Sightings

Check out how hot Madonna looks in the February issue of Elle magazine:

 

Rihanna was caught doing some shopping in the spice aisle at Gelson’s in West Hollywood this weekend.  Stocking up for a big Labor Day BBQ, possibly.  She looks adorable!  Her dress is very cute! (atleast from this angle)

Manolo says, the Eastern European mania for the high heel racing it has reached the West!

A 25-year old psychology student ran away with the first foot race down Berlin’s swish Kurfuerstendamm boulevard in stiletto high heels.

It took Nadine Sonnabend just 12 seconds to run the 100 metres (328 feet) on her seven centimetre-high heels (almost three inch), said the organisers of the Stiletto Run, which is being held as part of the Global Fashion Festival.

“I much prefer tennis,” admitted Nadine, as she walked off with her 10,000-euro (12,800-dollar) voucher to spend at Berlin’s most prestigious department store KaDeWe, admitting that she rarely wears high heels.

First Moscow, then Warsaw, und now Deutschland . The Manolo detects the trend

Manolo says, query: who would tape the shoes to the feet?

Answer: Crazy Russian ladies.

Oh MEOW! Who cares if the crazy Russian ladies want to dress crazy and run in high heels. More power to ‘em.
 

You know, in Washington, DC every year there is a Drag Race, where drag queens run not only in high heels but feather headdresses and sequined dresses as well. Perhaps they could race the Russian ladies in the spirit of friendly international competition?

One of the Manolo’s many internet friends has sent the Manolo this picture of the crazy Polish ladies which has been scanned from the Sports Illustrated Magazine, thus proving conclusively that there is the Eastern European mania for the high-heels racing.

I recall something about the Olympic sprinter Gwen Torrence’s running ability being discovered in high school. She didn’t want to change into sneakers for gym class, so she did the 100-yard dash in her heels - - and broke a record! I think they were LOW heels, though.

Stiletto Run: Racing in High Heels, Shoes, Despite how it may appear, these women are not racing to a Jimmy Choo sample.

I know, lets put them in high heels and have them race each other.

High Heel Racing - Women Worldwide Are Taking Part

Few would disagree, but women wearing high heels is sexy. So, what does someone come up with? A sporting event! There’s a new craze among women worldwide; running races n High Heels. The most recent race, the one from Russia (below), had a first prize of $4000, the equivlent of anyways (a shitload of money in Russia) and the whole event, it’s appearantly sponsored by Glamour Magazine.

I’m no doctor, but can’t you get some serious injuries from giving your ankles this kind of abuse? Although, I am all for Glamour Magazine and their cohorts trying to raise awareness of the high heeled shoe and getting more women to wear them worldwide! Thanks Glamour!

The first video was from 2007 and took place in Russia. The other two vides are from Germany and Amsterdam in 2006.

The 2007 Glamour Magazine Russia High Heel Race

High Heel Race in Germany

Glamour Stiletto - High Heels race in Amsterdam

Despite how it may appear, these women are not racing to a Jimmy Choo sample sale. Instead, they're running in a Glamour's "Stiletto Run" High Heel Race.

I'm scared for them and in awe of them all at once.

But mostly, I'm distraught that I didn't know about such things before. But until tonight, I didn't know women throughout Europe were strapping on stilettos and running as if their lives depended on it.

Who knows, maybe there are "Running with Scissors" and "Popsicle Stick in Your Mouth" marathons going on as well.

Shoppers on Germany's main street may have wondered if the summer sales had just started as a hundred girls in high heels sprinted down the Kurfurstendamm in Berlin. The girls were taking part in Germany's first 'Stiletto Run' which may have looked glamorous but was torture for some of the 100 specially chosen participants.

"It really hurts, like running on coals," said Gabriella Lusa as she limped away from the finish line. "You have to try and keep your balance, it isn't like in trainers where you have stability, but you wobble about, it is all so unsteady, but if you train a bit it is ok," said the winner, Nadine Sonnabend. She had taped rubber strips to the bottom of her shoes.

The heels had had to be proper stilettos, at least 7 cm high and a maximum of 1.5 cm wide.

On March 9, 2006 at 10:30am, Dutch Magazine Glamour organized the first Stiletto Run in Amsterdam's most fashionable street: the P.C. Hooftstraat. Running in high heels finally pays off! The winner received 10.000 euro shoppping money.

