‘Think Yiddish, Dress British’
Image by Swiss Stays
By Anne Cohen December 19, 2013
It’s too bad Hanukkah and Christmas don’t coincide this year, because we’ve found the ultimate gift.
Swiss Stays, a company that makes adjustable collar stays for men — yes, those things that come in the inside of your shirt collars — has teamed up with Saks Fifth Avenue to launch a special collection — “Think Yiddish, Dress British.”
The concept? Each stay, or tab, is engraved with a word in Yiddish, with the English translation listed under it. Tuck it into your collar, and voila: You’re Jewish from the inside out.
David Schottenstein
Company head David Schottenstein came up with this homage to the Jewish roots of the garment industry when talking to the national accessories director for Saks about developing an exclusive line.
A stainless steel pair will set you back $30, while brass and titanium cost $40 and $50, respectively.
The idea for Swiss Stays, Schottenstein explained came from a typical ‘guy problem’:
“I became frustrated that every time I went to put on a collared shirt I had to change the collar stay, and I was spending unnecessary time hunting in my drawer for the right size. I got to the point of cutting the collar stays or bending them in order to fit. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if there were a one size fits all collar stay? They say the best inventions come from necessity.”
Schottenstein’s previous schmatta project was Astor & Black, a custom bespoke clothing business that he started when he was 21 years old. According to him, the only thing that gets in the way of young innovation is lack of confidence:
“People have great ideas all the time but find all the reasons not to do it,” he said in an interview with Inc. “You have to be fearless and do not internalize rejection.”
That’s been no problem for Schottenstein, who started his first business at the age 12. After noticing that businessmen visiting his father — Thomas Schottenstein of Arshot Investment Corp. — had a certain affinity for cigars, he started his own cigar business on the low down. It ran for two years, until daddy found out and shut it down.
Now that’s chutzpah — or, “utter nerve; effrontery.”
Take your pick from the following words next time you need a straight collar:
–Bubkes
–Chutzpa
–Mensch
–Meshugnah
–Mish mosh
–Schnorrer
–Shvitzer
–Kibosh
–Kvetch
–Luftmensch
–Zafty
–Shekel
–Schlep
–Shlimazel
–Schloch
–Schmaltzy
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
