Manolo says, long we have ridiculed the womens fashions paraded on the runways. Now, thanks to the Viviene Westwood, and Milan’s fashion week, it is the turn to ridicule the proposed fashions for the mens.
January 16, 2005
January 15, 2005
The Dandyism
Manolo says, the Manolo he enjoys this site. However, he reminds you that the fashions of the past, they are difficult to enact in the present. Worse, the nostalgia, and the desire to stand too far out from the crowd, it is the seductive combination, one that leads perhaps to the error.
The Manolo, he rejects the term “dandy”, and favors the more prosaic, “well-dressed”. The goal it is to be at all times exceptionally well-dressed, well-polished, and well-tailored, but not to the point where the clothes they are more more worthy of the comment than the man who wears them.
Manolo says, you wear the clothes, the clothes they should not wear you.
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January 14, 2005
The Bowtie
One of the Manolo’s many internet friends has asked the Manolo the question about the cravats.
Manolo – In the field of Architecture, there is a long history of wearing the bowtie. It has the advantage of not getting ruined while working over the drawings and models. Also, in England, the bowtie seems to be more commonplace than in America.
Manolo says, many thanks to my friend for the information about the venerable bowite. However, the advice, the Manolo he belives it still stands.
Indeed, the architect, he is accorded more of the freedom with regard to the dress, as his occupation, it straddles the divide between the arts and the business.
This freedom, it can manifest itself in the ways of interest. For the example, among the architects, the round eye glasses in style of La Corbusier it is preeminent. (Manolo must admit that he himself must, from the time to the time, don the spectacles, and his choice is the owlish spectacles of La Corbusier, but then Manolo he is not the businessman.)
As the I.M. Pei knows, the bowtie it should only be worn with the tuxedo. It is the black tie, of the black tie affair.
Indeed, the bowtie, it is still worn for business by some, but in the general, one must be wary, as it projects the image of fustiness, of the old-fashioned whimsicality, and of the general sense of contrarianness.
Manolo says, the bowtie, it makes the young man the old fogey.
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Super Fantastic Newsletter
Manolo says, the Manolo he would like to remind you to sign up for the Manolo’s Super Fantastic Newsletter.
The first issue it will be send out via the email in the early part of the next week. It will contain much information about the shoe and fashion bargains, perhaps the joke or two, maybe a discount on the Manolo’s super fantanstic merchandise, and, of the course, the usual wisdom of the Manolo.
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January 13, 2005
The Cravat
Manolo says, the topic of the ties, it is indeed the one of difficulty. On the one of the hands, the tie, it is one of the few of the areas in which the well-dressed man he can express his sense of the color and the drama. Yet on the other of the hands, the temptation to go over the board and wear the garish and outlandish cravats, it is great.
First, the Manolo he will tell you, as the always, that you must buy the ties of the highest quality you can afford. Cheap ties look cheap.
The most expensive of the ties, those of the French houses of the Charvet and the Hermes (which the Manolo he adores), they are in the range of the $150 to the $300, depending upon the material.
Happily, the excellent quality silk ties, they are readily available, at prices that are not beyond the means of the working man. For under $100 of the American dollars you can have the tie that will be the envy of your friends and coworkers. Ten of these, they will give you the first rate wardrobe of the neckwear. And if these ties, they are properly cared for, they will last you for the lifetime.
With the ties, as with so many of the things, the Italians, they make some of the best. They use the highest quality of the silk, and their workmanship, it is superb.
This same can be said of only one of the American manufacturers, Robert Talbott, although the ties of the Talbott, especially the super fantastic seven-fold ties. There are also the few custom makers the Manolo he approves of, such as the Seigo Katsuragawa in Manhattan, who has the ties made in the Japan on the looms of the kimono.
Manolo says, the process of the picking of the correct tie, it is more than the somewhat complex. Becuase the tie, it expresses the personality and projects the image of the wearer.
