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AUG
2009 28
Shoes

Manolo the Columnist

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

Dear Manolo,

As a high school aged girl, I find myself in need of a pair of comfortable yet stylish pair of flats for the fall. I am willing to pay about a hundred dollars, as long as the shoes are worth it! I love soft leather and bright jewel tones, but I also like funky patterns. I need to be able to wear this shoe with a variety of outfits. Can you help?

Kate

Manolo says, how well the Manolo remembers his own days as the scholarship student at Our Lady of the Flaming Spleen Country Day School, where the teaching sisters everyday lived up to the motto, “The Wrathful Word Turneth Away Evil.”

Naturally, the Manolo stood out among the other children for his keen fashion sense, extreme poverty, and homemade patent squirrel-leather shoes, although these things often made him the target of bullies.

But, genius must eventually be acknowledged, and the Manolo’s moment arrived when Sister Imaculada Lopez selected him to provide costuming for her groundbreaking production of “Uncle Vanya”. At the end, everyone agreed that Eduardo Castro’s interpretation of Serebryakov had been greatly enhanced by his metallic, feathered headdress.

Look! Here is the Leve from Jessica Simpson, the cute and inexpensive ballarina-type flat available in the variety of colors. The Manolo is especially partial to the eggplant.

Leve by Jessica Simpson Manolo Likes! Click!

AUG
2009 27
Alexander McQueen, Pumps/Court Shoes

Think Green McQueen

Manolo says, for some reason the Manolo woke up this morning thinking about the green colored shoes, and how difficult they are to wear properly.

For the example, here are the beautiful Alexander McQueen peep-toe pumps in the lovely green color.
Alexander McQueen Peep-Toe Pumps Manolo Likes! Click!

The possibilities for these marvelous shoes must be quite limited, indeed, they are perhaps wearable only with the cream or gold colored gown.

Maybe the Manolo should revive the “Build the Outfit” game, as the Manolo would be very interested in seeing what his internet friends could devise for these.

AUG
2009 27
Whose Shoes Wednesday

Whose Shoes Wednesday…The Answer!

Manolo asked, whose shoes?

Mary Louise Parkers Shoes!

Manolo answers, it is the Mary Louise Parker!

Congratulations to the Manolo’s internet friend Chiken who was the first to correctly identify this week’s personage of note.

AUG
2009 26
Bad Fashion

Winker Jeans

Manolo says, behold! Perhaps the single worst ass-o-centric fashion idea since Victoria’s Secret printed the work “Pink” on the back of their shorty-shorts.

They are called Winker Jeans.

There’s something just a bit disturbing about this: Jeans that wink as you walk.

They’re Winker Jeans, nicknamed Winkers. The imprinted eyes on the butt wink at anybody following the wearer. And how thrilling, they’re made in America, the brainchild of William Jones, a retired father of five and grandfather of seven who lives in Everett, WA.

You can smell the excitement at the company headquarters, whose website declares, “Patent pending,” and hot diggity, “Licensing Is Available!

Jones says that the idea came to him when, naturally, he was checking out a woman as she walked past him. Nice. Grampa’s a dirty old man.

His range isn’t limited to just eyes, though. The imprints include ducks that seem to quack, an owl that blinks, a Lion King jungle scene, and a scene slates that you snap on the set when the direct yells, “Action!”

Cost for a pair of jeans: $569 each.

$569!! Is that in American dollars? Ayyyyy!

Thankfully, these are too expensive to be purchased by those who would likely wear them, although, if the price comes down substantially, look for them in the Wal-Mart nearest you.

P.S. Many thanks to the Manolo’s internet friend CBHutton for alerting the Manolo to this abomination.

AUG
2009 26
Whose Shoes Wednesday

Whose Shoes Wednesday

Manolo asks, whose shoes?

AUG
2009 24
Boots

Jean Paul Gaultier For the Monday

Manolo says, it is Monday of the final week before the Day of Labor, and you now feel as if your entire summer has been wasted.

Oh, you had such big plans in May. Not only were you going to do your big week-long trip to the lake, where the kids would get enough sunburn and poison ivy to last the winter, but you had also planned to refinish the deck, resod the backyard, plant some new trees, clean out and organize the garage, begin remodeling the downstairs bathroom, and repave the driveway.

Of the course, none of this happened.

