"My shoes are not fashion, they are gestures."
It should have been "...& then there was light. Let there be shoes, & then there was Manolo Blahnik".
It all started with Manolo Blahnik. Don't get me wrong. I adore Roger Vivier who created the stiletto in 1954, beautiful, refined and whimsical shoes. But, Manolo took shoe making to a whole new dimension. For me, its the handcrafted element, the classic designs that have that extra something special & mostly importantly the way he knows how to make a pair of shoes fit & look like a dream on any woman's foot. I have been ridiculously obsessed with him for a long time. I would walk into Evelyn Miles (an exclusive Sydney shoe store) as a teen and pick up the 2 or 3 styles that they stocked. As a poor uni student the thought of owning a pair when I would have been earning maybe $160 per week was SOOO far out of reach. I do remember pinning over a pair of classic black suede mules with a sweet kitten heel & large white leather trimmed pilgrim buckle. They were a size 36 & on sale at $500. I was a size 38 & probably had $30 to my name. But I didnt care I had every intention in buying that pair of Manolo's even if they were 2 sizes too small.
I never did buy them. But, I still look for them online as they really were my first Manolo crush. I did however explore my love through his sketch books. So you can imagine my excitement with the release of
"Manolo's new shoes".
"Manolo's new shoes".
I could look through his sketches for hours on end...there are so many things I love about his shoes.
I ♥ that his shoes as well as sketches are beautiful pieces of art.
I ♥ that one of the first pair of shoes he designed had cherry embellishments.
I ♥ that when you hold them in your hands they are light as feathers.
I also ♥ that he personally sculpts the heels & chisels & sands back all the shoe lasts himself so that the shoes that will be built on them will be the exact shape he wishes them to be.
They almost always have unusual lining with sweet little cut out patterns, and even the most minuscule straps are positions to perfectly sit on the foot. The man is a footwear genius.
I ♥ this sketch so much I had it featured on my 21st birthday invitation...I'm wondering if I can somehow squeeze it into our wedding invitation without my fiance noticing?
♥♥♥
Now, off to buy his new book...or maybe even a new pair of shoes??
IMAGES: vogue.uk, smh.com.au, millyfellintothewardrobe.blogspot, dailymail.uk, amazon.com, neimanmarcus.com.
