DEC
2009
04

Manolo the Columnist: Gumball from Beverly Feldman

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

Dear Manolo,

I work at a fairly large software company, and happily I managed to survive the past year without getting laid off, in fact, I actually seem to be (possibly, maybe, keeping fingers crossed) in line for a promotion. Now, however, it’s time for the annual holiday party, a minefield of potential social disasters. What do you suggest?

Lily

Manolo says, congratulations to the Manolo’s friend who has prospered in this most difficult of economic conditions!

And now, all of this progress could all be lost in the single moment of unbridled holiday enjoyment/drunken revelry/wardrobe malfunction, when you decide that your black-clad, hipper-than-hip CEO who works from the desk in the democratically open office (when he is not private jetting off for Nepal or Cupertino), must be forced into joining the spirited rendition of “Grandma Got Run Over by The Reindeer.”

“Come on, Jeffy, baby! I know you know the words! You look just like Weird Al!! Wheeee!”

What is that? You say, you did not know that the nog in “Trekkie Brad’s Special Egg Nog” was 151-proof rum?

But, at least you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you looked great in your moment of disgrace, especially if you wear these sandals, the Gumball from Beverly Feldman. On sale at Zappos for only $148!

Gumball by Beverly Feldman   Manolo Likes!  Click!

Whose Shoes, Project Runway!

Manolo says, the Manolo dear internet friend Laura K. at the essential Blogging Project Runway, has challenged us to the Whose Shoes Blogging Project Runway Edition.

DEC
2009
03

Christmas is Here!

Manolo says, the Christmas season is here, and what better way to celebrate than with the Christmas Macarena!

Ayyyyy! Did the Manolo say “better”? Clearly he meant, “worser”.

Whose Shoes Wednesday…The Answer!

Manolo asked, whose shoes?

Vanessa Hudgen's Shoes

Manolo answers, it is the Vanessa Hudgens, the Eva Longoria for the tween set!

Congratulations to the Manolo’s internet friend Chimchim, who was the first to correctly guess this week’s personage of note!

Whose Shoes Wednesday

Manolo asks, whose shoes?

DEC
2009
01

The Chopine!

Manolo says, ayyy! The Manolo is now officially desperate to go to Toronto.

Given current fashion’s infatuation with freaky footwear, “On A Pedestal: From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels,” an exhibition that opened at the Bata Shoe Museum last week and runs until Sept. 20, 2010, couldn’t be more apropos.
16th Century Venetian Chopine
A powerhouse show featuring rarities from around the world, it focuses on a couple of the most extreme styles ever to have shod fashionable extremities: the chopine, a kind of platform mule that, around from antiquity, peaked in 16th- century Italy, and the high heel, which by the 17th-century became the preferred mode in elevation.

When it comes to platforms and heels, the runways of the world have lately offered up some real doozies.

Sure, they say kitten heels and clogs are coming back, but the most talked-about shoes of the spring collections were the claw-shaped numbers with 25-centimetre heels worn at Alexander McQueen and sported by Lady Gaga in her “Bad Romance” video.

For outrageousness, however, the past trumps the present. Surely her Ladyship would die to get her hands on the 17th-century chopines, more than 50 centimetres in height, that the Bata has on loan from a museum in Venice and that are making its first and last appearance outside that city.17th Century Swedish Chopine.   Manolo Likes!  Click!

In Renaissance Italy, these contraptions, made of white kid leather over wood and looking like skeletal limbs, were not meant to be visible. Out of sight under long skirts, they were a means to lengthen a figure to allow more room for the display of sumptuous cloth. Nevertheless, chopines could be very pretty, as evidenced in a pair of velvet beauties daintily decorated with lace and tassels.

The Bata Shoe Museum is already one of the Manolo’s favorite places in the whole world, but now he is ready to brave Toronto in the depths of frosty winter to see the spectacular shoes which are on display .

P.S. Many thanks to the Manolo’s internet friend, the shoe-obsessed Wayne.

Grandma’s Turkey

Manolo says, who is ready for some more turkey? Mr. Henry, that is who!

Small, firm, not fat, they looked almost like a different species from the big-breasted turkey grandmother used to make. He tucked a 7 ½ pound bird into his backpack and boarded the subway for home.