Well, at the least, Gary did manage to install the new mailbox, one of those heavy-duty steel models, guaranteed to break the arm of anyone who hits it with the baseball bat while hanging out of the window of the speeding Camero. (Gary seemed positively gleeful about this prospect. “I want to go get the paper one morning and find body parts,” he said as he made his way, shovel in hand, through the narrow path in the garage, “a couple of fingers, or maybe a whole arm.” In his defense, this is the fourth mailbox in as many years.)

Suburban home ownership, ugh. It make you want to give it all up and move into the little pied-à-terre in the city, something directly upstairs from the quaint French bakery.

Of the course, this dream of yours will never happen. Where would Gary park the ski boat?

What you need now is something to spice up the mundanity of your existence. Look, here are the very urban, slightly scary, extremely expensive boots from Jean Paul Gaultier.

Boots from Jean Paul Gaultier Manolo Likes! Click!

If this does not make you forget the unfortunate color scheme of the downstairs bathroom, nothing will.

AUG
2009 21
Ayyyyy!, Project Runway

¡Disastre!

Manolo says, ayyyyy! The Manolo’s cable package did not include Lifetime, thus preventing the Manolo from commenting upon the first episode of the new season of Project Runway.

The Manolo is working furiously to rectify this problem. In the meantime, please go to check out the Blogging the Project Runway. It is by far the best site on the internets for Project Runway news and opinion.

AUG
2009 21
Michael Kors, Pumps/Court Shoes

Manolo the Columnist

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

Dear Manolo,

Summer is at an end and I need a new pair of work shoes for the fall, something with a bit of a heel. Of course, I can’t afford anything too extravagant as I am but a poor working girl. Please help.

Katie

Manolo says, as always the Manolo counsels his friends to save their monies and purchase the most super fantastic work shoes possible. Nothing is as satisfying as wearing beautiful shoes of high quality into your place of employment.

Of the course, the Manolo knows that the economic times they are very difficult, indeed, in technical terms the economic conditions are as hard as the lips of the woodpecker.

Likewise, the Manolo knows what it is like to be poor, so poor that you must make your own super fantastic work shoes out of promotional key chains and drink coozies you have pilfered from your previous place of work, and laboriously worked into the surprisingly attractive pair of Ringo Starr ankle boots.

Look here is the Bayville Loafer from the Michael by Michael Kors, the handsome high-heeled patent-leather loafer available in the very deep red color that the Manolo thinks is wonderfully autumnal.

Bayville Loafer from Michael by Michael Kors Manolo Likes! ClicK!

AUG
2009 20
Whose Shoes Wednesday

Whose Shoes Wednesday…The Answer!

Manolo asked, whose shoes?

Taylor Swift in Boots!

Manolo answers, it is the Taylor Swift!

Congratulations to the Manolo’s internet friend Spritle, who was the first to answer and the first to identify this week’s personage of note.

AUG
2009 19
Fashion, Manolo's Internet Friends

Deep Glamour Party

Manolo says, the Manolo’s good friend Virginia Postrel, of the marvelous blog Deep Glamour is having the party to celebrate their first anniversary! It is all part of the Los Angeles Fashion Walk celebration.

A hat sale and exhibition titled “You’re the Top,” organized by writer and deepglamour.net blogger Virginia Postrel, will take over the lobby at the Farmer’s & Merchants Bank building at the corner of Fourth and Main streets from 6-10 p.m. The “celebration of glamorous hats and the people who wear them,” said Postrel, will feature creations by milliners such as Stella Dottir (who owns a Historic Core shop), Louise Green and Arturo Rios, plus items from makeup artist and hat connoisseur Wendy Ann Rosen’s collection. Some of the hats will be for sale, others for display only. The event will also feature slide shows, a photo booth and prizes.

Postrel decided to do the show because “hats have many of the qualities that define a glamorous accessory.” She added, “There are door prizes for people who wear hats, and you get more tickets if you wear real hats. If you wear a baseball hat, you only get one ticket.”

Hats? Manolo loves the hats!

Please, if you are in the Los Angeles area be sure to drop by downtown and say hello to the Virginia and he Deep Glamour people.

AUG
2009 19
Whose Shoes Wednesday

Whose Shoes Wednesday

Manolo asks, whose shoes?

AUG
2009 18
Platforms, Pumps/Court Shoes

Valentino For the Tuesday

Manolo says, the Manolo is feelings slightly down in the dumps this afternoon. And so, what better way to cheery oneself up then with the beautiful pair of the bright red shoes?

Valentino Red Patent Leather Peep-Toe Pump

Here is the gorgeous patent leather peep-toe pump from Valentino, exactly the sort of shoe that would convert any day into the living-on-sunshine festival of good humor.