Elizabeth Jeffer Launches Roztayger: Classic Bags for the Modern Individual By Amanda Boyle
December 6, 2011 We sat down to talk bags the other day with Chappaqua-based Elizabeth Jeffer. Jeffer just launched her online accessories boutique, roztayger.com, where both men and women can find chic and practical bags. Jeffer promises that you will find excellent quality, whether for work, travel or your everyday adventures, at roztayger.
Where is the name roztayger from?
My grandmother's maiden name was Rosalin Tiger. She passed away a couple of years ago, and she was someone I was very close to, as well as an inspiration to me. When I thought about naming the site, I wanted to include her name in there somewhere; Tiger sounded a little too commercial to me and it didn't really sound like it would make sense with the whole concept. Tayger was the Russian name that she and her family had before they immigrated; I guess at Ellis Island they couldn't pronounce Tayger so they changed it to Tiger. I wanted the store's name to be a word that wouldn't necessarily mean anything to anybody else, but would have an interesting cadence to it and would also be meaningful to me.
roztayger is only online now, correct?
Yes. You know, I have children, and I've worked enough retail to know how much time is spent on a store. I'd like to eventually have a small store locally, but I didn't feel like a store would really support the concept or reach as many people. So how long have you had the site?
I launched October 7th, so not very long. I came up with the idea only six or eight months ago.
I'd been representing different accessory designers for many, many years, one of which is kind of a main stay, and it's in the roztayger mix: It’s called Ro. I've worked with Ro on and off for ten years. It's a line I've always believed in; their product was at a showroom where I worked in the city. I met them when they were just starting out, and worked with them as their sales agent. I ended up buying the showroom, which I owned for a little while. Anyway, we've always had a close relationship and I've always felt a connection with their concept and design.
I was selling their product, and they decided about six months ago that they wanted to go with a distributor, because the distributor guarantees their sales and it’s risk-free for Ro. So they let me go. I was upset at first, but then I thought, ah, I'm going to take the line because I really believe in it. I decided to create a retail site. I know from selling to a lot of the stores and people asking, "Where do I buy Ro?" that there was an opportunity to sell this collection online. I know because I've been in the market and I’ve heard people asking where to find it. Since it's only in LA or New York, there's nothing in between. So I thought, okay, I'm going to do my own small store, which is something I've wanted to do for 20 years, but I got sidetracked because of kids. But I figured now I have flexibility because I have more time.
What I miss is more of the three-dimensional, personal contact. I know online is the way of the world, but I like people and I love hearing peoples' stories. I want to know who buys the bags and to personally help them select the right bags. That's a huge part of why I did this: I love connecting people with good product.
It's nice that online you can sell to anywhere in the world, in a way you're connecting with so many more people, but you do have to give up the very basic connection.
Yes, I kind of miss that and that's something I crave. I'm working in my house, so I feel like I never leave it anymore. I'm at home so much that I'm kind of going stir-crazy. If I had a small store somewhere locally, like Armonk or Chappaqua, it'd be kind of nice just to get out; still, it’s a whole separate project to maintain a store. Maybe down the road, but for now I'm doing this, and maybe in a couple of years, I could expand.
Have you ever thought about designing bags or accessories yourself?
I'm actually in the works to do a couple of things. I'm not technically skilled, but I know design-wise what I want and which colors work. I have a friend, an old friend I reconnected with on Facebook, who's probably my oldest elementary school friend. She is a technically trained designer, living in Hawaii, and we saw each other after twenty years. We thought it'd be fun to collaborate and go in the marketplace with products that aren’t available from other designers.
We're trying to price out a couple of pieces, maybe two or three pieces, with the roztayger label. I'm hoping this project will be in the next year. I’m looking for things I couldn't find from other vendors, like a vertical women’s tote to carry iPads. Something very classical and clean, and I have some totes like that in the unisex category, but nothing with a little bit of a feminine detail. I’d like either stitching in a color or a lining in a color: something good for women that are working, but don't want something masculine.
I'm very drawn to unisex designs; in fact, most of the pieces I have could be carried by a man or a woman. They're for people who are interested in good design. But I think there's still a need for simple designs with some sort of... So yes, I am working on a few things. I'd also like to make a nice iPhone case. There are just certain things that I can make that would be slightly different from what's out there.