It is also complex because the decision it is based on so many of the factors. First the man, he must take into account the complexion of his skin, and then he must consider the colors of the shirt and the suit he is to wear with the tie. (For the American men, unlike those of the Europe, this is somewhat simpler, as they only typically wear the shirts of the white and the blue.)
The man shopping for the tie, he must keep these things in mind. (Of the course, most of the ties, they are bought for the man by the woman…but that’s the other story. Here at the Manolo for the Men, we will assume that the man, he does the shopping for himself.) The process it should not be stressful, but it does take the care.
Having said these things, the Manolo he will now show you five ties that he himself thinks are worth the wearing.
Manolo says, there is no blue silk like the blue silk of the Hermes, it is unmatched. This tie, it has a subtle iridescence that the Manolo he thinks would make it superb with the dark grey or dark blue suit.
This tie by the Kenzo, the colors they are traditional, yet the tie, it embodies some of the spiritedness of the Kenzo.
This tie, by the Ermenegildo Zegna, it has the interesting combination of the colors and pattern, yet it remains subtle. With the best of the Zegna ties the patterns they draw you in, rather than leap out at you.
This tie by the Corneliani, it is an understated variation of the striped rep tie, in the tones of the earthy olive with the accents of the sky blue.
Although the Manolo he himself prefers the more subtle ties, there are times when the man, he needs the tie that speaks with the authority and the tradition. This tie from the Burberry it is just that tie. Perfect for the young American man who is climbing the ladder of the success to wear for the employment interview.
Manolo says, unless the man he is Thurston Howell III he should avoid the ascot. It is ridiculous. Likewise, unless the man he is a professor, or wishes to project the whimisical image, he should avoid the bowties. Their day as proper business wear, it has passed.
January 11, 2005
The Ankle Boots of Brown
Manolo says, after all the talk of the browns and how not to wear them with the suits of the dark colors, the Manolo he will now recommend to you this ankle boot by the Michael Toschi..
The peoples at the Zappos they have said that this boot it is “ideal for the boardroom”.
Ha! The Manolo he laughs at the ignorance of their copywriters. Do not listen to them. This boot, an ankle boot of brown, it is perfect for the country gentleman or the stylish professor to wear with the tweeds or the khakis.
January 10, 2005
Hello to the Visitors!
Manolo says, hello to the many visitors of the today!
If this, it is your first visit to the Land of the Manolo, be certain to visit all of the Manolo’s sites:
The orignal, famous Manolo’s Shoe Blog, or the newer Manolo’s Prada Blog, or if you are the super fantastic girl looking for the bargain on the designer shoes, Manolo’s Basement of the Bargains.
Or, if you would like to recieve the wisdom on the Manolo in your mailbox, sign up for the Manolo’s Super Fantastic Newsletter.
Or, buy the t-shirts and the mugs!
Manolo says, yes the Manolo, he has the ambitions. Is there something wrong with that?
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The Questions
Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s many internet friends he has asked the Manolo the questions.
I am an Englishman living in Switzerland. Naturally, I approve entirely of your stated preference for English suits and John Lobb shoes (though might I be so bold, as someone with a little inside knowledge of the industry, as to recommend the most elegant shoes of Edward Green as an off-the-shelf alternative ?). Unfortunately, many of my Swiss colleagues do not share your wisdom and fine taste – indeed, it may be said that Switzerland is something of a fashion wasteland.
Naturally, in an effort to help my colleagues to eliminate the fashion faux pas they so often inflict not only on themselves but on the rest of us, I have pointed them in the direction of your blog (which I must say really is the bees knees). As a first step in their education, might I ask you to pronounce on the following three issues of business fashion etiquette, which seem to be particular areas of confusion :
1. The wearing of brown shoes with suits.
2a. The wearing of loafers with suits.
2b. The wearing of loafers with tassels with suits
2c. The wearing of loafers with tassels in general.
3. How to choose a tie to go with a check sports jacket.
Manolo says, the friend of the Manolo he has the excellent taste in shoes. The Edward Green, their bespoke shoes are the beautiful objects for the man, and their their ready-to-wear shoes they are indeed handsome.
Unfortunately, they are most difficult to find in the America.
