FreeRide
Dear Manolo: Spring Trendy, Not Pricey

Dear Manolo:

As you know better than anyone, the hottest trend for spring is crazy sculptural heels. While I would love to have some outrageous Miu Miu pumps, I'm just a poor working girl. Can you recommend something outrageous that isn't outrageously priced?
— CHRISSY

Photo courtesy Zappos.comMANOLO SAYS, last fall, when Miuccia Prada introduced her crazy-colorful pumps with the flower-stem heel, anyone with half the eyeball could see that this was the next big trend. Soon, other shoe designers rushed to add various shiny baubles, trinkets, gewgaws, gimcracks and folderols to their spring shoes. And, lo, the fashion press thought it was good. ... The Manolo, not so much.

The problem isn't that the Manolo doesn't enjoy the occasional outrageously ornamented shoe — indeed, he does. The problem, however, is that so many of the designers do not do them well. For every wonderful Miu Miu teacup platform pump, there are 20 shoes that look as if the simpleton got busy with the glue gun and craft knife. Happily, there is John Fluevog, the one designer who was doing sculptural heels when sculptural heels were not trendy. Here is the Truly by Fluevog ($241, Zappos.com), the colorful peep-toe pump with the fantastic heels and the not so outrageous price.

Ask the Manolo a question at manolo@shoeblogs.com. Visit the Manolo at shoeblogs.com.

Photo courtesy Zappos.com

Posted by Express at 12:03 AM on March 28, 2008
Tagged in Dear Manolo , Fashion & Design , Lifestyles , Top Columns
Comments (3)

  • OK, this is ridiculous. For "poor working girls," $250 for a pair of shoes IS outrageously priced. Come on.

    Posted by Red Dog | March 28, 2008 8:44 AM

  • I've seen many in affordable spring shoe options with the baubles and trinkets the manolo speaks of. It's almost as if this year the designs are inspired by middle east or indian culture. And they look great! I've seen so many cool designs in the last week that will be amazing with a splash of color.
    MT
    mizztissa.com

    Posted by MizzTissa | March 29, 2008 12:34 PM

  • Red Dog, i TOTALLY agree. Often people write into this column for help with a nice inexpensive shoe and its a given that whatever is suggested is over $200 and from that crappy site zappos.com. i am guessing that this is just an advertisement disguised as an fashion advice column.

    Get a clue, y'all, when we need fashion advice and y'all suggest something that is completely opposite of what we need yeah its completely useless.

    Posted by AK | March 31, 2008 11:43 AM
Post a Comment





» NEW: We've added the security filter you see here to slow the influx of spam that's been clogging our servers and causing us to lose some of your comments. In order to submit your comment, please enter the code below into the box before pressing the "Post" button. Questions? Concerns? Glitches? E-mail us here.

All comments on Express' blogs will be screened for appropriateness, spam and topic relevance, so there is likely to be a delay before your comment is displayed. Thanks for your patience.

Click a section to view its RSS FeedClose [x]