Women Racing in High Heels for Big Bucks
Thinking walking or standing in high heels is a pain? Try running in them. That's what all these women did when they participated in Glamour magazine's Stiletto Run high heel race. Check out this image gallery for some great action shots.

High Heel Race
Glamour Stiletto Run High Heel Race - August 19, 2006, Berlin Germany
Just looking at an image like this actually makes me nervous for these women. But I find it somehow inspiring as well. Maybe if I started training now

Winners of Glamours High Heel Race
Glamour Stiletto Run - August 19, 2006, Berlin Germany
The winners from left to right: Claudia Auler (2nd place), Nadine Sonnabend (1st place), Diana Hipp (3rd place). 1000 Euros is equal to about $1365 (U.S.)

Winner of Glamour's High Heel Race
Glamour Stiletto Run High Heel Race - August 19, 2006, Berlin Germany
Winner Nadine Sonnabend finished the 100m (328 feet) race in 12 seconds wearing 7cm (2.75") heels. Her prize was 10,000 Euros to spend at Berlin store KaDeWe.

Not every woman can manage walking on high heels -- and sprinting in them is way more challenging. The "High Heel Race" competition attracted about 100 eager participants, keen to prove nothing is impossible for Russian girls.

Ultimate Russian Misogyny: High Heel Dash

Why do I get the feeling that some Russian frat boys sat down, got wasted, and said to themselves, "How do we make money off these hot Russian ladies with no money and no prospects? I know, lets put them in high heels and have them race each other." And to think this country gave us some of the best literature the world has ever read. What one has to do with the other, I don't know. Perhaps I'm just nostalgic for Tolstoy's Russia. You know, when instead of racing each other in high heels, the ladies threw themselves under trains in fits of broken hearted depression. Such a romantic people they used to be. Now it's just gaudy displays of ostentatious wealth, hot ladies, and censorship. And a few poisonings and random murders of journalists here and there to really spice things up. How is this outdoors, you ask? See the sky below? Obviously the race was held outdoors. Via EnglishRussia.

 

There is an annual Race in Moscow when they girls run on high heels. They can win up to 100.000 Rubles (3.000 Euro

Stiletto run stockholm swedish girls running high heels

August 20, 2007

Emphasising Gluteals.EuropeanOlympic class Stiletto Heel racing - Amazing Pictures

 

Lord Patel was introduced into the odd world of foot fetishism and masochism when reading as a teenager , Christopher Isherwoods's Mr Norris Changes Trains (In the US The Last of Mr Norris) which portrayed in words the louche world of Berlin nightlife in Nazi Germany of the early 30's before it's descent into lunacy, which George Grosz also captured with his acid pen. (who emigrated to the US in January 1933).

So the reports of the 2nd Annual "Stiletto Run" in Berlin came as no surprise. This keenly fought competition by 100 glamorous madchen , over 100 metres in high heels - 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) high and no more than 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches) wide at the tip was won in an astonishing 14.7 seconds on Saturday by 24 year old Berlin office worker Denise Hanitsch.

"Make your strides as big as possible and never let your foot roll back onto the heel." she claimed to Bild was the secret of her success - and the experience of coming 2nd last year when one of her heels broke.

Was it worth it ? Well 1st prize was a €10,000 ($13,500) gift certificate for Berlin's swanky Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) department store, the Harvey Nicks of Berlin.

However after the necessary and detailed research it is evident that Glamour magazine has been holding similiar (but unconnected) events - March 14th in Amsterdam and a similiar event was held by the Russian edition of Glamour magazine on August 1st in Moscow .You may also enjoy an extensive gallery of fine pictures of the event, samples above.

Maybe these don't have quite the draw that the Annual Street High Heel race in Du Pont Neighbourhood which stated in 1987 and draws thousands to watch scores of drag queens in stiletto heels, sequined gowns and stylish hairdos - race down 17th Street between P and Q streets.

The next step(?) is evidently to set up a 10 Downing Street petition for this to be introduced as an Olympic event.

Stiletto Sprinting - Professional High Heel Racing

You need strong ankles and a smart fashion sense in this sometimes violent and ruthless sport. This week’s 100 meter event was contested in Moscow's Hermitage garden with talented young athletes competing for a shopping voucher worth 100,000 rubles ($5,119). Similar races have been held in St. Pet…

You need strong ankles and a smart fashion sense in this sometimes violent and ruthless sport. This week’s 100 meter event was contested in Moscow’s Hermitage garden with talented young athletes competing for a shopping voucher worth 100,000 rubles ($5,119). Similar races have been held in St. Petersburg, Berlin, Amsterdam (see video), Washington, DC , and the drag race variation for male competitors also making appearances. Rules apparently vary in the Moscow race a minimum heel height of nine centimeters (3.5 Inches) was required, in Amsterdam athletes could get away with a mere seven centimeters(2.75 Inches). By the way, hometown girl Maria Kanarova took first place in the Moscow event.

