Magee sits almost exactly halfway between Jackson and Hattiesburg — about 44 miles up US 49 to one and roughly 47 miles down to the other, near an hour either direction. That geography is the whole argument for this store. If you live in Simpson County and want to try gowns on rather than order them blind, Lela’s is the option that does not cost you a two-hour round trip and a tank of gas.
The address, 172 Simpson Highway 149, is on one of the old alignments of US 49 that Mississippi re-designated as MS 149 after the four-lane went in. Locally that same road runs on toward Mendenhall, the county seat, which puts the shop on the road between the two towns that supply most of its customers.
Prom is only half of what the store does
The other half is pageant, and not only teen pageant. Alongside prom and cocktail dresses, the shop stocks kids’ pageant gowns and a separate kids’ formal category broken out by interview, fun fashion and cocktail — the actual competition categories a child works through in a day, not a generic “flower girl” rack. A store that carries fun fashion for a size 4 is a store whose customers compete regularly. When the Magee Chamber held the ribbon cutting here in May 2023, MageeNews described the shop as running from little girls’ size 2 through women’s 20; the website now keeps a separate curvy category as well.
The four brands whose own retailer locators list this store are:
- Alyce Paris
- Ava Presley
- Jessica Angel
- Johnathan Kayne
On the shop’s own site, prom and homecoming gowns are mostly listed between about $280 and $500, with picked-over homecoming styles marked down to $99–$149. Afterpay is one of the accepted payment methods, which matters when a gown, shoes and alterations land in the same month as pageant entry fees.
Who shops here
The near trade area is small and easy to name. Magee High School enrolls a little over 400 students in grades 9–12; Mendenhall High, eight miles up 149, is larger at around 530 in 7–12; Simpson County Academy in Mendenhall runs PK–12 with roughly 540 students; Simpson Central in Pinola feeds in from K–8. Simpson County as a whole is about 26,000 people. Those are the numbers behind a single formalwear store: not a big market, which is why one shop can reasonably carry prom, pageant, kids and social occasion under one roof instead of specializing.
Because prom, pageant and homecoming seasons here do not overlap neatly, stock and hours both shift through the year. The store publishes summer hours of Tuesday–Friday 10–5 and Saturday 11–3, closed Sunday and Monday, but its social pages have listed shorter afternoon-only hours in other stretches, and dress-return deadlines for rented kids’ gowns get posted there too. Call (601) 439-7008 before you drive in from Mize, Mount Olive or Puckett rather than trusting any one listing.
The business predates the Magee storefront. At the 2023 ribbon cutting it was reported to have been operating for five years already, so the shop is newer to this address than it is to the work.