Dear Manolo,

At the urging of a friend, I’m subjecting myself to a so-called “speed date”, where you spend five minutes each with twenty different people, trying to decide who you’d like to see a second time for a real date. My question, of course, is what shoes should I wear? I want to look confident but approachable, sexy but demurely so. Please help.

Shannon

Manolo says, the romance, it is not dead! It is only sleeping!

“So, what do you do,” asks the Shannon.

Number 1: “This and that,” says the pale man with the lank hair and incipient potbelly, “you know, the usual. Little of this, little of that. Whatever gets me by, eh?”

DING!

Number 8: “I work for a hedge fund,” says the handsome man with the beady eyes, “one that specializes in foreclosing on low-income residential properties in distress. I’m the one who makes sure that the deadbeats are tossed out into the street. Ha, ha, ha!”

DING!

Number 13: “Real estate, babay! Big money real estate!”

DING!

Number 17: “I owned the liquor store, with my cousin, Hamid. But, he is now in Guantanamo Bay.”

DING!

Number 20: “I’m a park ranger,” says the square-jawed fellow with the twinkling brown eyes, “It’s a good job. Gives me a lot of time to think, lots of time to work on my poetry. On the weekends, when I’m not running triathlons, I like to volunteer at an animal shelter.”

Ayyyy! Romance awakens from its slumber!

Here is the Glitter from the Kors by Michael Kors, the sexy-demure pump in the dark mushroom kid suede.

Manolo says, because of the the green beer and Bushmills, which you consumed to excess last evening, you would rather forget about the Dia del San Patricio, but the Manolo cannot help himself. When he saw these green shoes from the Michael Kors he wanted to show them to you.

Spring is coming! Think green!

Last week, when the Manolo recommended the super fantastic gifts for the men, he suggested that the Amazon Kindle electronic reading machine, would be the most appropriate gift for gentleman. Subsequently, many of the Manolo’s lady friends said that this thing was something they also truly wanted to find under the tree.

So, if you are the gentleman who wishes to impress the lady of your acquaintance, present her with the Kindle filled with the collected works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Danielle Steele.

This large Chloé leather bag not only has the good clean lines for the large bag, making it suitable for the classy lady of style, and yet it is also hip enough to satisfy even the most demanding downtown girl.

Here is the Marc by Marc Jacobs Foret Chain Continental Clutch, the perfect little something-something to go with your lady friend’s little black dressy-dress.

Everyone loves to get the cashmere, it is the fabric of love! Here is the Michael Kors Cashmere Cardigan that is simple, elegant, and somewhat reasonably priced, as such things go.

The perfume from CB I Hate Perfume, the shop of Chris Brosius the most original, uncompromising, and iconoclastic of the scent designers. The Manolo is particularly fond of Memory of Kindness, described as “The shining green scent of tomato vines growing in the fresh earth of a country garden”.

Chocolate! Fancy Chocolate from zChocolat delivered in the four-drawer mahogany box that will become lasting memory of the successfully delicious Christmas gift.

Dear Manolo,

To celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, my husband, who is a real outdoorsman, has surprised me with a weekend in New York City, featuring dinner at Daniel, and tickets to see one of my all time favorites, South Pacific. I want to show my appreciation by wearing a really hot pair of shoes in red. Please help.

Carolyn

Manolo sings…

Some enchanted evening, you may see South Pacific
you may see at the Lincoln Center, sitting behind a column
You got the tickets half price, from a man on Broadway
He assured your woodsy husband, that they were the best seats.

Some enchanted evening, you may eat at Daniel.
You may eat at Daniel, on East 65th Street.
And somehow you know, you know even then
That you’ll talk about that rude maître d’ again!

Who can explain it, who can tell you why,
fools give you reasons, wise men never try!

Some enchanted evening, you may see South Pacific
You may see it from the cheap seats, with the angry indigestion.
an’ night after night, as strange as it seems
the sound of mocking laughter will sing in your dreams!

Your man is still the sweetheart, because he tried his best.
Never let him gooooooo.

Manolo says, Michael Kors, MK14031 strappy sandal, in the rosso red.

Dear Manolo,

I love to look at the expensive sandals on your site, but I’m just a working girl and shoes like that are way, way, WAY out of my price range. It would take me months to save up enough to buy those shoes, as much as I would be thrilled to wear them.

So, what must I do? Can you find me some nice spring sandals for under $150?

Your internet friend forever,

Brianne

Yes, it is true, the Manolo loves to show you super fantastic shoes of great costliness, even though he knows that most of his friends will never be able to afford such luxuries; shoes that may perhaps be on one’s “bucket list”.

In the meantime, while you are accumulating great wealth by writing your elven bodice ripper (perhaps, to be entitled, The Passion of Ravenscroft, followed by the sequel, The Return of the Passion of Ravenscroft) you must still wear shoes, for you are not the hobbit who can go about in bare feets.