STILETTO RACE IN BERLIN
High Heels of Fire

One hundred German women braved broken heels and sprained ankles in Saturday's second annual "Stiletto Run" 100-meter race in Berlin.

The distance was 100 meters. The field was 100 women. The prize was €10,000. The setting was Berlin. And the shoes were stilettos.

PHOTO GALLERY: HIGH TOE! HEEL TOE! SPRINT!

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Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (6 Photos)

With a time of 14.7 seconds, Berliner Denise Hanitzsch beat out 99 fellow heel-wearers Saturday to take the prize in the second annual "Stiletto Run," held in West Berlin near the upscale Kurfürstendamm shopping district.

The run, sponsored by the women's fashion magazine Glamour and held in connection with Berlin's "Global Fashions Festival," had only two rules for its reader-contestants: the stiletto heels had to be at least 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) high and no more than 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches) wide at the tip.

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The 24-year-old office worker claims to not have trained specifically for the event, but apparently she didn't have to. "I have to run around every day with high heels on, and I've always been a good runner," Hanitzsch told the German tabloid Bild.

Asked about her technique, Hanitzsch told Bild: "Make your strides as big as possible and never let your foot roll back onto the heel."

Victory will be particularly sweet for Hanitzsch, who was held to second place in last year's race after one of her heels broke.

Asked how she would spend her prize -- a €10,000 ($13,500) gift certificate for Berlin's upscale KaDeWe department store -- Hanitzsch told Bild: "On shoes! What else?"

Moskauer Stöckelschuhrennen

Kurioses Moskau

Hübsche Mädchen gehören in Moskau zum selbstverständlichen Straßenbild. Natürlich ist Frau auch adrett gekleidet – Stöckelschuhe sind ein selbstverständliches Outfit für junge Frauen. Auch darin, in solchen Schuhen zu gehen, habe es die Frauen von Moskau zu einer Meisterschaft gebracht.

Ein Stöckelschuh-Rennen hat das Magazin „Glamour“ dann gleich in Moskau durchgeführt. Wo anders als vor dem weltbekannten Kaufhaus „GUM“ wurde im Juli 2006 die Straße abgesperrt und zu den ersten Meisterschaften im Stöckelschuh-Laufen aufgerufen. Die Sprintdistanz der jungen Frauen betrug 80 Meter – außer den mindestens 10 Zentimeter hohen Absätzen gab es keine weiteren Kleidervorschriften. So bestanden dann auch die weiteren Trikots aus Sommerkleidern oder kurzen Röcken – ganz so, wie sich die Moskauer Mädchen auf Ihren Straßen zeigen.

Von ernsthaften Verletzungen wurde nicht berichtet, wohl aber davon, das laut einem russischen Blog die Siegerin die 80 Meter in einer sensationellen Zeit von weniger als 14 Sekunden geschafft hat. Die Veranstalter sprechen von einem großen Erfolg der attraktiven Sportart. Vor dem GUM soll es jetzt alljährlich ein solches Rennen geben.

 

A girl attends a high heels race in Moscow, capital of Russia, July 8, 2006. Girls took part in the race wearing high heels with required minimum height of 8 centimeters to compete for a total bonus of 100.000 roubles (3,726 dollars). The race was held by a Russian fashion magazine.

Two girls attend a high heels race in Moscow, capital of Russia, July 8, 2006. Girls took part in the race wearing high heels with required minimum height of 8 centimeters to compete for a total bonus of 100.000 roubles (3,726 dollars). The race was held by a Russian fashion magazine.

A 25-year old psychology student ran away with the first foot race down Berlin's swish Kurfuerstendamm boulevard in stiletto high heels.

It took Nadine Sonnabend just 12 seconds to run the 100 metres (328 feet) on her seven centimetre-high heels (almost three inch), said the organisers of the Stiletto Run, which is being held as part of the Global Fashion Festival.

"I much prefer tennis," admitted Nadine, as she walked off with her 10,000-euro (12,800-dollar) voucher to spend at Berlin's most prestigious department store KaDeWe, admitting that she rarely wears high heels.