BUSINESS

Stetson grad's product helps prevent Marilyn Monroe moments

Stetson grad's Dress Down garment weights help keep dresses from flying up at inopportune moments

Katie Kustura
katie.kustura@news-jrnl.com
Marilyn Monroe famously poses over the updraft of New York subway grating during filming of "The Seven Year Itch" in 1954. A Marilyn Monroe moment like this prompted Stetson grad Simone Magee to create Dress Downs, garment weights that help keep dresses from flying up at inopportune moments. [Associated Press file photo]

Growing up in Florida, Simone Magee, a Stetson University graduate, was no stranger to windy weather causing wardrobe malfunctions.

The unwanted Marilyn Monroe moments only continued when she moved to Chicago, The Windy City.

After an unknown number of eyes saw more than Magee wanted them to as she crossed the street at a major downtown intersection, her hands full and unable to stop her dress from flying up, Magee decided it was finally time to pursue inventing a product she'd thought up years before — garment weights called Dress Downs.

"This is something that has been a problem for decades," Magee said. "If you've ever worn a dress, you know there's a market."

Magee, who earned a bachelor's degree in communications with a minor in marketing from Stetson, quit her full-time job in November 2016 to focus on developing the weights.

She said she began pitching the idea with a rough prototype, but the feedback she got was that the market for such a product wasn't big enough.

"Women buy tape to keep their tops in place," Magee said. "Everyday people get it."

And so does Queen Elizabeth II who's known for having curtain weights sewn into her hemline to avoid royal garment gaffes.

"If the Queen of England has this problem, what makes you think everyday women don't have this problem?" Magee said.

With help from her father Tyrone Magee, a former engineer with Boeing, the Stetson graduate developed a reusable, silicone-based strip that weights less than 1 ounce and won't damage fabric.

"We knew it had to be soft, and we knew it had to be durable," Simone Magee said.

She also wanted it to be discreet, so it's about 3 inches long and less than 1 inch wide.

Tyrone Magee, of Windermere, said he had fun working with his daughter and is excited about her growing success.

"At one time, I didn't think it would move the way it's moving now," Tyrone Magee said. "I'm very proud of her."

While the majority of revenue is from sales on Amazon.com, one of the first stores to start selling the 27-year-old's invention was Dressed Boutique in downtown DeLand.

"I went back to what I knew," Magee said. "Dressed was one of the first stores that popped into my head."

Cam Amici, the former owner of Dressed Boutique, said one of the reasons she was excited about bringing the product the store was because of the Stetson connection.

A national retailer also is working on getting the product into 4,100 stores across the country, Magee hopes by next year.

Dress Downs have been featured on the "Today Show," in the Chicago Tribune and on Buzzfeed.

The garment weights were included alongside Sara Blakely's Spanx, slimming shapewear, in a list of "10 Can't-Live-Without Fashion Fixes That Were Created for (and by) Women" on Brit + Co's website, which focuses on content for creative women.

"To see my name alongside someone like Sara Blakely, that was just like, woah," Magee said.