Adele Simpson began her career working for several prominent 7th Ave ready-to-wear fashion houses in New York City. In 1942 she went to work at Mary Lee, where she worked under her own name by 1944. In 1949 she bought the fashion house and renamed it Adele Simpson, Inc. Known throughout the 1970s and 1980s for her wearable chemise dresses and shirtwaist, her husband, Wesley Simpson, was a textile executive who designed many of the fabrics she used in her collections. She dressed several first ladies throughout her career, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Barbara Bush, and her line was sold at Saks 5th Ave as well as other prominent department stores in the US.