Actress Is at Home in Mi Place : Deidre Hall of ‘Days of Our Lives’ and other Hollywood clientele avoid the beaten Los Angeles path to shop at the Laguna Niguel boutique.

When actress Deidre Hall returned to the set of “Days of Our Lives” this summer after a long hiatus, one of her first worries was finding something to wear.

The script called for her character, Dr. Marlena Evans, to drag herself out of a drug-induced stupor, steal an outfit from a suitcase and flee from her captors to the safety of Salem.

“It had to be something I could travel in and escape in,” Hall says. She also had to like it--her character would be stuck wearing the same clothes for a couple of weeks.

To solve the problem, Hall’s fashion consultant, Marydell Barkouras, turned not to a trendy clothing boutique in Los Angeles but to Mi Place in Laguna Niguel, a favorite shopping destination of Hall’s. When viewers saw Marlena resurrected, she was wearing a casual rose-colored pantsuit from Mi Place with black and cream detailing on the jacket.

Mi Place is a small boutique that attracts big stars and prominent Orange County residents. Barkouras often uses the store to dress her Hollywood clientele, including actress Meredith MacRae, a veteran of “My Three Sons” and “Petticoat Junction,” and Mary Hart of “Entertainment Tonight,” who shops at Mi Place for her personal wardrobe.

“It works well for the people in the movie industry,” Barkouras says. “The variety is there. The clothes are very young and zippy, and not necessarily subdued.”

Mary Rubenstein, who co-owns Mi Place with her sister-in-law Iris Tons, even keeps a “star file” of famous customers.

Hall began shopping at Mi Place five years ago.

“Marydell called me one day and said, ‘I discovered the most extraordinary boutique,’ ” she recalls.

Soon after Barkouras began taking Hall to Mi Place, the actress was named best-dressed woman of the year by Star Magazine for two years running. One reason Hall has distinguished herself from the Hollywood pack is Mi Place’s cutting-edge clothes.

“Mary Rubenstein gets designers who are just about to blossom,” Hall says. That’s an advantage when competing against other actresses who also work with fashion consultants and shop at upscale boutiques in Los Angeles.

“By shopping at Mi Place I’m able to stand out in a crowd,” Hall says. “It’s a little off the beaten path.” Other actresses on “Days” often ask where she buys her clothes.

“They’ll say, ‘You know that pink fuzzy thing you wore the other day? Can you get me one of those?’ These are things they’ve never seen before. It’s a fashion show for them.”

It’s also a fashion show for the soap’s viewers. Most of the clothes Hall wears on the set and her personal wardrobe come from the shop. When the credits roll on Days, Mi Place is listed under wardrobe.

“We get a lot of people who’ve seen the show and want to see the place where Deidre shops,” Rubenstein says.

Barkouras chooses most of Hall’s clothes, but Hall accompanies her to Mi Place about twice a month to shop.

Rubenstein and her staff help clients put together outfits from head to toe.

“I have zero sense of fashion,” Hall says. “I would be stuck with one narrow look if it was left to me.”

For instance, the actress was skeptical when Barkouras pulled out a black double-breasted jacket and pants for her to try; she seldom wears black. Then she tried on the pantsuit and added bold silver jewelry. It turned out to be a favorite outfit.

Mi Place’s staff has a close camaraderie with its customers.

On a recent visit, Hall brings in three bags of popcorn from a nearby movie theater to share while she tries on clothes. She’s wearing purple denim jeans and a matching jacket with double orange zippers down the front and orange and turquoise fabric insets on the shoulder by Opal, a denim line from Texas.

“Let’s play,” says Hall, diving into a rack of pink bomber jackets.

She tries on a cherry red wool Jimmy Gamba gabardine dress with gold buttons adorning a front panel and a high mandarin collar. She’s planning to wear the dress for an upcoming commercial.

“It’s one of our options,” she says. “It may be too high style for them.”

Rubenstein tries to find designers just as their star is rising. She’s a longtime fan of Michael Kors and Gamba, an architect-turned-designer who’s known for clothes with a tailored, almost sculptured look.

“We’re constantly looking for new things,” she says.

Rubenstein and Tons opened the first Mi Place in Fullerton in 1975, then two years later added the Laguna Niguel store.

“We were trying to bring a little Beverly Hills to Orange County,” Rubenstein says. “Our timing was good. Overnight, we were very busy.”

The shop offers everything to complete an outfit. There are handbags for day or evening, a small selection of shoes that can be dyed to match any outfit and colorful belts, some in suede with gold embroidery or medallions.

One of Hall’s favorite features: Glass cases filled with big earrings organized by color. One pair has four dice-sized cubes covered in red rhinestones that swing from each earlobe, another has a cluster of tiny keys that dangle from gold hearts with keyholes.

“Smaller earrings just get lost,” Rubenstein says.

Her customers like bold accessories, bright colors and fitted clothing.

“We try to bring whatever’s new from Paris and New York.”

Mi Place’s inventory changes all of the time. For fall the store has a large showing of suits in bright colors, including vivid purples, greens and yellows. One colorful suit features a lime-colored tweed jacket with purple wool trim and big rhinestone buttons along wide purple cuffs for $1,080.

A popular look with customers is Lyn Kohl’s slim skirts with black battenberg lace around the hem and a long jacket that crosses over in front and fastens with a single rhinestone button, for $1,012.

“Customers trust my taste,” Rubenstein says. Hall has been known to call and say: “I’m going to England for Christmas and I need this. . . ,” and Mi Place will organize a travel wardrobe for the actress.

“This has become a home for us,” Hall says.