Manolo asks, whose shoes?

Manolo says, you are perhaps saying, “But Manolo, it is winter! The worst winter since like forever! My mailman was eaten by a yeti, so I’m not even sure I’ll get that box of emergency supplies I ordered from that nice company in Utah. And now you want me to buy sandals?”

To which the Manolo would answer, “Yes, it is bad, very bad, Yukon Cornelius bad, but the Manolo assures you that the spring will soon arrive, and you will be needing the fabulous Bernardos, which may now be purchased at the excellent prices.”

The Bernardo Mojo is selling at $42 off of the usual price, the savings of more than 30%!

The Matrix Sandal from Bernardo, 30% off of the usual price.

And the Must Stone from Bernardo, selling for more than $70 off of the usual price!

Certainly the box of dehydrated lasagna and freeze-dried carrots will help you make it to the thaw, but would you not prefer to open the package from Zappos containing the sandals from Bernardo, handsome and practical sandals that savor of the warmth of Tuscany?

What better way to hasten the spring!

Manolo says, please to enjoy…

Gwyneth Paltrow has admitted she almost considered pulling the plug on her lifestyle newsletter after receiving a wave of criticism.

Just like regular folk.

‘People are so mean to me. I don’t want to do it.

The actress launched Goop back in September 2008, where she dishes out advice to her readers and encourages them to ‘nourish the inner aspect’.

Paltrow’s endeavours, however, have been labelled pretentious and out of touch by some commentators.

In an interview with the March issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, she admitted: ‘There were a couple of times when I thought ‘I’m just gonna stop doing it.

‘But then I was like, “Who cares what some lame person out there says?” I was in Italy once, and this old man came up to me and said, “I had the best time in Nashville because of Goop.” And that is so worth it to me.’

“People claim I’m out of touch with everyday life, but I was getting a hot rock massage at this spa in Saint-Tropez when this old Baron von Something-or-Other came up to me and said, ‘Darling, I had the most marvelous patty melt at the Athens Diner in Poughkeepsie because of your GOOP.’ And you know what, that makes it all worthwhile, all the horrific suffering I must endure at the hands of the ignorant masses.”

In the interview, mother of two Gwyneth, who is married to Coldplay star Chris Martin, also talks about her friendship with singer Beyoncé.

She said the superstar gave her advice for her singing role in her latest movie Country Strong and added: ”Beyoncé is the most talented human being on the planet.

Yes, no one better to give you advice about how to play the down-on-her-luck, recovering-alcoholic country star than the Beyoncé! Indeed, are we not all anxiously awaiting Beyoncé’s next country album, All the Single Cowgirls?

Manolo says, if you are looking for the entertaining discussion of matters fashionable, philosophic, and pop cultural, the Manolo suggests you visit the Which Is Good, the brand new blog of his internet friend Eliza Wharton.

Manolo says, it is Monday and you are back at your desk losing the forest for the trees. But such is the nature of the modern life in which the pursuit of perceived happiness frequently results in actual and active unhappiness.

In such situations it does well for one to remember that not only do we not live in the Panglossian world of housebroken puppies and strawberry gumdrops, where everything always works out for the best, but that sadness and discontent and suffering are part of the human inheritance.

It is the small comfort.

But then, things get better or they do not. You will be happy again, or you will not. Seek solace where you can, in the writings of Epictetus, or the Psalms, or P.G. Wodehouse.

January is almost over, is it not?

Look! Beautiful shoes…

Salsbourg Metallic Strappy Sandals from the inimitable Christian Louboutin. Such thing of beauty go the long way to making our lives more bearable.

Manolo says, charm bracelets, necklace bargains, January birthstones and the jewelry of the Globes of Gold, all entertaining and all available at the Manolo’s Jewelry blog.

Manolo says, and now the second episode of the FN Shoe Star is available on the interwebs for your viewing pleasure.

Please go and watch this now so that you may understand what the Manolo is talking about in the subsequent paragraphs. (It is only nine minutes in the length, far too short to be the onerous task.)

(tick tock, tick tock)

And, you are back….

This episode is the continuation of the auditions of the applicants for the six finalist positions, and as before, it was the succession of brief interviews in which the aspirants presented the sketches and the finished shoe to three editors of the Footwear News, led by the broodingly handsome Michael Atmore, who will certainly be playing the role of Heathcliff in the Footwear News summer production of Wuthering Heights.

'A half-civilised ferocity lurked yet in the depressed brows and eyes full of black fire, but it was subdued; and his manner was even dignified: quite divested of roughness, though stern for grace.' ~ Emily Brönte

And now, imagine the Heathcliff constrained by having to work as the editor of the fashion-trade magazine…. the suppressed, primal rage bubbling beneath the surface as he orders the reshooting of the cover feature on the Teva Sandals… It has all the makings of the most amusing sit-com.

Be that as it may, it is nonetheless fun to watch Michael Atmore as the judge, if only to see the facial reactions.

