Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s internet friends has asked the Manolo the question.

Dear Manolo,

I have quite a challenge for you. I am currently a full time dental student and as required as part of my clinical uniform I must wear frighteningly disgusting seafoam green scrubs. White sneakers are also part of the uniform. Can you suggest a pair of all white sneakers (with non-colored logos) that are stylish and functional for every day?

Sincerely,

Usually in Heels

Ayyyyy! The dull conformity of the working day uniform, how the Manolo hopes that when you become the lady dentist you shall eshew such blandness in favor of the color and style.

If the money were no object the Manolo would put you in these marvelous silvery sneaks from the J.P. Tod’s.

Beautiful, no?

However, since you are the poor student, busily racking up the gigantic student loans, the Manolo would recommend something lest likely to rupture your bank.

Here is the Dynamis from the Lacoste. Yes, it has the tiny little lettering in the color “tomatine” low on the shoe, but otherwise it is white and stylish.

Besides, such silly rules as this were meant to be ignored.

Manolo says, here is the inexpensive shoe the Manolo heartily endorses.

Waiting in a winding line for autographs from his favorite NBA player, 15-year-old Brian Cox lifted the lid of a shoebox to show off his synthetic leather high-top sneakers with black sides and blue-and-orange soles.

At a price his mother doesn’t mind — $14.98 — he got his fourth pair of Starburys this week, a sneaker created by New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury. Joanne Cox brought her two teenage sons to Steve & Barry’s University Sportswear after church Sunday for the launch of Marbury’s spring line.

The NBA star “grew up in a poor neighborhood just like we did,” said Cox, who is raising the boys on her own. She says it is not easy on the wages she earns as a city traffic officer, and she has spent thousands on her sons’ shoes over the years. “Now that we got a price of $15, we’re not going higher than that.”

This is the world the 10-year NBA veteran is trying to change with his $15 shoes — a world where parents are pressured to shell out money for expensive sneakers while struggling to pay rent and buy groceries; a world where kids get robbed, shot and strangled over the latest styles. (In January, 10 Detroit middle school students were robbed of their Nike boots and Air Force One sneakers at gunpoint.)

Marbury knows it will take a while to pull off a Michael Jordan impact at a Wal-Mart price. So far, he says, he’s willing to do it one sneaker-crazed teen at a time. Starburys have been holding their own in schools and on basketball courts alongside kicks that cost 10 times as much.

Marbury is so confident of the sturdiness of his shoes that he is wearing them on the court this season. He says his pair is straight off the shelf, with no alterations or enhancements. Chicago Bulls center and four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Ben Wallace has also partnered with Steve & Barry’s to release his own inexpensive sneaker — Big Ben — in late August or fall.

As always, the Manolo would recommend the better quality shoes for those who can afford them, but for young peoples of limited means the Starubury sounds like the good choice.

Manolo says, the true fashion it is found on the border between the trashy and the classic, and here, straddling that border is the Jewel of the Nile luxury sneaker from the Kimora Lee Simmons and the Baby Phat.

Yes, with the colorful anaconda and the diamonds and the 14 karat gold trim it is over the top and almost ridiculous, but it is also excessively pretty.

Thanks to the Manolo’s internet friend Wayne!

Manolo says, in the spirit of the discussion of the sneakers of the old school, the Manolo’s internet friend the Cranky Professor sends the Manolo this note.

I was shopping for a simple pair of Bass slip on camp mocs — I’ve had a fresh pair every other year since 1977 or so — and found this:

I thought you should be notified. The last paragraph of the description is especially poignant: “With a deconstructed upper and All Star embroidery, it’s a unique look, too. Laces? We don’t need no stinking laces!“

Yes the Manolo he has seen these shoes, in the stores, and on the feets of the youths. They do not impress the Manolo.

Trust the Manolo this faddish version of the classic shoes, it will shortly fade, leaving the Chucks to stand alone as the monument to timelessness they have always been.

Happily, on the side of brightness, the Manolo he cannot but believe that the use of the word “deconstructed” in the shoe advertisement signals the final end of the pernicious reign of the Derrida and his toadies!

Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s internet friends the Rob D. has left the question on the blog of the Manolo.

Forgive me for being off topic, Manolo, but what do you think of the new single color Rod Lavers that have come out recently? Do you think the black one would be acceptable as the dark colored tennis shoe? Do you like the all white Rod Lavers, or should I still buy the ones with a little color in them?

As the Rob D. may know the Manolo he is the dedicated and long time fan of the Adidas Rod Lavers. (In the fact, the only people who love the Rod Lavers more than the Manolo are the players of the hacky sack.)

For the Manolo his favorite version it has always been the leather with the navy blue trim.

Sadly, this classic shoe it is no longer available.

Instead, recently the Manolo was forced to purchase the nylon mesh version in the white with the orange and green trim.

Much to the Manolo’s dismay the mesh it quickly becomes dirty, and as one would imagine this does not please the Manolo, who as the creature of cleanliness and habit wishes he could have another pair of the easily-cleaned, leather Rod Lavers.

Worse, now, the mere months after the Manolo he has purchased his latest, and unsatisfactory pair of the Rod Lavers, Adidas introduces many different versions of the Rod Lavers.

Look! Rod Lavers in the black, and in the high tops, and in the “stitch”, and in the “bone with the true blue” but no simple leather with the navy trim.

So in the answer to the Rob D., the Manolo does not like the black, nor does he like any of the shoes with the nylon mesh top. What the Manolo prefers most of the all he can no longer obtain.

Finally, when the Manolo he wishes to wear the dark sneakers he favors the Puma Clydes, another of the sneaks of the old school which are virtually unobtainable in the versions the Manolo prefers.

Manolo says, the internet, truly it is the wonderful place.

For the example, just today the Manolo he received the email from the Manolo’s new internet friend, the Richard, who is the designer of the high performance sports shoes. The Richard he wanted to tell the Manolo about his new super fantastic and super fascinating blog, The First Pullover.

If you have ever wondered about the process of designing the sneakers or the football boots, this blog it is for you.

Manolo says, the Missy Elliott she is showing the super fantastic Bobbito Garcia her collection of the Adidas sneakers. This it is for the new television show about the celebrity sneakers from the ESPN called “It’s the Shoes”.

The Manolo he would not even know where to find the ESPN on the television, but now he must learn, if only to see the Bobbito and the Missy Elliott do their thang.