A South Carolina native, Lizzy Rollins has spent a good portion of her life in Charleston, where she attended school at CofC and now owns a business downtown, Bar Rollins. A neighborhood staple and self-proclaimed third place, Bar Rollins serves natural wines and good vibes from 4pm-10pm every Wednesday-Monday.
Lizzy's wearing: ROHE Tailored Overlap Waistcoat in Stone Melange; PROENZA SCHOULER WHITE LABEL Helena Pant in Black/Ivory; MARNI Nappa Leather Seamless Little Bow Ballet Flat in Gray
Q: What was the journey of opening Bar Rollins like, and how did your Southern upbringing impact it?
A: Chris and I grew up in very evangelical Christian environments, and that kind of kept us in this bubble that kept us from drinking as young people. So, I didn’t drink until I was 21, and he was kind of the same. I think we were definitely both admittedly afraid of the stigma around it until we really experienced the kind of lifestyle with alcohol that we wanted to make for ourselves. Part of what helped us form that was meeting our friend, Justin, who opened Monarch Wine Merchants on King Street. We started through odd circumstances, because we had never really been avid consumers of alcohol before; we weren’t really interested in the getting drunk aspect of it, so beverages were just like an interesting part of culture to us.
For Chris, I would say third wave coffee had a big influence on him: learning about pour overs and different farms and ways of roasting, it just becomes a more interesting experience. And so when Monarch opened not far from where we lived at the time, we were going there on a regular basis and just kind of guessing and buying bottles. Justin started to help us pick out certain things and informed us that he carried a lot of natural wine, if not all natural wine, and so once we started to understand what that was and its relationship with farming practices, then it wasn’t so much like “Oh, we’ll drink this to let loose,” it was like “We’ll drink this for education.” That was probably in 2018, I would say. We got married in December of 2016.
In 2019, we traveled to Paris for the first time, and that just totally turned our world upside down. We saw drinking culture in a totally different light and without any of the hangups that come along with growing up in the South. We were like “Oh, this is what drinking can be, and really should be.” It shifted the narrative for us completely, and with that knowledge we just couldn’t help but come back to Charleston wanting to implement that in some way. It seemed like the most logical thing was to keep pouring natural wine for our friends and making them drink it, then that expanded into pop-ups and eventually turned into owning a bar!
Q: Do you feel like you’ve built a community through Bar Rollins?
A: I feel very lucky every day to leave my “being in front of the computer” work brain and take a 20 minute walk from our house to Bar Rollins and to know that a few people have an accessible third place. To me, this is one of the cheapest places to drink, so I always know I’m going to see my friends here. Besides that too, I know I’m going to see my friends here because we absolutely had that in mind when we created Bar Rollins. We didn’t grow up in party culture or heavy drinking culture, and that permeates most of drinking culture in Charleston.
I’m not a huge beer fan. Beer gardens certainly have a really communal aspect to them, and I admire what they do, but that’s not a beverage I can drink continuously. The wine bar was a concept that seemed like it could be for everybody, but it hadn’t been for everybody in a lot of ways because wine has such a stodgy connotation to it. It can feel very old world and very expensive and inaccessible to a lot of people: we wanted to help connect the dots and help people realize that this is essentially farmer’s juice that people are making because they’re passionate about it. There’s some things that should be taken seriously, sure, there’s history and a lot of attention paid to the vinification process, but there’s also stuff that people are making that is meant to be fun and easily accessible. We wanted to create all of that, and I think people are receptive of it.
Lizzy's wearing: SACAI Denim Shirt in Black; SACAI X CARHARTT WIP Skirt in Beige; WANDLER Isa Sandal in Black
Q: When did you start as a photographer?
