Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

The Bahamas
Hi Vivian and Domenick from the Bahamas! We stayed at the Sandals Resort for our honeymoon. I had my Bonanno bag, monogrammed with my new initails, with me the whole time. It's hard to see with all the shadows, but it's in Sable with Arbutus. Love it!

Bianica -- Boca Raton, Florida

The Flip Flop File (Customer's Stories)

"Just Because I Can"














If you look closely at this photo you'll see why Margy's statement says it all.
She ordered the Palm Beach style in a rainbow of colors.
Every flower from the left shoe to the right is a different color. A veritable cornucopia of "Kidskin Color"!

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

Las Vegas, Nevada

Me and my Bonanno's at the Bellagio.

Erika

Chicago

Meet Our Newest Employee

Ashley came on board last week and we're excited to have her. She is studying Radiology locally at Keiser University in Port St. Lucie. Her favorite things to do are shopping, going to the beach and dinner out with her boyfriend Marc. As a matter of fact, she was out shopping in Downtown Stuart with her boyfriend recently, happened into our shop, and asked if we were hiring. Ashley took an application home with her and really impressed us during her interview with her "Bonanno" knowledge, and her sweet personality was the clincher. Next time you're in town, come on in and say hello to Ashley.

A Message From My "Other" Brother

My brother David & sister in-law Su

Hey big sister, I must say, without bias, your blog is becoming a wonderful source of entertainment for me. You offer historical information about Dad's sandals; rich with detail and as far as I'm concerned, completely accurate.

It's really nice to see customers come into your boutique showing off their Bonanno's or sending you funny stories relating to the sandals. Good stuff!

Furthermore, the images and text you receive from globe trotters solidifies Dad's hard work and dream of making a fine sandal that would stand the test of time and fashion.

It seems like just yesterday, under the glow of the dining room light, Dad and Mom would make one sandal at a time. His heavily calloused hands would cut the leather with precision like Michelangelo chipped away at David. It's an artistic skill that maintains a steady heartbeat today, thanks to Steve, Monica and the both of you.

Keep up the good work and keep posting images of your great customers.

Your loving little big bro Dave

The Originals

The lovely Dale Lovette popped in today, and to my delight was wearing an original pair of Bonanno's made by Mr. Luigi and my Dad, back some 35 years ago. They're still in pretty good shape. She says she can't part with them to be resoled, they're her favorites among the many she still has in her closet. Too Cool!




















Notice there isn't a name stamped inside the sandal.
Back then, every part was literally hand punched and hand cut, even the soles were hand drawn around the foot. In fact, Dale shared that when she first started noticing the sandals with the JR stamp inside, even back then, she (and her friends) knew first hand Jack's were the knock-offs.



















Thank you Dale for sharing your treasured Bonanno's with us.

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

Lake Worth, Florida

Domenick and I went to see our brother in-law, Tony Trischka, who was in town with his Bluegrass band. They had a gig at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth. So ... I just had to get a "Where in the World are Your Bonanno's" pic in.

Vivian (Stephen Bonanno Sandals) Wearing the "Vivian" in Platinum/White

Stuart, Florida

"Tony Trischka Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular"

The show was fantastic, we had a great time with family and friends that came out to see them. They played the next night in Hollywood Florida, then stayed at our place in Stuart. Thank you to our out of town friend Serge, who helped us accommodate a five piece band and their equipment by letting us bunk a couple of guys at his place too. The next day they were off to a gig in Tampa.

Check out the world's greatest banjo player and tour dates in your area.

http://www.tonytrischka.com/

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

Atlanta, Georgia

Me and my cousin Elle. We were celebrating her first birthday. We weren’t in any exciting place, but the shoes and her face are cute! Just thought I would share it with you!

Thanks so much,
Tip
Orlando, FL

We'd love to hear from you ... When you're vacationing, or off doing something interesting, snap a picture in your Bonanno's and send it along with a little story about where and when to: vivianb@stephenbonanno.com Don't forget to add your first name, city and state you are from.You keep sending them, we'll keep posting them.