As for what was submitted by the applicants this week, if you read the Manolo’s discussion of the previous episode you will instantly see that the same central problem persists: namely that the proficiency in cobbling is more difficult to acquire than that of the fashion sketching. (For the proof, look at the sketches versus the shoes in these examples: Alexandria, Brittany, Matthew, and so on.)

And so, as with last week, several designers displayed intriguing and attractive shoe sketches, only to be undermined by the lackluster, unoriginal, and/or poorly constructed actual shoe.

$9.99 at Wal-Mart

This drippy and cheap-looking sandal above, produced by the Maggie, was singled out for particular scorn.

Although, not everything was junk. Christina produced the boot that was almost wearable, although she has the problem sketching!

Then there was Rachel, who not only made the good sketches, but actually delivered the tall boot that looked perfectly cromulent…

Rachels Boot

The bit over the top with the details, but not bad, although again the Manolo worries about the quality of the construction.

And this is, as the Manolo has said, the central problem: the construction of well-made and beautiful shoes is wicked hard.

Learning how to meld together disparate materials (cloth, leather, silk, wood, metal) into the single objet d’art takes years of practical training and experience.

It is the difference between being the apprentice and being the college student. Cobbling is learned by apprentices, fashion design to taught to students.

This is why the 21-year-old contestants of the FN Shoe Star are deficient in the matter of construction, because they have not accumulated enough time working with the materials before they were asked to turn their drawings into reality. Hands on experience is everything here. (This is also one reason why the young contestants on the Project Runway were so often able to make the beautiful clothing, they needed to master only cloth in its various guises, not cloth, leather, wood, and metal.)

And now, the true question of the week. Which six of the dozen applicants will be selected as the FN Shoe Star contestants? Who will go forward?

The Manolo believes that it will be Rachel, Matthew, Hyojin, LaQuonia, Nicole, and Christina.

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

Dear Manolo,

Here in D.C., the past month has been one round of blizzard after the next, and frankly, I’m sick and tired of winter. Can you recommend something beautiful to cheer me up?

Cathy

Manolo says, remember all the way back to the last winter, when we had the so-called Snowpocalypse Blizzard of 2010, which paralyzed the Mid-Atlantic region with thirty-feet of drifting snow and temperatures in the mid-to-low minus 80s?

Ha!

That was just the playful little amuse-bouche for this winter, which has turned out to be the multi-course succession of blizzards, like the crazy Thanksgiving entré, the buffhogoatpeaturducken, which is the quail stuffed inside the chicken, stuffed inside the duck, stuffed inside the turkey, stuffed inside the peacock, stuffed inside the goat, stuffed inside the wild boar, stuffed inside the water buffalo which is then roasted over the roaring garbage fire, which you have started in the courtyard of your apartment building because the power has failed yet again.

And from the looks of things, Old Man Winter has decided to (Bam!) kick it up the notch by wrapping the water buffalo into the carcass of the wooly mammoth, which thanks to the New Ice Age, can now be taken by skillful hunters in Dupont Circle.

Here is the Opulence Caged Sandal from Jimmy Choo! So delicate, so beautiful, so spring like. And, look, they cost less than the tusks you have just harvested!

Transcendent

Manolo says, not all fashion is impelled by our nostalgia for the mud, indeed, the best and most enduring fashion is inspired by our longings for transcendence.

Transcendence. We wish to move beyond ourselves, to leave behind the mundanity of our lives and be carried aloft to the higher plane, to the place where we are more beautiful, more charming, more alluring, and where we are dressed only and forever in Christian Dior, 2011 Spring Couture Collection.

Transcendent

There is such the thing as transcendent nostalgia, the longing for the golden past, for the specific Periclean circumstances that would allow us to be more than ourselves, to be better than we are, to achieve the apotheosis of our essential humanity.

Transcendent

Beautiful clothing allows us to touch the hem of transcendence. What it gives is more than utility, more than adornment, more than fashion. Its true gift is the glimpse of perfection.

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

Manolo asked, whose shoes?

Manolo answers, it is the Fergie!

Congratulations to the Manolo’s internet friend, Jezabella, who was the first to correctly identify this week’s Fergalicious celebrity of note.

Manolo says, our friend, Miss Plumcake gives invaluable advice on how to find beautiful shoes at the great prices.

I get a lot of people who ask me how I manage to have the things I do –particularly my shoes– with the job I have. Now ignoring for a moment that it’s kind of a rude question, I do have a bit of wisdom to share as to how I managed to amass a shoe collection worth more than what I earn in a year without hooking, selling my kidneys or getting into credit card debt. While finding thousand dollar shoes for a hundred dollars is a bit on the ambitious side of things, if you follow my lead (and learn from my mistakes) you will be well on your want to your own enviable shoe salon.

But you must immediately go and read the whole thing.

Manolo asks, whose shoes?