NOV
2012
09

Manolo the Columnist: Gladia Artistic from Oscar de la Renta

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

Dear Manolo,

For reasons that would be very familiar to approximately 50 million voting-age Americans, I woke up Wednesday morning feeling very depressed about the current state of affairs and recent events. Can you please recommend some shoes to cheer me up?

Ann

Manolo says, the Manolo, who finds politics generally distasteful, must confess that he woke up Wednesday morning feeling nothing but relief that the aggressive, importuning, hectoring, and round-the-clock campaigning for the public office had finally ended…for now.

It is not that the Manolo is disdainful of the multitudinous benefits of democracy, such sound-bite debates, motorcade traffic jams, and “I approve this slander”, but rather that the Manolo’s political inclinations cannot be satisfied by the traditional two-party American system.

Indeed, if the Manolo had to describe his political leanings, he would say that he was the Shoetarian Monarchist. He longs for the divine-right king who looks good in the ermine robe, silk tights, stacked heels, and the shoulder-length peruke, like Louis XIV, or the English monarch Charles II.

Oddly, either of this season’s presidential candidates would have made the excellent constitutional monarch. Both of them are handsome, distinguished men who look good in the tailored suits and give speeches filled with nothing but the platitudinous bromides. Either would be perfectly suited for the duties of modern kingship, such as cutting ribbons at the super market grand openings and waving stiffly from balconies.

Look! Here is the Gladia Artistic cutout sandal from the Oscar de la Renta, the magnificent, shiny object that will distract you from your gloom.

Gladia Artistic from Oscar de la Renta

DEC
2010
10

Holiday Shoes 2010: Oscar de la Renta Suede Lace-Up Booties

Oscar de la Renta Suede Lace-Up Ankle Booties

Manolo says, you were struggling through the slush this morning to get to your place of employment, when suddenly it occurred to you that what you really needed was the sleigh, with the bob-tailed horse and the jingly bells,.

And then, as you were thinking this, your mind wandered, as it frequently does, to the costumery needed for the activity, at which point you realized that you had no boots suitable for the sleigh ride!

And then, this afternoon, you surf to the site of the Manolo, for your daily chuckle of shoe-based super fantasticness, and you see that the Shoeblogger is recommending these Oscar de la Renta Suede Lace-Up Ankle Booties for the sleigh riding.

“But, Manolo,” you might be saying, “these boots are not suitable for riding in the one-horse open sleigh.”

To which the Manolo would reply, “please, do not trouble the Manolo with your petty doubts.”

These boots are perfect for the sort of sleigh ride you would desire most. The sort where the strapping North Country Man, in the fur jacket and hand-knitted muffler, carries you straight from the front stoop of your building into the seat of his sleigh, without your feets touching the snow. Once properly seated, he would tuck you safely under the fur blanket (while perhaps stealing the most decorous kiss), take the reins and whirl you through the winter wonderland, laughing all the way.

So, of the course, these are the perfect boots for riding in the sleigh.

DEC
2010
03

Holiday Shoes 2010: Oscar de la Renta Cyrstal Snakeskin Slingbacks

Manolo says, sparkly, twinkly super fantastic shoes for the most super fantastic time of the year!

NOV
2010
15

Oscar de la Renta Lace Ankle Booties For the Monday

Manolo says, it is Monday and you are back at your desk working in the coal mine, going down, down, down. Working in a coal mine, whop! About to slip, doooown.

Or, at the least, that is how you feel, like the put-upon working person in the catchy song, although, now that you think about it, it is this song which perhaps best expresses your current mood…

Strangely, watching that video (while you are on the company time) cheers you up because it was introduced by Dinah Shore, who was the sort of Oprah before there was such the thing as Oprah, but without the mawkish hand-wringing and the clubbing of books.

And then you remember that your mother loved Dinah Shore because was the great singer and the sympathetic and entertaining conversationalist, plus she dated the Burt Reynolds who was 20 years her junior, back when Burt was still regarded as the serious actor and the hairy-chested hottie, before he became the punch line to many jokes. Burt and Dinah, they were like Demi and Ashton, if you imagined those people as intelligent and talented and not annoying.

And then you are wondering, why is there no room in our culture for such peoples as Dinah Shore, graceful, charming, relaxed, sexy peoples?

In the stead, we have nothing but grasping, annoying, conceited peoples, shoving themselves into our faces, and importuning us with their bothersome antics.

Look! Shoes!

Oscar de la Renta Lace Ankle Booties

Lace Ankle Booties from Oscar de la Renta, exactly the sort of shoes Dinah would wear with her long velvet ball gowns, were she still around.

The Oscar on the Sale

Starla from Oscar by Oscar de la Renta    Manolo Likes!  Click!

Manolo says, here is the Starla from the Oscar by Oscar de la Renta, the attractive pointy-toed flat with the little bow and the contrast stitching which is currently on the sale, over 40% off of the regular price!

Spring Shoes for the Poor Girl

Manolo says, it is almost Spring, and as is usual the change of the seasons has brought the Manolo many emails from his poor girl internet friends asking the Manolo to help them find the affordable shoes.

In such cases the Manolo always gives the same response, which is to tell the poor girl to save her moneys so that she might be able to purchase the truly super fantastic spring shoes. Do not forget that the beautiful and well-made shoes make the wearer stand taller, walk with more confidence, and enjoy life more fully.

But, at the same time, the Manolo also knows what it is like to be poor, so poor that you must construct your own super fantastic spring shoes out of crocus petals and crushed robins’ eggs. And so he offers here the few spring selections which can be worn by the poor girl until she can afford better.

Avanti by Franco Sarto   Manolo Likes!  Click!

Here is the low wedge peep toe from the Franco Sarto in the “pewter lizard” that the Manolo finds both striking and wearable.

 Coty by O Oscar   Manolo Likes!  Click!

This attractive sandal from th O Oscar the Manolo shows you here in the blue color which is popular this year. Would these not herald the coming of spring?

O-Celeste by O Oscar from Oscar de la Renta   Manolo Likes!   Click!

Here is another handsome shoes from the O Oscar by the Oscar de la Renta, the wedge heel sandal with the brown strappiness.

Any of these would get the poor girl through the season and into the summer when she will have saved enough of the moneys to afford better.