder fabric, as seen through the eyes of Seventeen Magazine.

Secondly, the ponchos have, as the Manolo has said in the past, always been the fashion scourge.

Manolo says, you have to admire the model’s ability to keep the straight face.

Manolo says, what with the grass skirt, the flowerly leis, the giant plastic coconuts.

Manolo says, look what is shambling down the runways this year.

Manolo says, the Manolo’s dear internet friends at the Bag Snob have reported the case of the public relations person who became abusive when the blogger did not do what was desired.

We weren’t going to do an editorial on this bag line but have received over a dozen crazy harassment emails from the PR girl representing them so we decided to put it out there so you can stay clear of this line of horribly made and very cheap bags. Kelly first received an email two months ago from Zina Eva’s rep asking to participate in our monthly bag giveaway but after receiving the samples this weekend we decided the bags were not up to Bag Snob par and we couldn’t possibly endorse it let alone give it to our readers. […]

We promptly contacted them and told them we’d return the bags and will not be able to include them in our monthly giveaway but the PR girl turned nasty and started sending us harassment emails with racist overtones. Let’s see, she accused us of using fake last names because our names are English/European yet we don’t look European (Basically non-white people are not allowed to have European surnames according to this genius PR girl) and then she accused us of trying to scam them of $150 (wholesale price) bags?!?!??! How is it a scam if we didn’t want to keep the hideous bags for our giveaway?

This is outrageous behavior, and as counter-productive as anything the Manolo has ever heard of. The P.R. person who sent these emails and her firm should be named and denounced publicly.

No blogger, no person, should ever have to tolerate this sort of abuse for giving his or her honest opinion about the shoddy product.

In fact, once this person and her firm are named, you may be certain that the Manolo will never, ever respond to any press release or email from this firm, and he would suggest that other fashion bloggers likewise boycott them, at least until the most public and groveling sort of apology is issued.

Manolo says, the Manolo’s friend Linda Grant illustrated her recent comments on the matter of appropriate clothing with the photo of the director Quentin Tarantino attending the London Fashion Week event.

Here above is the photo of Quentin Tarentino at the MOBO awards in London, the few days later. You will notice that he has at least changed his shirt, although unfortunately, to one that appears to have the stain on it.

As for poor Amy Winehouse, to say that this is the bottom of the barrel, is to suggest that this barrel has the bottom.