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

Queens, New York
My Bonanno's went to Shea Stadium in New York to watch the Mets play the Florida Marlins. The Marlins won the game -- perhaps in honor of my Florida-made Bonanno's!
Hope you are having a great summer!

Kim
West Hartford, CT














We'd love to hear from you ... When you're vacationing, or off doing something interesting, snap a picture in your Bonanno's and send it along with a little story about where and when to: vivianb@stephenbonanno.com Don't forget to add your first name, city and state you are from.You keep sending them, we'll keep posting them.

Celebs in the House

Celebs? Ok, you might be saying to yourselves, "I don't think I recognize these Celebs." I'll give you that, but they're very special to us!
Meet the girls of Summer (Historic Downtown Stuart Style)
The Lovely, Sweet and Very Stylish Paula, Joanne and
Wyndi. ... all wearing their Bonanno's ... of course.

The Flip Flop File (Your Bonanno Stories)

Got a touching or funny story to share or just a great experience related to your Bonanno's? Send it along to vivianb@stephenbonanno.com Please include your first name, city and state. We welcome your photos.

Hi Vivian & Domenick,
My husband & I were in your new shop this morning picking up another sandal order. Please know we enjoyed our visit with you two regarding our dogs and our recent loss. You two were so sweet to share your time with us. It meant so much. Later today I remembered something that happened not long ago I thought you two might enjoy.....

Our Blk Std Dachshund, Chance, had the crazy habit of licking the inside of my husbands shoes. One day I had left my Bonanno's out and later found him licking the inside of them. I screamed for my husband that he was actually licking my Bonanno's. Being the neatnick that I am, I was in total shock!

At that my husband yelled back, "What can I tell you, he has GOOD TASTE!!!"

Now that I miss him so, I'm happy he got to lick those beautiful sandals and smell that great leather. Thanks again for our visit this morning and letting me give your sweet Rippy a little kiss! P.S. The color was perfect!

Sue -- Tequesta, Florida

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

Lake Como, Italy
Here is a picture of me in my Bonannos in Lake Como, Italy on my honeymoon. I wore them the whole trip!

Sarah -- St. Louis, MO

We'd love to hear from you ... When you're vacationing, or off doing something interesting, snap a picture in your Bonanno's and send it along with a little story about where and when to: vivianb@stephenbonanno.com Don't forget to add your first name, city and state you are from.

You keep sending them, we'll keep posting them.

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

Chicago Illinois
My recent trip to Chicago. The Cub's baseball game -
Wrigley Field.
Melissa -- Winter Park, Florida















We'd love to hear from you ... When you're vacationing, or off doing something interesting, snap a picture in your Bonanno's and send it along with a little story about where and when to: vivianb@stephenbonanno.com
Don't forget to add your first name, city and state you are from.

You keep sending them, we'll keep posting them.

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

Hollywood California

This weekend our Bonanno’s got a trip to California. The Bonanno’s took in a little shopping in Pasadena and Beverly Hills before heading to the Hollywood Bowl to see John Williams conduct the LA Phil. Too bad the man in front would not move out of the way – he just did not get why we wanted to take a picture of our sandals and the bowl.
Becky and Shannon --Phoenix AZ























We'd love to hear from you ... When you're vacationing, or off doing something interesting, snap a picture in your Bonanno's and send it along with a little story about where and when to:vivianb@stephenbonanno.comYou keep sending them, we'll keep posting them.

Essentially Palm Beach

I started thumbing through some books my brother loaned me ages ago. I've always loved looking through Lilly's guide to entertaining books ... they're just so pretty to look at.












Check this out, an autographed copy from Lilly herself to Monica and Stevie




















A couple of photos of models wearing Bonanno's

Palm Beach Then and Now

Loved looking through this book. Came across some really great historic photos of landmarks on the Island of Palm Beach and some very young pictures of Lilly Pulitzer to boot ...

















Below, a fashion shoot and check out the inset. What says Palm Beach better than Lilly Pulitzer fashion and Bonanno Sandals ...









