Manolo asked, whose shoes?
Manolo answers, it is the Christina Aguilera!
Congratulations to the Manolo’s internet friend Kelly Keri who was the first to correctly guess the identity of this personage of dubious taste.
Manolo says, the Manolo’s friends at the Piperlime are having the giant sale this week, with price reductions of up to 40 percent!
Here are some of the Manolo’s favorite deals.
The beautiful strappy golden sandal from Jean-Michel Cazabat that has been reduced in price more than $200 of the American dollars.
The glamorous slingbacks from Delman reduced 40% from the usual price.
This exceedingly fun and funky wedge slides from Giuseppe Zanotti, on the sale at more than $300 off of the normal price.
Hurry now to see the other exceptional deals at Piperlime.
Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s internet friends has asked the Manolo the question.
A delightful woman friend of mine has lived her life under a burden of distress over the fact that her second toe is longer than her big toe on both feet. I myself do not find this unsightly, but she regularly deprives herself of open toed sandals and flip flops because of the shame she feels about her toes. If anyone could shed some light and self-esteem building encouragement in this matter, I believe it would be you.
My friend has half-heartedly cited the fact that such an anatomical arrangement as she has on her feet has been revered as an indication of wisdom and perhaps is an attribute of one of the Greek goddesses. What can you tell us? I’m convinced my friend would look really cute in sandals if she could overcome the belief that her toes are something to hide.
This is the case where the supposedly lamentable imperfection is actually the physical refinement!
Or, at the least, so believed ancient the Greek sculptors, and those who would later work in the classical tradition, artists who created statues of beautiful and impressive women with feet whose second toes were longer than their big toes, the so-called “Greek foot” (known more prosaically as Morton’s Toe).
Look! Here is the right foot of the Venus de Milo.
Look! Here are the distinguished Renaissance toes of Botticelli’s Venus.
Look yet again! Here are the magnificent bronze toes of the Statue of Liberty.
What more proof does the Manolo need to provide of the classical beauty of this physical configuration?
It is the opinion of the Manolo that the woman blessed with this sort of foot should always and only be clad in beautiful sandals of classical design.
By the way, too often, as in this case, do otherwise sensible women become irrationally convinced that some minor physical trait is the gross imperfection to be continually hidden or surgically modified.
How often does one see women with beautiful and aristocratic aquiline noses who wish to have button noses; or women with delicate breasts who desire comically inappropriate enhancements; or women with admirable lips who want lips that are so full as to mar their beauty?
And yet, women with famously “imperfect” features find happiness with men who are famously handsome.
The advice of the Manolo in such cases of insecurity is nearly always the same: ignore it, or better yet celebrate it.
Dress well, live well, treat others well, and do all you can with joyful confidence and others will invariably come to love your flaws as you yourself cannot.
Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
The Manolo’s internet friends Ruth and Coop had recommended the Hollywood landmark, Musso and Frank Grill to the Manolo more than two years ago, and yet the Manolo only this past week finally headed this sage advice.
And now the Manolo, chastened, keenly feels the loss of these two years of not dining regularly at the Musso and Frank Grill, for it is the sort of place that the Manolo could come to love intensely after only the few short visits. The food is old-fashioned in the best possible way and quite good, the drinks are masterpieces of the mixological arts, and the decor is the magnificent Arts and Crafts time machine.
Truly, if you have not been you must go forthwith, as the Manolo has decided that this place will require his weekly attendance during his summers in California.
Manolo says, here are the few links which may perhaps amuse…
Manolo says, it is Monday and you are back at your desk and mightily ungruntled.
Indeed, it may be said that now is the summer of your discontent, made gloomy winter by that son of the so-and-so, whom you have been dating for this past month.
Oh, it all started out well enough; him tall, moderately handsome, tanned, and somewhat hairy in that outdoorsy way that makes dirty cargo shorts and Keen sandals seem sexy, especially when you are standing behind them in the Whole Foods Market.
Next thing you know, you are at the coffee shop lying about your politics and discussing the relative merits of recumbent bicycles with him over tall glasses of iced chai.
And for the first week everything goes swimmingly, even if the thought of tofu-vegetarian lasagna makes you gag, and you frequently worry that he might detect the scent of your usual lunch ( cheesesteak, “Whiz, wit“) lurking beneath your body spray.
By the end of the second week, however, you have discovered the awful truth, that his low-impact, ecologically friendly lifestyle is actually camouflage for the deep and abiding parsimoniousness; the pinchpenny cheapness so mean that he has never bought salt, sugar, ketchup, or mustard for home use, relying instead on the giant cache of pilfered condiment packets which reside in his cabinets, ever ready to season his “famous” lentil stew.
At first you think this trait is funny, because his eyes have this unusual purpley-blue color that reminds you of mountain lupin, and fogs your better judgment. But then, this past Friday, you realized that not only had you gone Dutch so often that you could apply to Amsterdam for citizenship, but that he had the bad habit of “forgetting” his wallet at home.
Even this would not be so awful, except that he was also, at the same time, revealed as the sanctimonious bore, forever going on about “out of control American consumerism”, (although when you mentioned Thorstein Veblen, whom you find terribly amusing, his lupin-blue eyes went blank with incomprehension).
But it was on Saturday, while he was ranting away about the “malign influence of fashion”, that you finally snapped, and told him exactly how much your Jimmy Choo sandals cost–”More than you’ve spent on personal hygiene products in a decade, Tofurky Boy.”– which left him gibbering in amazement and spluttering in anger.
Okay, so perhaps that was uncalled for, even if it did make you feel immediately better.
And now it is Monday and you are consumed with remorse for the three-and-the-half weeks you wasted on this crunchy loser and his skinflint ways.
But then you remember that nothing washes away the bitter taste of romantic disappointment like shoes, beautiful and riveting shoes, like these simple summery, golden Linea Rossi Sport sandals from Prada.
Manolo says, the Manolo knew that it was only the matter of time until the Eastern European sport of stiletto racing arrived in America.
Happily, it is for the good cause, as Regis and Kelly and Dr. Scholls will be sponsoring the big race in New York City to benefit the March of Dimes. And you can keep your zlotys and rubles and euros, as the top prize is $25,000 of the American dollars!
Manolo says, the Manolo finds it difficult to believe that this display of gigantic shoes is not located in China
Manolo says, here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.
Dear Manolo,
My banker boyfriend and I are going to Newport, Rhode Island, for a long Fourth of July weekend with some people from his work. We’re supposed to be boating in the afternoons, and going out on the town in the evenings. Please help.
Jenny
Manolo says, the Manolo hopes that his friend was not asking the Manolo to find the single shoe suitable for both daytime and evening activities, some sort of strappy, high-heeled, rubber-soled, deck shoe, perhaps.
Better the Manolo thinks, to purchase the decent blue canvas boat shoes to go with your Jackie-O, casual nautical outfit, and then expend your efforts on locating the perfectly gorgeous evening sandals for your disco nights.
As his friend will presumably be consorting with the WASPy old-money panjandrums of Newport, who together with their arriviste new money hangers-on and barely-titled European sycophants comprise the peculiar ecosystem of that region, she will want to be beautiful and stylish so as to subdue the restless natives.
The Manolo recommends something tall and metallic like this beautiful Sara T-Strap Sandal from Christin Michaels in the color known as “gunmetal”.
