Thursday 1 April 2010

Miss Magpie and her Manolos

Lucky Miss Magpie is being whisked off to Spain this Easter weekend by her darling beau. We are heading to Cordoba for four days of sun (it's the hottest place in Europe apparently), history, culture, tapas and wine. Perfick!

I got thinking about Spain and its many delights...the Al Hambra, Las Ramblas, sangria and Senor Manolo Blahnik. The Spanish shoe genius is one of Spain's greatest exports and wows each season with totally gorgeous collections.

In fact, my first ever pair of designer heels were Manolos:


My Manolo Blahnik Silver D'Orsay Pumps

Let me tell you a little story about Miss Magpie's Manolos.

Back in 2000 and something, when I was a 20 year old spring chicken, I took a trip to New york with Mummy Magpie, en route to Buffalo where I was to spend a year studying (that's a story for another time). Still in mourning for Sex & the City (the series had just finished FOR EVER!), we took a ride on the SATC tour bus. Dropping us off at Carrie's fave shoe shop, it was love at first sight. The silver shining beauties that stood before me just had to be mine. But at $688 they were way out of my student budget. I walked away from them promising that one day they would belong to me.

Mummy Magpie came up with an ingenious idea (mum's always know best don't they) - if I was really dedicated to my Manolos, then i would be willing to give up something in exchange for them. I promptly gave up buying coffee (it was giving me bad skin anyway!) and started putting $2 in to a box every day. Thus, the 'Manolo Blahnik Shoe Fund' was born. A year later, I left Buffalo and headed back for London via NYC and via my beloved Manolo store. As I approached the door, I saw the twinkling light coming from my beautiful heels. With only one pair left and in my size, I knew that they were just meant to be mine. Counting out my $1 bills (in hindsight, that's a bit embarassing), I paid for them and finally they were mine! I was euphoric, not just because of the shoes, but because I had learnt a great lesson.

That's how much a pair of Manolos can mean.

Happy Easter (long) weekend!

No comments:

Post a Comment