A: I feel like photography has chased me in many ways; it’s kind of the only job I’ve ever done. The long version is, I picked up a camera when I was 13. The short version is, I started getting paid for photography in late high school/college, just assisting people–wedding photographers, primarily. I studied studio art at College of Charleston and that was a very different angle of photography I wasn’t really used to, which was a cool way to study it. I loved being in the darkroom, I loved film photography, but it was very fine art focused. It felt really outdated to me. One class in particular, though, had a huge impact on me, and it was a film noir class where we were studying French new wave films. It was just a summer course, maybe four weeks; it was brief, but that shaped a lot of things and things really started to click into gear. I was like, “That’s how I want to see the world and reflect it back.” So I do feel like that had a big influence on me.
I kept at it with wedding photography and miscellaneous editorial assignments all through school and after school, and I traveled a little bit after school. I saved a little bit of money and tried my hand at just being in a different city, and once I put two months in outside of Charleston, I was like okay cool, I did that, I’m going home. I kept at it and only as of October last year is when I officially closed the books on weddings and started only shooting editorial, commercial, and lifestyle photography.
Q: Who are some of your favorite photographers? Who has influenced you?
A: Katie McCurdy is a big influence. Mark McLennan, Jean Le Cadard and Francis Truffaut are some of the OG French film creators, and they’re just so goofy and were trying so many new things and it certainly had a vision, but their vision was quirky and weird. I think today, the photographers that have the most influence on me are people reflecting back to humans. I love people photographing people and when you get a sense of connection. James Harvey Kelly is a huge influence on me, because his images with models are like they’re just playing hooky: they escaped the shoot and went out to do their own thing. They feel almost a little debaucherous in that way and I love that. I love when a photographer can trick the viewer into thinking that what’s happening is real: that’s all I want. That’s the only thing I aspire to do ever.
Q: That's a good motto. Do you think that there's a connection between your personal style and your photography style?
A: Definitely. I mean, I just want a practical sense of, I want to be able to work and move very easily in all the clothes I wear when I’m shooting. I want to be able to get on the ground, crawl around, and demonstrate movement, gesture, and behavior. So, I never want my clothes to hinder that in any way. So I wear a lot of loose stuff, and the climate influences me a lot. I wear a lot of linen. There’s definitely a French influence; my keenness for that culture plays into my style. I feel like a Provencal country woman sometimes, and like a utilitarian workman sometimes. But yeah, I do think the simplicity of what I’m aiming for stylistically in my photos influences what I put on my body. At the very least, when I’m working, I want to wear something that I can move in but also that I’ll be taken seriously in.
Caroline's wearing: RACHEL COMEY Dealian Jacket in Ecru; TANYA TAYLOR Jules Knit Top in Chalk; JW ANDERSON Wide Leg Shorts in Off White
Q: If you could describe your style in three words, what would they be?
A: Workwear is one of them I did this exercise with a girlfriend of mine, and I was really proud of my words. Now, I’m forgetting them. Effortless seems kind of corny, but it is, like, the hair tossled up, and being able to just throw something on. Effortless, utilitarian; I find myself straying more away from color than I used to.
Q: What about outside of work?
A: If I’m not so concerned about being taken seriously, I divert straight into cruise weaer: beach dresses, and things that do have a lot of color and are playful. There was one point in my post-college, early adult years where I looked at my closet at what I had and everything was teal, yellow, pink. When I’m off duty, I feel like I do divert back to that South Carolina beach kid.
Q: Do you feel like your style reflects South Carolina still or has it become more of your own?
A: I think I’m on my own self-discovery journey as to what parts I want to reflect and which parts I don’t. Chris and I both think, like, when you live in a place and you’ve grown up in a place and so many things about that place remind you of your past; it kind of takes re-appreciating and relearning all the things that remind you: beach culture and the ocean and the kind of style that comes from South Carolina, like camo and fishing gear and all this kind of stuff. Vern’s, a favorite restaurant of ours, released a merch line that has camo hats, and I got one. That was really cool: it’s a fun way to take ownership or play into this cultural style, and make it your own. I feel like that hat symbolizes a lot more to me than I realized when I got it.
