It looks like a bib. It ties like a bib. It hangs like a bib.
But bibs are for babies, Michael S. Tanney says. His new company”™s novel product is for adults. DressTiez is for adults who don”™t mind tying on an accessory that functions as a bib even in public places
“Yes, it”™s a stylish bib,” Tanney says of the product his startup company began marketing online as DressTiez about three months ago. Tanney, president and CEO of BB Design and Marketing Inc. in Larchmont, prefers to describe it as “clothing protection.”
“It”™s a stylish, fashionable way to protect your clothes while you”™re eating,” he says. Or while drinking coffee behind the wheel on your morning commute. At the dinner table at home, “I have one sitting right on the chair” and ready for use, he says. Pass the red sauce, please. And the olive oil.
Cleverly designed with a silverware logo that resembles a man”™s stain-vulnerable necktie, his product is meant to be seen and worn in fine dining places. It can be toted around town in a DressTiez pouch.
It can save on one”™s dry cleaning bills for eating and drinking mishaps, Tanney says. It can keep one looking “presentable and appropriate” at business lunches and corporate meetings. “You walk into a meeting with stains, your confidence is shaken,” he says.
“Yes, there is the stigma of wearing something like this,” Tanney concedes. “We want to break that. This really provides a very, very valuable function. I wanted to produce something that is very much needed that has never been done before.”
Tanney is the former owner of Action Computer Systems in Larchmont, a company he started in 1985 as a computer sign business. The business evolved from distributing imported LED signage in the U.S. to developing point-of-sales computer software packages for restaurant and retail stores. Tanney sold Action Computer Systems in 2010 to a public company, but has stayed on as a consultant in the company”™s Palmer Avenue office.
Seeing restaurant clients for his computer business, “I saw people ruin their clothes on a regular basis” with food and beverage stains, Tanney says. But inspiration for his new enterprise came more recently in a conversation with his son, “a Wall Street guy.”
His son had been the victim of a dining spill. “He said, ”˜Dad, I just destroyed my third expensive tie this month,”™” Tanney recalls. “That”™s when it came to me. A lightbulb flashed on.”
That was last April. Tanney spent six months developing and testing a product that could absorb the worst food and beverage stains. The result is a machine-washable polyester garment with a proprietary three-layer material design and Velcro straps for easy tying around the neck.
Made in Manhattan, DressTiez comes in 35 styles. Its various design lines range in price from $30 for a classic, conservative adult bib to $100 for a limited-edition, bright-red clothing protector with 1970s-vintage paisley lining. They can be monogrammed or custom-lettered with gourmand expressions such as “Mangia!” and “Bon Appétit!”
While customers can order online at the company website, dresstiez.com, Tanney says he is exploring more potential markets for his product. He plans to work with restaurants around the county to put their logos on the bibs. “We”™re talking to wine companies right now. We”™re talking to beer companies. This could be a promotional item for any company.” Tanney says he is also talking with two restaurant distribution companies about carrying his product.
“We”™re looking to create a new market that doesn”™t even exist,” he says. “Yes, you”™re going to get those people out there that probably never would wear it.”
Fearful of restaurant spills and ruined clothes, “A lot of people alter their eating habits,” Tanney says. “The simple addition of DressTiez and you”™ve protected yourself. So we are hoping to start a trend ”“ and we”™re also having a lot of fun doing it.”
“I am having a blast. I believe I”™m providing a valuable service to people. Some may not know it yet.”
I will be interested in seeing how this bib is accepted by a broader market. For me, I probably wouldn’t wear one, unless I began drooling a lot.