Mrs. Jones Boudoir brings a woman's touch to fashion
By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers SILK AND LACE- Joelle Saxon, owner of Mrs. Jones Boudoir, displays one of the lingerie items available at the boutique she opened in May in Old Town. Saxon, a native of Paris, has brought a number of handmade and international designs to the store.

The interior design of Joelle Saxon's recently opened store is much like the lingerie she sells- feminine, intimate and presented with a soupçon of her native Paris.

With its leopard skin carpet, pink ceilings and chandeliers, Mrs. Jones Boudoir on Ventura Boulevard in Old Town offers an extensive selection of lingerie, underwear and bras that Saxon said will fit any body type and budget.

Saxon, a Camarillo resident, said her business has been doing very well since she opened the 1,000squarefoot storefront boutique in May.

The former owner of one of Encino's largest day spas, Saxon said she opened Mrs. Jones Boudoir to bring both elegant and properly-fitting lingerie to Ventura County.

"The great concern in America is to keep the lingerie hidden," Saxon said of her brightly colored and intricately designed collection. "This is not the concern of everywhere else in the world."

The store sells lingerie from French designers Chantal Thomass, Aubade and Fifi Chachnil, as well as Janet Rager and Myla, who Saxon called the "London queens" of lingerie.

"Everything is silk. It's handmade, it's hand finished," Saxon said of the intimate apparel. "The femininity of it is just exquisite."

Saxon said, however, that her store also carries a wide variety of less expensive lingerie, including American designers Hanky Panky and Betsey Johnson.

"Not everybody is going to buy a Mercedes," Saxon said. "We offer very high-end, middle of the road and we also have very reasonable."

Although Mrs. Jones Boudoir features a bridal and men's section, as well as beauty accessories for the bathroom and bedroom, Saxon said the store carries a larger selection of bras than a department store.

Saxon said many women have a hard time finding the right bra and often settle for function over form or vice versa.

"The right bra takes 10 years and 10 pounds off of you," she said.

The store prides itself on finding the right fit for every body type, and Saxon said that when most women leave her store, they carry themselves differently.

"There is a perkiness in her silhouette and in her eyes because all of a sudden she feels womanly again," Saxon said.

A graduate of the Sorbonne with a master's degree in English and the California Graduate Institute with a master's degree in psychology, Saxon said she opened the boutique because she not only wanted to help "women get the right fit and make the most of the body," but because she also wanted to help demystify the world of lingerie for men.

To do that, Saxon hosts men's nights, during which she invites only men to visit the boutique, where she can answer their questions in an intimate setting while they shop.

"A lot of men feel gauche and uncomfortable coming into a women's lingerie store," Saxon said. "Having realized that, we've created men's night before the holidays and before Valentine's Day."

The store also hosts couples' nights, bridal showers and private parties.

When describing what she enjoys most about her work, Saxon said she finds enormous satisfaction in making people feel good about their bodies and the way they look. She said much of what she does is to bring femininity back into the lives of the women who come to her store.

"The one thing all women have that you can't take away from us is our femininity," Saxon said. "It's the thing men love the most about women."

Mrs. Jones Boudair at 2068 Ventura Blvd. is open Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please call (805) 484-9800.