Manolo the Columnist: Chaps from Elizabeth and James

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

Dear Manolo,

I’ve been searching for the perfect pair of black booties for what seems like eons now. I’d love a walk-able heel (I live in Toronto and walk a ton of city blocks), but nothing dowdy. If it helps, I’m a university student that wears an awful lot of 50’s style dresses and red lipstick, but I do have a pair of spiked five-inch heels that I break out for parties on the weekends. Do you think you can suggest a boot?

Colleen

Manolo says, ayyyy! To think, it is now 2012 and we are living in the future, which, strangely seems not all the different from the past, except that all of our best friends live in something called “cyberspace”, and all the teenagers communicate entirely with their thumbs.

But otherwise, everything seems familiar, as we still live in houses made of wood and brick (instead of moon rocks and plastic), and the Rolling Stones are still the touring band (although Mick Jagger now looks like the folk art dried apple doll).

Happily, despite this being the future, many smart young women wear beautiful vintage clothing in inventive and stylish ways, and thus require shoes that complement such creations without seeming costumey. For the example, pairing the 1950s dress with the 2010s booties, the practice which has much to recommend it.

Here is the Chaps from the Elizabeth and James, the stacked heel bootie that would complement the full skirts in the most non-dowdy manner possible.

Chaps from Elizabeth and James