Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo says, the Manolo for the Big Girl Blog is running the contest together with Igigi, the maker of stylish clothing for the big girls, it is the contest with the $250 prize! Hurry, enter now!

Manolo asked, whose shoes?

Manolo answers, it is His Purpleness, Prince!

Congratulations to the Manolo’s internet friend, Toddson who got the correct answer with great alacrity.

Manolo asks, whose shoes?

Manolo says, it is Monday and you are back at your desk working feverishly to complete the latest onerous task placed upon you by your supervisor, Mr. Rummelkin, The Official Boss From Hell, the micro-managing, 5′3″ tall, churlishly malignant, tooth ache of the man.

Yes, you are the big girl, you know that relations between management and labor are not always easy, and indeed you have had other bosses in the past who were less than pleasant to work for: The Shouter, The Underminer, and The Ditherer, individuals who had risen to their Peter Principle level of incompetency, and from which they exercised their flawed authority.

And, yet, Mr. Rummelkin puts them all to shame in terms of pure evil. He is the smoothly manipulative master of manufactured rumor and artificial chaos, ruling his domain like the Ottoman vizier, through subterfuge, misdirection, and calculated verbal brutality. He runs the very deep, very complicated game.

Of the course, what makes his reign of terror all the more galling is that he is completely competent, earning nothing but accolades from the higher ups, even as those who work for him are cowed into submission by his malevolence.

You would have quit his dominion many weeks ago, when it first became obvious that Mr. Rummelkin did not care for you. But, it is the same old story, you need the money, and the job pays well, and you’re good at it, even if your boss fails to acknowledge that. And you like and respect the other peoples your office, especially Jane, the English Girl, who never fails to make you laugh with her wry observations and offhand EastEnder witticisms.

“Oy, look a ‘em, Rumplestiltskining about, like he go’ a secret spinning wheel in his office,” is now your all-time favorite saying in the entire world.

Rumplestiltskining about! Genius!

So, here it is Monday afternoon, and Mr. Rummelkin has set you to yet another impossible task, spinning straw into gold, or some such, and you look up from your desk and at the end of the hall is the giant commotion.

It is Jane, running toward you as fast as her chubby legs can go, and she is smiling like the mad woman.

“Love, such wonderful news! They’ve given Rumpy the sack. Caugh’ him putting his naughty bits into the overnight charwoman, they did!!!”

And when you pass that preposterous statement through your English-to-English translator you realize that those many, many novenas were not said in vain.

Time to celebrate! With beautiful boots, like The Romy from Elie Tahari.

Manolo says, the Xmas, it is approaching and Goody Glinda at the Teeny Manolo has been bust putting together the lists of toys, to include the list of the hottest video games for 2008. The 12-to-29 year old boy in your life will be certain to thank you profusely.

Manolo says, far be it from the Manolo to take pleasure in the misfortunes of others, but….

Crocs Inc. shares plunged 45% Thursday, stumbling after the colorful sandal maker reported a whopping third-quarter loss and warned of further financial pain as it downsizes what was once a high-flying business to better match sharply reduced demand.

Happy days are here again, the sky o’er head is clear again!
The Crocs are dead this year, Amen! Happy days are here again!

P.S. Many thanks to the Manolo’s internet friend, Aaron, for this good news.

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

Dear Manolo,

I’m going to my boyfriend’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving next week. The problem is that I’m a Republican and my boyfriend’s parents are ardent Democrats. They’re very nice, but they are also super-political, so I’m sure I’ll be subjected to lots of gloating. (My boyfriend is no help at all. He’s a libertarian.) What do you recommend to help me get through the weekend?

Cecilia

Manolo says, America, the Manolo begs of you, please, stop! The campaigns are over. Put away the yard signs, and the buttons, and the flyers, and the full-sized votive statue of your favorite candidate that you have carved from sandalwood and hand-painted in realistic colors, and which is now seated in the easy chair in the family room.

Now is the time to come together in the spirit of comity and mutual affection, to remember, during this joyful holiday of Thanksgiving, that we have much for which to be thankful, like roasted turkey, and televised football, and little children who are dressed up like John Smith and Squanto in construction paper costumes.

And so, please, for one weekend, neither gloat, nor grumble. Be happy for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon us.

Blessings such as this handsome, tall, suede boot from Peter Kaiser, the Levke.

Manolo says, if you are not reading the Teeny Manolo, you are missing out. Just this week alone, for the example, our friend Raincoaster has located the video that has elicted the following comment.

He’s going to be really disappointed when he grows up and realizes he’s not a king or some sort of wizard.

While the darling Glinda, is angered by the new internet website.

Yet I have to admit that another part of me is pissed. Angry that a website had to be developed to do something that every single parent should be doing, and doing happily. It really bursts Glinda’s bubbles, if you know what I mean.

Hurry, you are missing the fun at the Teeny Manolo.

Manolo says, behold, the new fashion trend has gripped the nation to it’s bosom.

Why are New York women wearing ankle boots?

“Because we follow trends,” said Maya Beaumier, 18, a college freshman who was hanging out on University Place last Friday night, clad in flat black ankle boots with black leggings and scrubby denim shorts.

“Yeah, we’re followers!” said her friend Maureen Flanagan, also an 18-year-old freshman and also wearing little zip-up ankle boots […]

The coeds have done their homework. Ankle boots are, in fact, the shoe of the year. (They’re also known as “booties,” but because that word sounds like two different slang terms plus one type of children’s footwear, we’re not going to use it.)

The abbreviated boots can snuggle into the bottom of a pair of skinny jeans like a screw, or cap off a long bare leg like a shiny black cherry. And many are wearing them with shorts and tights, for a kind of cute elf look (it makes sense, since these days, only Santa Claus is hiring). Works if you’re under 30.

Ankle boots can be flat or stiletto (like Jennifer Lopez’s 5.5-inch YSLs); sleek or baroque; buckled (like the witchy red ones strapped on by Kate Bosworth recently), zipped or both. Earthy mauve and camel ankle boots exist, but the up-to-date option is clearly the kind that make you look like a sexy Martian.

So you wish to be the “sexy Martian,” like this, perhaps?

Or, perhaps not.

Sexy Martian girls, aside, the Manolo is himself is the fan of the latest ankle booties. Indeed, after several seasons in which the couture shoes have become increasingly outlandish, perhaps it is time for something fresh.

And yet, who wishes to be the “follower” of trends, for despite the assurances of 18-year-old coeds everywhere, not every style is suitable for everyone, especially for the smart, independent lady of the particular age.

And yet again, ankle booties are tres fun, and so you naturally wish to find the pair that works, but you must also find the pair that does not make you look ridiculous. Ayyy! Such trouble!

Fear not, internet friends, for the Manolo is here to help you find booties that are both au courant, and yet suitable for those who are not the sexy, bubbleheaded, teenaged, Martian coeds.

Look! Here is the serious suede ankle bootie from Gravati

Perhaps, these are too intellectual and somber for you, in which case the Manolo tells you to whoop it up, with these platform booties, the Whoop from Stuart Weitzman.

Or, maybe these, the Lily Boot from Kate Spade.

Ankle booties, trendy, stylish, and fun. What is there not to like?