What’s Good? Katie Bartels, Founder of Yellow Socks, LLC (Part One)

There’s quirky, and then there’s sophisticated. Rarely do the two come together in the jewelry world. While often more expensive, many high-fashion baubles are far from our reach. Meanwhile, costume jewelry, while it may satisfy our aesthetic cravings, isn’t quite as filling on the side of quality. Fortunately for those of us who like to have a little fun with our forms of adornment, Katie Bartels, founder of Yellow Socks, LLC, has come in to fill the void.

Having worn a set of pearls from infancy (albeit, plastic at that stage), Katie knows her way around jewelry, and as a designer, she has a good feel for her customers too. Though she has only been in the jewelry business for a few years, she has been making her own pieces for quite some time. With semi-precious stones and heaps of creativity as her foundation, Katie is innovative without losing sight of the need for timelessness and, most of all, quality. Finding inspiration from fashion magazines, her upbringing, and even the Rachel Zoe Project, Katie is always in search of something new to add to her ever-growing collection of original necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.

However, don’t be fooled by the rocks that she’s got. Despite her incredible talent, Katie is still super friendly, easy-going, and puts her customers first. We had the fortunate opportunity to meet up with Katie in her Manhattan studio to do a little “mining” of our own as we watched her work and discovered a little more about her creative process. Take a moment and join us to find out What’s Good with Katie Bartels, Founder of Yellow Socks, LLC and local gem class heroine*:

I checked out your Etsy site last night and I noticed that you had around 10 pieces up, but I see that here in your apartment, you have a ton of stuff. Can you explain this discrepancy in items for purchase online vs. what I see here?
Well, I actually sell my stuff in stores in Connecticut and on Etsy. Right now, you’re seeing a lot because I have a trunk show in two weeks. So I have kind of been stockpiling stuff. Some of the things at the trunk show are also available for purchase on Etsy, but I just don’t want to have someone buy it there and then have someone also buy it at my trunk show. I’m constantly bringing stuff back to stores and it gets hard to keep track, so I just want to make sure that I have enough pieces here as well.

a portion of the Yellow Socks, LLC collection

What are the names of the stores in Connecticut where you sell your jewelry?
I sell at four different stores. One is Images, which is a photo and framing place located in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Actually everything in my apartment is framed by them. They have a lot of different artists that have shows there. They hosted my launch party in September of 2007. They kept a bunch of my pieces there, and I have been switching out stuff. I would say about every 8 weeks or so, I bring in a new collection to them. I like a smaller, artistic, and more boutique-like feel.

photos don't do the collection justice. just trust us: it's amazing

I also sell my work at Beadz Boutique in Darien, Connecticut. It’s a make-your-own jewelry place, but they also have a lot of jewelry there from different designers. I don’t sell anything made of the stones they have there just so there’s no doubling up. Another place where I sell is 06830, which is a gift store in Greenwich, Connecticut, where I am from. I also sell at Blades, a hair salon located in Greenwich, Connecticut that’s kind of funky, so I keep some colorful pieces there. I am constantly rotating stuff. I go home about every 6-8 weeks and bring new pieces.  

Your trunk show will take place in NYC, right?
Yes, I’m actually hosting that here in my apartment. I’ve had two before that I’ve done here. It’s just so much easier because I have all my stuff and I can keep an eye on it. Also, I don’t have to pay to rent a space! [laughs] It’s going to be a brunch trunk show, so I am going to make muffins and invite friends, family, and people in my program at school *(author’s note: Katie is a student at the Gemological Institute of America). It’s casual and more to get feedback, really. I get some of the best feedback that way because friends are willing to just say, “Oh, I really like this,” or “This would be great if it were longer,” etc.  

more of the Yellow Socks, LLC collection

So beyond the trunk shows, do you sell anywhere in NYC? If not, do you plan to at some point?
Not yet, but that’s my hope. It’s a little difficult to “get into” stores. I haven’t really gone outside of my comfort zone of places where I know the people who own the stores either personally or have friends/family who know them personally. I know that my stuff is safe and well-protected then. But obviously, in order to expand, I have to step away from that because I don’t have friends in every city.