I do. I don't stare and think "What are you wearing?!?", but when I have the opportunity at the gym or at yoga, I'll glance over and try to check out what people are carrying. It’s always interesting for me to see what people are using.
Any trends that you're excited about?
I'm not a huge trend follower; I like very classical things. I'm influenced by things I see, but not necessarily things that are trendy. What I try to offer on the site are products that will work in any season. Clean, classical designs, which may have touches of fashion and maybe a special material. Right now, I do have some hand-tooled python-print from Ro. It has that exotic look, but it's actually leather, so the price is not going to be as high. They're retailing for under $500.
Colors are obviously very trendy right now. I did buy some color, but I'm not a huge color person. Color is in the accents, the stitching or lining, but I'm not someone who would buy a bunch of fuchsia bags, personally. I buy a lot of black and gray and neutrals because that's the best investment, and that's what I'm thinking about when I buy. If a woman is going to spend, you know...a lot of the bags are between $250 and $500; that's a sizeable investment. It’s not a crazy dollar amount, but it's not a drop in the bucket either. If someone's going to spend that much, it has to be something that's versatile.
Yes, those colors can match a lot of different outfits.
Right, you don't have to think about it, and as a working mother, I know they don't want to switch their bags every day. They don't have time, and they want their bags to go with whatever they're wearing. So I buy things that are neutral that go with everything. That's how I shop: I don't want to have to over think everything or ask if this bag goes with this or that. I don't have the time for that. Maybe I did when I was in college, but not anymore. I tend to buy neutrals, but I have sold a lot of color. I've sold gray and black, too. Gray bags don't always photograph as well on the internet, which is too bad since they are stunning in person.
I saw on the site that you studied at Berkley. I was wondering if you see a connection between fine art and fashion.
Yes, I do. I have thought about that a lot, actually, like why I ended up doing what I'm doing, and even why I ended up in art history. I think I've just always been drawn to visually beautiful things; it's just something that I naturally do. I don't know why, but maybe it's partly an escape mechanism? Sometimes you just...you just want to go somewhere else. Everybody has his or her escape hatch, whether it's music or food or this or that--I like all those things! But something about looking at good design takes me somewhere else.
I got the bug at Cal when I took a course on Reubens, Rembrandts and Vermeers. I got hooked on that 17th century Dutch look. The painter I really loved the most was Vermeer, he did maybe fifteen paintings, but his level of precision is insane, they almost look like photographs, and at that time to be technically that skilled...the play of light, the minutiae is such amazing quality. His paintings have this sort of perfect appearance: very still and serene, and always beautifully balanced and their color... there were all these different elements in fashion design that were also apparent in Vermeer.
What is interesting in Vermeer is that glassy, perfect look but if you look beyond the initial image, they are very complicated paintings with unexpected weird quirks. The professor would walk us through, pointing out a little piece of paper on the floor with a tiny script or a reflection in the mirror and they would actually have some allegorical implications about the mysterious setting. So I kind of think I like things that have quirky details in them, that are hidden. I like classical fashion, but I also like things to be a bit messed up. Classical with a twist. For instance, I always love wearing pearls, but my hair may be messy, beautiful things with unexpected quirks.
I think that's something that people are starting to like.
Yes, with J. Crew, that's definitely their look. And I've always liked J. Crew. Plus, the way they style things is so perfect.
They roll the sleeve just right.
Exactly, and the hair is just messy in the right way, with the perfect lipstick. They have great styling, and they take classical things and make them a little bit different and funky, and you can make your own statement out of it. People are more open to that look.
Well, if you're talking about classic style from the 40's and 50's, people had to look perfect, but now we're more acknowledging that we're real, and that we don't have to look perfect and that there's something nice about showing your personality.
Yes, taking your version of a classic thing. There's something about the classics that I like. I do like vintage things, too, but in an updated way.
Have you always loved bags? Did you have a first bag love?
I've always loved accessories, and when I was in college, I worked in a clothing and accessories store.
The reason I got specifically into accessories is, when I moved to New York I took a job at an accessories showroom. I got into the wholesale end of it, representing different accessories’ designers. And I like accessories, they're just easier, there's no fit issue. When you're selling to a store they don't have to worry about will this fit or not. There's a certain ease; even when you're shopping for accessories, it's much easier because you can change your whole look with a bag.