Of course, the Manolo, who knows what it is like to be poor, so poor that you must live in the earthen burrow beneath the Long Island Expressway like the urban hobbit, will be happy to recommend the few shoes of reasonable cost and superior attractiveness.

Above is the Hilda from Via Spiga for all of your casual Friday needs, from the office to the Hampton Jitney.

And when our poor girl arrives in Amagansett, she will need some wedge espadrilles, such as these, the Cool from Franco Sarto (available in six colors) to wear with her flowing sun dress.

And, when it comes time to head to the beach (it is 90 degrees in New York today!), our working girl will wish to glam it up the bit under her sarong, perhaps with these gold metallic python thong sandals, the Winnie from Kors by Micheal Kors.

Dear Manolo,

Last week, my very frugal husband became so fed up with this interminable winter weather that he went out, without my knowing, and booked us a week long cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, leaving the second week of February. And now, I need some sandals appropriate to warm weather.

Susan

Manolo says, long ago, when the Manolo was very poor, he spent the few seasons living in the place with the very cold, very snowy winters. It was during this period of poverty, while the Manolo was forced to trudge many miles to obtain his daily crust of bread, that he grew to dislike excessive displays of winter frostiness.

Indeed, the Manolo clearly remember the moment when, caught outdoors in the storm of sleet, he vowed to exact his revenge upon Señor Jacque Frost.

“To the last,” the Manolo shouted Ahab-like to no one in particular, “The Manolo grapples with thee; from Saint-Tropez’s heart the Manolo laughs at thee; For hate’s sake, the Manolo sips his last piña colada at thee!”

Of the course, the wind did not listen, but still, the shouting was moderately therapeutic, although, certainly not as therapeutic as going to Cozumel. Nor, as therapeutic as the Valley from KORS by Michael Kors, the summery cork-heeled, platform wedge sandals available in the rainbow of colors, although the Manolo is most partial to white for the beaches of Mexico.

Dear Manolo,

Summer is at an end and I need a new pair of work shoes for the fall, something with a bit of a heel. Of course, I can’t afford anything too extravagant as I am but a poor working girl. Please help.

Katie

Manolo says, as always the Manolo counsels his friends to save their monies and purchase the most super fantastic work shoes possible. Nothing is as satisfying as wearing beautiful shoes of high quality into your place of employment.

Of the course, the Manolo knows that the economic times they are very difficult, indeed, in technical terms the economic conditions are as hard as the lips of the woodpecker.

Likewise, the Manolo knows what it is like to be poor, so poor that you must make your own super fantastic work shoes out of promotional key chains and drink coozies you have pilfered from your previous place of work, and laboriously worked into the surprisingly attractive pair of Ringo Starr ankle boots.

Look here is the Bayville Loafer from the Michael by Michael Kors, the handsome high-heeled patent-leather loafer available in the very deep red color that the Manolo thinks is wonderfully autumnal.

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!

For some reason, last night, the Manolo was dreaming about the high heeled sandals in this luggage color. And so, this morning, first thing, he bethought himself to find the pair which matched the fantasma.
And, after the few minutes of searching, there they were, the Tucson from Kos by Michael Kors.

Happily, this was your dream home when you bought it, and you have no intention of leaving, ever. This sentiment has only grown stronger with your recent remodeling, in which you have finally installed the granite coutertops and stainless steel appliances of your dreams. (Yes, it is true, stainless steel is this generation’s Harvest Gold.)

But, what can you do? You are the product of your desires, as mediated through the images shown in Architectural Digest and Better Homes and Gardens and MTV Cribs, plus you had the powerful hankering for appliance garages, many, many appliance garages filled with exotic tools like carrot juicers and electric grape skinners, tools that your late Granny Dee, (who you remember using kindling to start the fire in her cast-iron cook stove) would have regarded as sinful extravagances.

But, you think to yourself, such is the nature of progress. Granny Dee made the world’s best fried chicken on her wood-fired stove, and forty years later you dream of building your own backyard peasant forno, so as to make the perfect chicken pesto wood-fired pizza.

It is axiomatic that we always love the peasant culture of other peoples more than our own, no? The phrase Hog-killing time in Alabama brings nothing but mockery from the same people who speaking glowingly of the “charming authenticity” of the Spanish matanaza del cerdo, and yet both events are fueled by the same motives: cultural pride, machismo, too much alcohol, and the promise of abundant and tasty pork.

Ayyyy! Your mind has wandered!

You must come back to the matter at hand, finding handsome and stylish new shoes to celebrate this fine October day. Look! here is the Annabel Sling from Michael by Michael Kors, the reasonably priced and exceedingly stylish slingback pump.