So while I’d love to sell in New York, I’ve also heard that it’s not the friendliest of cities in terms of retail. I’ve heard some not-so-great things about major retail stores and their poor treatment of designers, and I really want to be careful. Also, part of me really doesn’t want my work to be replicated. I’ve already had that issue arise once in Connecticut when someone wanted to re-create one of my necklaces. I was like, “No, that’s my design!” [laughs]

Selling in NYC is definitely something I want to focus on this summer, which I plan to take off in order to really expand and find more stores, especially in beach towns because I make so many pieces with pearls (which makes them perfect for that market).

work in progress: pearl necklace

 How has growing up in Connecticut influenced the pieces you create?
Well, my pearl collection is definitely influenced by the fact that I grew up in Connecticut. My second complete sentence as a baby was “I have pearls.” I would walk around in a plastic pearl necklace every day in preschool. Pearls are just something you see all over the place in Connecticut. I’ve always worn them and not really thought of it as a powerful fashion statement. But when I got to college, people would also note, “Wow, you pull off pearls really well.” I never thought of them any anything other than a normal necklace, but they really will “class up” any outfit and add a sophisticated touch.

Katie Bartels modeling one of her newest pearl pieces

I started really working with pearls around a year ago. At my last trunk show, I got a really great response to it, so I started involving more pearl pieces in my collection. I’ve been buying tons of freshwater strands as of late. Overall, pearls really did influence my aesthetic, though some of my pieces are funkier and use a lot of color—though even this is part of that WASP tradition of wearing a crazy amount of color. For example, my grandfather will wear kelly green pants and a pink blazer together. So I’ve always worn really bright colors and can pull it off. It’s like, you can wear Lilly Pulitzer and it will be so bright people need sunglasses. [laughs]

What about your work ethic, pricing, etc? Has your upbringing in Connecticut had any noticeable influence there?
Yeah. I have tried to keep my stuff pretty reasonably-priced. If you’re going to spend several hundred dollars on a necklace, you’re going to go to Tiffany’s or some other big jewelry store. However, the semi-precious market is really growing, and people are willing to spend $300 – 400 on a necklace. But I want to keep my price point a little lower than that. I have some pieces that are more expensive, but that’s just to cover the materials. For example, the necklace I am wearing would be $400, but that’s because the materials to make it cost me so much money. I have tried to keep my pieces within the $100 – $150 range because that way, the client won’t have to think too much about buying the piece. They think, “Oh, I really love that. It’s a little expensive, but I am getting pearls, semi-precious stones, a sterling silver clasp . . .” so it ends up being worth it.

pieces from the new collection

In terms of work ethic, I was brought up to always go after what I was passionate about. I was a government major in college, so my jewelry business has nothing to do with what I did in the past. I just sort of stumbled upon it. I always made my own jewelry in college because I could never find what I really wanted to wear. Sometimes, I could find what I really liked, but then it was WAY too expensive. That’s when I started making my own stuff. When I was 22 and I had been out of college for about a year, I was in Barney’s wearing the same necklace I am wearing now, actually. While there, someone stopped me and asked me where I had bought my necklace, to which I replied that I had made it myself. They were a bit surprised and wanted to know where I sold my stuff, but I admitted that I was just making things for myself.

the necklace that is Katie's claim to fame

From that, I began to realize that there was a market for my work and I just went with it. My parents really encouraged me, even though it was not my game plan in life to become a jewelry designer. If you’d asked me 5 years if I would become a jewelry designer, I would never have pictured it. My response would have been, “Really? I don’t think so!” [laughs]

To be continued . . . Check back soon for part 2!

- Retail DJ

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