What a neat discovery to find a photo of my brother stitching sandals. The caption and the story aren't exactly correct, but I'm used to it. Mr. Luigi isn't our uncle. He was my father's sandal making partner. (click on images to read captions)

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

We'd love to hear from you ... When you're vacationing, or off doing something interesting, snap a picture in your Bonanno's and send it along with a little story about where and when to:vivianb@stephenbonanno.com
You keep sending them, we'll keep posting them.

Winnipeg, Canada

Clockwise from top:
Lisagh's empty Suzy in silver
Lisagh in Emma Classic Embroidery - Skye with Silver whipstitch, ship's wheel embroidery
Audra in Chelsea - Brassica with Sable whipstitch/tassle
Heather in Emma Classic Embroidery - Skye with Green Velvet whipstitch, Navy Scotty dog embroidery.
Lisagh --
July 9th in the office of our ad agency

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

We'd love to hear from you ... When you're vacationing, or off doing something interesting, snap a picture in your Bonanno's and send it along with a little story about where and when to:vivianb@stephenbonanno.com
You keep sending them, we'll keep posting them.

Hobe Sound, Florida

Well the day finally came and it was all that I could wish for. Rick and I had such a wonderful time at our wedding and on our honeymoon in Costa Rica.

The Bonanno's were a hit and they all said they will wear them over and over.

Terri --
Wedding date - May 26, 2007

We're Finally in Our New Store ...

This morning we opened our doors and received well wishes from our business neighbors. Along with an inspiring card from Sharon and Rich from Humble Heart, Beth and Marlene from Osceola Street Cafe brought over a basket of fresh baked cookies, yummy. I think I might have eaten half the tray. :-
Josephine from Aunt Ds Gourmet brought a fabulous jar of pink, green and white gumballs, Paul and Linda from the Flagler Grill brought over a bottle of Chandon, a California Brut, Tanya from Puppuccino's Pet Boutique brought over a super cute dog bowl filled with doggie cookies and Rippy's favorite, "the stick". Kelly our first and very missed employee brought Rippy a purple flip flop collar. Just adorable.
"Karma" Mary saged our store for good karma, Joanie from The Love Garden, Frank and Jan from Coconut Bay, Lisa from Pelicans and Periwinkles Pam from the Stuart News, and friend Linda and of course Stephen, Monica. Bailey and Anthony Bonanno joined the celebration. Serge our neighbor with his special gal pal, Sandra, gave us a bottle of Dom with a couple of beautiful glasses.
We are truly blessed to have such special people in our lives.

Our first customer in our new location was Kristina from Thurmont MD who found us through MC Morris blog. This was her first visit to Florida and said she had to find us. She ordered her first pair of monogram Bonanno's!

When Domenick and I knew we were moving I started to sketch some ideas on paper as to what I wanted for our new location.

I called in Deirdre Fawcett Peters owner of Portobello Road, Interiors and Antiques in Deephaven MN 952-380-0181, who is a customer of ours. I asked if she would look over what I sketched and help me pull it all together. Between her fabulous ideas, Domenick's tweaking, we came up with this ...

The store front was Realty Unlimited and the room you see was the main office. We removed the walls, added dressing rooms ...

I love the way this room came out. We will add fabric on either side of the dressing room walls to frame the space and I plan to put a big black and white photo of Jackie Kennedy wearing my Dad's sandals. Too cool!

Below is the larger part of the room. We removed the island and added our counter space.

Below is another shot of the retail space. We have lots of windows in the front of the store as well as the back. It just feels very cheery inside, especially with the fun green we picked for the walls. Check out the detailed pic of our monogrammed seat cushions. You might have to click on the image to get a closer look.
Love, Love, love them!

Where in the World are your Bonanno's?

We'd love to hear from you ... When you're vacationing, snap a picture in your Bonanno's and send it along with a little story about where and when to:vivianb@stephenbonanno.com

You keep sending them, we'll keep posting them.

Rome, Italy






















































Our hello's from Rome.
Pics show two from the Colosseum and one from St. Peter's Square.
Tom and Paula