AUG
2008
25

Deep Glamour

Manolo says, the Manolo’s good internet friend, and super fantastic intelligent theorist of fashion and trends, Virginia Postrel, has started the new blog, Deep Glamour, which, “explores the magic of glamour in its many manifestations, from movies, fashion, and advertising to real estate, politics, and sports.” Already, the Manolo can see that this will be one of his daily readings. Please go there now and see what all of the fuss is about.

JUL
2008
09

The Pointed Toe Returns

Manolo says, as the Manolo predicted earlier this year, the pointy toed shoe has returned! Round-toes have pretty much ruled the shoe world for the past decade, with a tenacity that belies their innocently girlish appearance. But a decade is a century in fashion years (like dog years, but longer and potentially more fatal if underestimated) so it was inevitable that the point should return at some point. And lo, it has come to pass. At Balenciaga – pretty much the bellwether for trends that the high street masses will be adopting – the gladiator sandals it knocked out last…

MAY
2008
08

Is the Fashion Press to Blame?

Manolo says, the Manolo’s indispensable internet friend Lesley of the Fashion Tribes has posted her thoughts on the most intriguing panel discussion at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Here is the excerpt. In his opinion, since no one in the audience – comprised mostly of students – was dressed in a way that remotely resembled a fashion editorial, magazines were obviously out-of-touch and irrelevant. Galanos heartily concurred, and according to his extremely narrow-minded and dated definition of what can be considered “fashion,” anything fantastic but unwearable that walks down a runway is to be considered an exercise in…

JAN
2008
31

Shoe Trends 2008, Part 3

Manolo says, above you see the handsome dark navy and cream, mary jane pump from the Marc by Marc Jacobs. And yes, the Manolo has already announced that 2008 will be the “Year of Color“, but as is so often the case, there is the counter trend to the main trend, running in opposition. So, for the example, the vertiginous platform heels of the last spring were countered by the Torey Burch ballet flats. This year the counter trend to the colorful shoes are the shoes which combine white with black (or navy and cream, or other variations). Here are…

JAN
2008
07

Shoe Trends for 2008, Part Two

Manolo says, over the next few days, the Manolo will be giving his forecast for the coming years shoe trends. This next trend, which has been developing over the past year, has now fully arrived, and it is the brightly colored shoes. Currently we are seeing shoes which are saturated with color, not the primary color, but rich variations in the purples, the oranges, the yellows, the greens, the blues, and the reds. In fact, the Manolo goes so far as to call this the “Year of Color” This trend to color is visible at all levels of the market.…

JAN
2008
02

Shoe Trends for 2008, Part One

Manolo says, over the next few days the Manolo will be sharing with you what he thinks are the shoe trends for the New Year. Here is the new shoe, the Cary from Donald Pliner, which represents one of the coming trends. Yes, it is the return of the pointy toed pumps. Although, they never completely went away, pointy toed shoes have been in eclipse for the past three years. But you may now look for them to begin to creep back onto the runways in the coming months.

DEC
2007
20

You’ve Got the Look!

Manolo says, 1981, it was the simpler time, when hot chicks wore “mom jeans” and monkeys danced in exultation because of it. P.S. Many thanks to Mr. Isidore Gallant for finding the old jeans commercials.

NOV
2007
13

Space Couture

Manolo says, where are the jump suits? The Manolo was promised that the future would include silvery jump suits, not fairly pedestrian bikinis and lycra. But of the course, this video begs the question: what will the clothes of the future look like? To which the Manolo answers, who knows? There are not even that many peoples who can predict next years trends, much less those of the distant future. In 500 years time we could all be immortal, disembodied heads in jars, riding around on giant metallic robots, talking about how great it was when we had bodies, and…

OCT
2007
25

Stuart Weitzman’s Does the Prada Ombre Knockoff

Manolo says, remember these beautiful and unusual Prada Ombre shoes from last season, with the sfumato gradient effect? It seems that Stuart Weitzman does… In the coming months you will undoubtedly see more modestly priced shoes with this same look.

OCT
2007
20

Fade to White

Manolo says, you must go look at this posting from the Coveted. It is based on last week’s article in the New York Times about the lack of black models on the runways of this seasons New York fashion week shows. Here is the excerpt from the Times. Of the 101 shows and presentations posted on Style.com during the New York runway season, which ended a month ago, more than a third employed no black models, according to Women’s Wear Daily. Most of the others used just one or two. When the fashion caravan moved to London, Paris and Milan,…

SEP
2007
24

Conclusive Proof

Manolo says, that the infamous metrosexual Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan! Hair implants have become commonplace [in Pakistan] in the past few years as wealthier urban males embrace cosmetic treatments that were once regarded as effeminate and even unIslamic. From facials to manicures, back waxes to eyebrow threading, a host of services are now on offer at a growing number of spas, salons and clinics catering to the male market. “I never bothered with this before,” Humayun, 28, said after a facial at the Islamabad branch of Depilex Men, part of the biggest chain of beauty parlours in…

SEP
2007
20

Linda Grant Replies

Manolo says, Manolo’s very good friend Linda Grant, author of the wonderful piece in the Guardian about the declining standards of dress and comportment, has returned to add more to our very vibrant discussion of this important topic. I would like to thank those of you who responded so positively to my Guardian piece about declining standards of dress. I believe that dressing appropriately for the occasion is simply a question of good manners, as well as to give ourselves the pleasure of wearing whatever in our wardrobes is best, just as we vary our diet, adorn our homes with…