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

Dear Manolo,

At the end of June I’m going to Dubai for a business conference. For the meetings, I’m going to be in strict business attire, but afterwards, I plan on dressing up and hitting the malls and the restaurants. What I need is a pair of sandals that will look great for both shopping and dining out afterwards.

Andrea

Manolo says, what could be better than Dubai in the summer? Where the outside temperature at noon is 615 degrees, Celsius!

Ah, but inside the Dolce-Gabbana-Prada-Gucci-Tiffany mega store, where the richy-rich oil sheikhs pay for their purchases with suitcases of gold bullion, the air is conditioned down to the very lovely 72 degrees, American.

Indeed, who else but the oil sheikhs would build something in the desert as crazy-beautiful as the Ski Dubai, the giant indoor ski resort in the Mall of the Emirates, where the temperature is always just below freezing, and the bunny hill beckons.

Of the course, one must celebrate such ostentatious defiance of Mother Nature with beautiful shoes, although, buying the new shoes to go to Dubai is like building the indoor ski resort in Siberia. The shoe shopping in Dubai is perhaps the best in the world. Everything is available from the most humble sandals, through the best Louboutins, Zanottis, and Blahniks, and even the bespoke shoes can be ordered.

However, if you must have the shoes before you go, the Manolo suggests this DSquared2 platform sandal, the Gladiator Maine in the brick color.

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

Dear Manolo,

I’ve been invited to spend Memorial Day Weekend with my boyfriend’s family
in the Hamptons. The trouble is, I’m a poor working girl. Can you please
recommend some summery flat sandals that will look good enough to impress
these people without bankrupting me?

Molly

Manolo says, as always, the Manolo suggests saving your monies and buying the most super fantastic shoes one can afford, for such purchases will give the most satisfaction over the long term, in comfort, beauty, and admiration from those who know quality when they see it.

But the Manolo also sympathizes with the poor girls, who must work the double shifts at their dismal dreary jobs in the new media sweatshops, posting on the corporate blogs and twittering and facebooking all day long for the Man.

Indeed, the Manolo knows exactly what it is like to be poor, so poor that you must fashion your own super fantastic, impress-the-rich-people-in-the-Hamptons sandals out of strangely colored shells and tangled fishing line you have collected near the wastewater outlet pipe that discharges near the pier under which you are sleeping.

And so he would recommend that you Gwyneth from the Sam Edelman as being the moderately priced, cutely blingish flat sandals that will keep the people of the Hamptons moderately appeased.

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

Dear Manolo,

After four years of hard work, I’m finally graduating next week with a degree in Renaissance Studies. Happily, I have already managed to find a lovely job that starts three weeks after graduation. (Yeah me!) Can you recommend a pair of shoes for the graduation ceremony, something fun?

Marielle

Manolo says, it is the time of the graduation, when the adult peoples don the ridiculous medieval gown and cap, and listen to the speeches about boldly seizing the future.

“Today, as you go forth from this place to boldly seize the future, remember what you have learned here in this institution, both in the classroom and out of it. Indeed, some of you will never forget what you learned just two weeks ago, during the aftermath of Fraternity Row’s Monster Spring Bash and Riot.

“And now, let me take a moment to give a special welcome to our official guests sitting among you in the audience, the sheriffs deputies, parole officers and bail bonds men, whose recent tireless efforts have made this joyous occasion possible.”

Ayyy! The life of the mind!

As for what shoes to wear, because your graduation outfit will be covered by the black gown of drabness, you will need something that “pops” as you walk across the stage, the statement shoes that that will help you boldly stride into the seizable future.

Here is the Nealla from Pour la Victoire in the bold lilac. It is also available in coral, and taupe for those who may be more timid.

Manolo says, Ayyyy! it is the hot-rodding Prada Tail Fin Wedge sandals! Clearly our muse Miuccia has had the very specific influence: the 1959 Cadillac, with the bullet taillights!

The Apotheosis of Tail Fin!

Manolo says, it is Monday and you have just spent the entire weekend looking for the Wide fitting shoes for your teenaged daughter, who although the otherwise tall, slim, delicate creature, has inexplicably taken after your husband in the matter of the feet size. She wears the American size 10 EEE, which although neither the biggest nor the widest, still makes her feel very self-conscious.

“Oh, cheer up, honey,” you said as you drove her to the West Woodfield Corner Galleria Center Mall, “I’ve heard that Paris Hilton wears a size eleven.”

“Who?”

Oh, how soon yesterday’s reality trash is taken out to the mental curb.

“Oh, no one. Hey, you know who else has really big feet? Uma Thurman.”

“Really?”

“Yes. She wears a size eleven, too.”

“Woah,” says your eleven-year-old son from the backseat, “those are HUGE feet, almost half the size of yours, Godzilla.”

“Shut up, Dorkwad,” replied your daughter, halfheartedly.

Sadly, your outing was unsuccessful. It is so difficult to find fun, girly shoes in the larger sizes that are not prohibitively expensive. (Although you said nothing to your daughter, you are worried that her feet are still growing!)

So, this morning as you sit at your desk, wading through the email announcements of unexpected lottery winnings and earnest requests to help the sons of deposed dictators launder money, you know that you must go to the internet to solve this problem.

Look! Here is the perfectly affordable pair of the flirty, fun, fuchsia, wide-fitting sandals.

Or, from the Joanna Hope, the EEE-sized, blingy toe-post sandals that are both cute and sufficiently girly.

And so you send the text message to your precious little miss with the big feets, giving her the links so she can look at these sandals.

Five minutes later you get back the following message: “I <3 those. Their GR8!!!!”

Success!

Manolo says, here is something to brighten your day of laboring, the Miu Miu Suede Starfish Sandals.

