Manolo the Columnist

Here is the Manolo’s latest column for the Express of the Washington Post.

Dear Manolo,

Iâ€™m terribly antsy for Spring to start. Iâ€™m ready for flowers, and green grass, and warm weather. Out with the March lion, bring in the lamb! Please recommend some spring shoes for me, so Iâ€™m prepared.

Yvonne

Manolo says, perhaps in England, or St. Louis, April is the cruelest month, but in Washington, D.C. it is March which breaks the heart with its alternating warmth and cold. One minute you are looking at the first buds of spring, and the next, sleet is knocking them off the trees and pelting you into the shelter of the nearest federal monument.

But then, it is only natural that Washingtonians should avidly wish for the arrival of Spring, for it is in the fullness of that season that the city is at its most beautiful, when the cherry blossoms bloom and the streets are finally cleared of the cars that crashed in the last snow storm of winter.

Of the course, spring is quickly followed by the Washington summer, and the less said about that the better.

As for the springy shoes, the Manolo recommends these super fantastic, super fun, patent leather purple skimmers from Belle by Sigerson Morrison. It is also available in suitably vernal yellow and green.

Comments

Pam Walter 16 years ago

These are so cute! Gotta have some.

anonymous 16 years ago

I used to like your site but now I just don’t get it. We’re in a recession for God’s sake and you still go around recommending exhorbitantly priced shoes. Are you deluded?
And i know i know, you don’t recommend shoddy shoes and bad designs so the price is justified. But come on, shoe-crazy girls like me find great bargains everywhere these days – even designer shoes are on sale – look at all the websites! And yet you’re recommending full price designs. Seriously.

luluscouture 16 years ago

these are nice love them

dangster 16 years ago

anonymous, just because we are in a recession, it does not mean we cannot enjoy pretty shoes on our feet. 8% of people in this country are currently unemployed, but guess what? 92% of us still have jobs! Many people have not been affected by this “economic crisis”, and thus are able to continue to enjoy little luxuries such as these shoes.

Yes, the shoe is expensive but not exorbitantly so. Note that the question-sender did not specify a price range or request “an affordable shoe”. Most of the shoes the Manolo has recommended are expensive, and many of his readers cannot afford such shoes (even in better times), but we all enjoy admiring his choices regardless of price.

JK 16 years ago

I’m a poor grad student, but even I know $244 is not an “exorbitantly priced shoe” for a designer name. My goodness.

wildflower 16 years ago

I wouldn’t buy all these shoes even if I could afford them, just because they don’t fit in with my lifestyle and my community culture (not to mention my neighborhood dirt roads!).

I enjoy this site as a “fantasy” site. I think that’s why the Manolo is so popular–it can be enjoyed in so many ways–as a source for legitimate style advice and shopping suggestions, for amusement, for escapist fantasy, or even just for the literary joy of words put together well. :)

OMG remember his series about being invited to Greece on a yacht and stuff? “What will you wear?” And all those crazy golden Prada sandals? It’s fun, people! Fun, ya know?

Robyn Marie 16 years ago

I really loved this color of deep purple this winter and I’m glad to see that it’s still happening for spring.

Deborah 16 years ago

Just because I can’t afford fine art doesn’t mean I don’t want to look at it.

La BellaDonna 16 years ago

Hola to the Anonymous! La BellaDonna, she goes to the museum and admires the beautiful things, but does not expect to take them home with her. This does not keep La BellaDonna from going to the museum. It also does not keep La BellaDonna from enjoying the beautiful things that she CAN afford, which she has learned to judge and appreciate from her trips to the musuem. The Manolo’s site, it is the museum of beautiful shoes, and the education to appreciate them is offered free to all.

Plus, in this terrible, terrible economy, there are the many sales. In California, one shoestore had the lovely shoes, orignally nearly 2,000 of the American dollars, reduced to the $244. The shop owner had paid $800 herself for the shoes she was now selling for $244. For the diligent fans of the Manolo, who have carefully saved their pennies for the good shoes, this is an opportunity whose worth they can properly judge, based on the information they have gained from the site of the Manolo.

La BellaDonna will not be surprised if there are other shoestores with similar tales to tell and shoes to sell, and she is grateful that she has learned, courtesy of the Manolo, to judge whether she is being offered the true bargain, or merely the shoes on sale.

Buying the shoes during the economic downturn is not evidence of immorality. The shoestore owner, and the shoestore employees, they also need to eat.

Spring Shoes 16 years ago

I say if you don’t like what you see, surf somewhere else, right? I mean sure we might not be able to afford to purchase everything single thing we see, but everyone splurges once in a while. And what’s a better splurge than shoes? NOTHING!