As for the questions that the friend he has asked (although it seems as though the friend he already knows the answers to these question) the Manolo he will provide the answers:
1. Manolo says, the practice of the wearing of the brown shoes with the dark suits it is becoming increasingly and depressingly common.
Indeed it is permissable to wear the brown shoes with the suits, but only under the following conditions: the color of the suit should be lighter than the color of the shoes, which narrows the wearing of the brown shoes to the khaki and the light grey suits, although with some of the tones of the earth you may break this rule. The brown shoes are especially good with the suits for the warmer weather. Otherwise the man he should stick to the shoes of black.
2a. Loafers with the suits, no. Loafers with the slacks and the sports coats, yes.
2b. The loafers of the penny, yes. The loafers of the tassel, no. They are too frilly for the serious man.
3. Manolo says, it is the sad fact that too many of the mens they have no taste in the deparment of the cravat. However, the Manolo he would tell you this: if you are wearing the sports coat with the bold pattern it is best to avoid the ties that are too loud, or too busy, or with the bizarrely whimsical pattern, or worst of the all, the type of the tie that the novelist/dandy Tom Wolfe once called the “psychedelic barf”.
Manolo says, the topic of the ties, it is most complex and so it deserves a space of its own. Soon the Manolo he will write a guide on the ties. In the meantime, if you are interested in the high quality ties of the Italians, than the Manolo he recommends this website.
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The Goatee
Manolo says, if you do not have the chin, the goatee, it will not give you one.
January 8, 2005
The King
Manolo says, there are some men who are beyond the petty dictates of the fashion, whose presence and talent obviate the need to worry about the fashion. The young Elvis, so handsome, so talented, so super fantastic.
And yet the old, fat Elvis, he was still the Elvis, even if he was bloated, and his clothes they were ridiculous and did not fit properly.
For the rest of us, we must worry about the expansion of the belly, and the grooming, and the clothes, and the shoes, for we, sadly, are not the Elvis.
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The Manolo’s Super Fantastic Newsletter
Manolo says, from the time to the time, (not more than the two or the three times the month) the Manolo he likes to mail out to his most special internet friends the newsletter containing the fashion advice, and the information about the super bargains and the special deals, and the news about the world of the Manolo.
If you would like to recieve these occasional messages from the Manolo, click here.
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January 7, 2005
The Pointy Versus The Square
Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s many internet friends has left the interesting comment.
Manolo, this seems like a good time to request your thoughts on the square-to-pointy ratio of men’s shoes. I have very squared off toes and have formed a dependency upon the round-to-square toed, plain front black lace-ups that Kenneth Cole manages to make every year. Furthermore, I definitely don’t like the high-fashion, very pointy shoes of the last year or so, and am depressed by the thought that the pointy shoes are back. Does the successful man of the world have to wear the pointier of the shoes? (I’m ambivalent about even the otherwise quite handsmome J&M captoes you highlight…)
Manolo says, for the shoes of the man of the business, the Manolo he prefers the rounded toe shoes, above both the pointy toed shoes and the shoes with the square toes. The reason for this is that in the matter of the business attire, the well-dressed man he should keep to the golden mean.
The attire for the place of business it should not be fashion forward, but rather of the classic nature. It should be distinguished by the high quality of the tailoring and the material rather than the trendiness. A best suits made by the best of the tailors should last you forever, it should never go out of the style.
Much of the same it can be said for the shoes of the man. The best quality mens shoes of the classic shapes will never go out of the style.
Manolo says, if you are serious about the business success, avoid the trendiest of the styles in the shoes and the clothes. It is the sad fact that the man of business he must avoid being made sport of, and so the clothes he wears, they must conform.
There is, however, some of the exceptions to this. If the man he is working in the more artistic field–the architect for the example– he is granted some laxity with regards to the attire. He is somewhat freer to follow the whims of the fashion.
The final answer to your question is that you are right to avoid the shoes with toes that are too pointy. But also avoid any shoe that is too “fashionable”. The classic, that should be your goal.