When I started this, I realized that this is very much a niche business. There's not a lot of offerings online for women with a pared-down collection, really nice, simple classical shapes, maybe not so trendy but are still useable. There are a lot of sites that are very, very high end and trendy; then there are more moderately priced ones. My site is more of a quality price point, but classical and streamlined. When you're busy and you don't want to go to 20 different sites looking for that one basic great bag, it's nice to go to just one spot and find...well, if you agree with my aesthetic or like my focus...just to come to one spot where you know a handful of designers to choose from, but all whittled down to one specific, basic design philosophy. People are busy! So it's nice to offer something that is quick and easy.
The site looks great by the way.
Thank you, it's nice and clean. I just want to see the product and not have the comments clutter the image. I had a local photographer, one of my daughter's best friend's fathers is an architect and he did the photography for me. His photography is a huge part of why it looks good. So can you tell us about a few more of the brands that you carry? You talked about Ro already.
Ro has been around ten years. They're not as well known in the States mainly because their focus has been in Asia. They have a very big Japanese following, and they have three free-standing stores in Korea. In Japan, there's probably another three. And another opened this year in Hong Kong. So it's a much bigger Asian following and I discovered that in the States, a lot of their clients are Asian. So they've been here for ten years, but very limited, in places like Fred Segal, Saks Fifth Avenue and maybe twenty little boutiques through the States. It's a men's and women's line.
Then there's Porter, which isn't so well known in the US, although they do have a small following. It's a Japanese line, it’s been around for about a hundred years, very old line, owned and run by the same family that conceived of it. It’s a really big line, so I really tried to pick the more basic options. They're all about quality. Everything is made in Japan, and all the details are... there's great linings and tons of amazing pockets. Just a lot of well thought out design, and they use really fantastic material. It's the subtle things and just really good quality.
We also have Orla Kiely. She does really great graphic prints. I also picked up an Irish designer I met in Dublin, Loulou Belle. She's new to the market; she just started out about a year and a half ago. I saw one of her bags during a trip I took to Dublin, I went to the store and said "who does these bags?" Then, I tracked her down. Her bags are all made in Italy, but have an old-world feminine feel to them. There's also Bill Amberg, a British designer, probably better known in the UK. He does very classical kind of old world men's wear, he even designs interior seats for cars, so there's a lot of reference to the leather interiors of cars.
How would you describe the roztayger aesthetic?
Quality, clean, versatile, subtle details. These products are worth the investment. A lot of people shop for bags that are $1,000 and up, and some people can afford that; but there must be many people in the world that appreciate nice quality but can't at this time go that crazy, given the economy. They still want a good quality bag, but don't want to spend so much money. My background is in quality and this mid price range. Some people switch up their bags all the time, so they look for a bargain, but that's not my client. My client is a working person, maybe in the creative industry. When I track my clients, many are graphic designers, writers, artists.
How do you know that?
From e-mailing with people, or when I've talked to the stores I've sold to, I want to know who's buying the bags. I'm very interested in people. And almost always, it's photographers, architects, artists. And not everyone, of course. I've sold to bankers and lawyers, too, but it's generally a creative client.
And that makes sense because that's who you are. You have your own tastes, and you're going to attract similar minded people.
Yes, I've noticed that trend.
So right now you have bags and a few other accessories...
Yes, bags and small goods, iPhone cases and iPad cases and some cosmetic bags. It will be tight and focused for now, and then I'd love to expand. I love jewelry, scarves and even shoes, perhaps, down the road. But I want to grow at a decent pace. I want to do one category at a time.
Susan Blake 480 Main Street Armonk, NY 765-0555
Snoods By Amanda Boyle
Nov. 22, 2011 Snoods are one of my favorite winter accessories because, first of all, they're fun to say. Snoods! But in all seriousness snoods, the little sister to scarves, are fun, practical and fashionable.
When worn with a jacket, the snood resembles a collar. It looks especially good with trench and pea coats. This faux fur snood from Asos.com and is fuzzy and snug.
J. Crew has a knit version with metallic threading for an extra sparkle.
Or just stop in to TruGrace at 419 Main Street, Armonk for their Jocelyn fur snood, above. It is made of three different types of fur: rabbit, orytolagus and cumiculus, and is incredibly soft to the touch.