And suddenly, just like that, you are transported to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, to the charming little restaurant where the waiter named Aldo is bringing you the perfectly grilled prawns, with just the squeeze of lemon, which will go well with both the glass of local white wine, and that tall, sun-burnished man in the white shirt with the top two buttons open.

Manolo says, here is the Jossy from the Elie Tahari, the fun, flirtatious, super-fantastic, low-heeled sandals that would be perfect for the warm afternoon of strolling through the carefully-tended botanic gardens. Choose your outfit correctly, smile demurely, and let the stray strand of hair fall over your forehead, and that hunky man who invited you may try to steal the sweet kiss behind the hydrangeas!

Manolo says, it is Monday and you are back at your desk working away for the Man, doing that which must be done so that you will not find yourself living in the culvert under the highway out by the dog pound.

Although, sometimes, you think that, compared to the daily grind, the life of the hobo might be preferable. How much easy life would be if it was just you, your battered top hat, your handkerchief bindle, and maybe the scruffy, little Benjy dog for the companion.

You would be the member of the Noble Brotherhood of the Open Road, enjoying rustic possum stew cooked in the old coffee can, shared with people named Stinky Phil, Ollie Jim, and Boxcar Pete. Such simple fellowship, with no bosses, no deadlines, no mortgage payments to worry about.

Unlimited freedom would be yours for the taking, as long as you could avoid the railroad bulls, and not get crushed by the errant grain car.

But, then you think about having to wear the comically down-at-the heels old boots instead of beautiful shoes, and you come to your senses.

Here is something to make you feel better about your workday, the Dior Chain-Embellished Tejus-Print Suede Platform Sandal.

Manolo says, among the many arcane divisions, factions, schismatics, and denominations which make up the Religion of the Shoe are those exuberant charismatics who are devoted to the tassel. They are known colloquially as the Tasselites, and for them this sandal would likely be considered the sacrament.

For you, who may be more ambivalent about the tassellation, or whose devotion may be directed elsewhere, this sandal from the Stuart Weitzman would be the perfect sort of fabulously fun shoe with which to welcome the first weekend of spring.

Manolo says, it is wet and gloomy today where the Manolo is, but that has not stopped him from thinking about the imminent arrival of the spring. Soon, soon, soon, the weather will break and we will be plunged into the most clement of all seasons, when the birds bloom and the flowers sing, when the young lady’s fancy turns to thoughts of shoes!

Here are three shoes from the Diane von Furstenberg which will help you usher in the new season.

If you are especially brave, maybe you will break out the shorts, in which case you will need the The Klee, the fun toe-ring flat sandal perfect for helping you shiver through until the real spring arrives.

Although, maybe your desire to to show off your wintery legs to good advantage is not as absolute as you first thought, or, perhaps you want to distract viewers downward, away from your holiday remnant thighs, either way the Opal is the sort of snazzy-juicy platform that would look super-fantastic on the first day of the new season.

Maybe, on careful reconsideration, your legs would be better covered with the seasonalish capri pants, in which case The Botswana, available in eight safari-themed finishes.

Manolo says, it is Tuesday and you are back at your desk contemplating the topic of human folly, to be more specific the folly inherent in the do-it-yourself improvement of the home project.

Back in the January, the repainting of your kitchen seemed like such the good idea, the project of the single weekend: strip the old wallpaper from the walls, paint everything in the moderately neutral color, and be done with it.

Ah, such innocence. Such blissful, happy, youthful innocence.

Now, here it is, nearly March, and the project is still not done. The walls are painted, but the doors of the cabinets languish in the garage, their absence mocking you each morning as you enter the kitchen.

“What were you thinking,” they say, their tiny wooden voices whispering to you, “you’re a loser at home repairs! You can’t even unstop the toilet without soaking the floor.”

You try to ignore them, telling yourself that this weekend you will fix them, but good.

But it is too late, your morning coffee tastes bitter, and you feel the weight of failure heavy upon your soul. Your drive to the office has become the commute of shame and self-loathing, all because it took you three weeks to find exactly the right shade of off-white in glossy finish.

What is needed now are two things, the name of the good handyman, and the super fantastically, good-humored shoes from the interwebs!

Such as these fun new shoes from the Jean-Michel Cazabat, the Whitney Suede, Leather and Patent Leather Colorblock Sandals

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

Dear Manolo,

Valentine’s Day is next week, and my dreamy new boyfriend has promised me a romantic night out, with dinner and possibly dancing. I’m wearing a David Meister red silk dress that’s sexy-sophisticated. Now, I need some shoes. What do you suggest?

Stephanie

Manolo says, ayyyy! The Dia de San Valentin, it is upon us, like the wild hyena of romance and expectation!

Woe be to the dreamy new man who does not deliver the goods! Goods which might best be described as the sort of Chinese take-out menu of romantic items. (Please select any two from column A: Dinner at the Expensive Restaurant; French Perfume; Belgian Chocolate; Red Roses; Original Lyric Poetry; Heartfelt Expressions of Undying Love.)

Of the course, the Day of Valentines is not the walking in the park for the young womens either. They must spend literally days in preparation, thinking about the hair and the outfit and the shoes, having extended style consultations with their gay friends, and mulling over, at exhaustive length, the romantic dynamics of their relationship.

At this early stage of the romance, all of these details are so very important. Later, after our couple has been married the dozen years or so, all that will really matter is finding the competent babysitter to watch the kids while you enjoy the heart-shaped dessert at the Factory of the Cheesecakes.

Look! Here is the Consort metallic leather asymmetrical platform sandals from the B Brian Atwood. Bold! Sexy! Sophisticated!