Not the underworld

“People come in here and they realize that this is just fun. It’s not scary, it’s not dark, it’s not the underworld,” dominatrix Miss Ann said of her Reformatory Boutique, discreetly located in the Chatham Center, 901 N. East St.

Reformatory Boutique

Leather and rubber bit gags, paddles in exotic woods, vintage lingerie, fur-lined leather ankle and wrist cuffs, canes in all colors and vintage bondage magazines line the blood-red walls.

“It’s healthy to express what’s in our psyches,” the 6-foot blonde explained. “It’s unhealthy to repress it and if we repress this our whole lives we will never self-actualize. And the point of being alive is being self-actualized.”

An 8-foot-tall steel birdcage outfitted with chains, black leather cuffs and rope stands next to the assortment of floggers, brightly colored bunny fur to brown suede.

“I’m selling a different path to intimacy,” Miss Ann affirmed, adding that nothing specifically in her shop was for sex.

A large wood and steel cross with cuffs and chains attached (a St. Andrew’s cross, Miss Ann clarifies) and a round, red upholstered, eight-wheeled contraption with eyebolts around the periphery are openly displayed.

“As a pro dom I work with people one-on-one. While that can be rewarding, there are so many people that want to talk with me that are afraid. They think that they are the only person in the world that feels this way and they’re not,” she declared. “All of those people cannot afford $450 for a session with a pro dom to express who they are, so with the shop … this is a public place where anybody can walk in and connect with others who feel the way they do.”

In addition to $100 an hour cage sessions, and $94.99 latex form-fitting dresses, free classes are currently being led by Miss Ann. All classes meet Wednesdays at 7 p.m. sharp and reservations are required. Classes include “Chain Maile Wear” and “Flogging a Go-Go.” Miss Ann asserted, “The classes will be run to the letter of the law.”

Local artist Gwynneth Hermann’s Agent Provocateur photography exhibition currently lines the Reformatory’s walls. The work melds well with the space and as Hermann’s artist statement reads, “Uncovers the beauty in human sexuality and eroticism.”

The Reformatory Boutique Grand Opening party will be held Sunday, May 8 from 6-9 p.m. Champagne, caviar and chocolate will be served; Lunar Event at 7 p.m.; Tripping Chain at 8 p.m. Attire is up to you.

For more info, visit www.thereformatory.com or call 317-638-KINK.