By Gwenn Friss
STAFF WRITER
December 14, 2007

When they were kids, sisters Keri and Brianne Barrett loved to design outfits for Barbie to wear on her many dates with Ken.

When they decided to go into business, it was a natural for them to open a women's boutique called First Date.

"Everyone is always asking the question 'What do I wear on a first date?' We thought it would be fun to divide the store into sections based on what kind of date, so we have 'Just Cocktails,' 'Sunday Stroll,' 'Rent A Movie' and 'Soiree,'" Keri Barrett, 23, says in a telephone interview from her Andover store.

While Keri and Brianne, 27, appear to be the first in the state to package the idea of first-date outfits, it's something retailers on the Cape and Islands encounter all the time.

"It's a very exciting time — a little nerve-wracking — but I think for that reason you want to get something you don't have to fuss with," says Kathy Condon, owner of Real Bodies in Falmouth.

Because her store caters to women in their 30s and older, Condon sees a lot of women who are stepping back into the dating scene after divorce. The store offers them brightly colored, batik fabrics that Condon designs to drape the feminine form.

"We have a lot of great scarves and shawls. I think a shawl is a wonderful way to meet someone (on a first date). It's very feminine, it gives you something to do with your hands, it accentuates the positive and covers up anything you may have to cover up and — if you get there and it's too fancy — you can take it off," Condon says.

Taking it off — or, rather, not putting it on — is a hotly debated point in the world of first dating. As TV heroine Carrie Bradshaw might have written on "Sex and the City," when it comes to first dates, how much skin is in?

Condon advises against showing a lot of skin, but Keri Barrett, whose store caters to women 15 to 50, suggests limiting exposure to one end of your body. "Don't expose your shoulders if you're wearing a short skirt," she says.

If you turn to the Internet for advice on how to dress on a first date, you'll spend hours, maybe days, scouring through sites such as askmen.com and ehow.com. The advice is often conflicting, but there are some gems, like this from askmen.com: "Make sure to have nice footwear, because women will generally look at your shoes as a first judgment tool."

Guys get a short shrift on first-date clothing. (Admit it, girls. Ken could have worn his surfer shorts to a presidential dinner as long as Barbie looked smashing.)

When we asked Tarni Fondren, fourth-generation co-owner of Brickman's in Vineyard Haven, about first-date clothes, she was, at first, nonplussed.

"You know, we only have 14,000 people. There's not a lot of first dating," she says.

Fondren, whose store has been in the family for 90 years, says, "People are so Vineyard casual they don't get dressed up. When (President) Clinton first started coming, we could pick out the Secret Service people because they all wore sport coats. After a couple of visits, they switched to colorful shirts to try to blend in more."

Fondren recalls that she was wearing something formal when she had her first date with her husband of eight years at a fundraiser on Boston's Rowe Wharf. But the Boston clothes were tossed when she left the mainland, and date night now for her is black slacks and a nice sweater.

Island guys, she says, might buy a new shirt for a first date to pair with their old jeans or chinos. One caveat: It may be a polo or an oxford, but it should be a high-quality version of those common styles, Fondren says. Thread count and fine tailoring show in the most ordinary of garments.

And speaking of garments, the first-date outfit starts with undergarments. Patricia Hurley of littlepinkdress.com, offers this advice for women: "Unless you have very specific intentions, I wouldn't recommend fishnets or garter belts. On the other hnd, you don't want to wear Bridget Jones' granny pants either."

For guys, her advice is short and sweet: "No tighty whities and no commando. Stick with boxers."

So here's the First Date checklist: good foundation, clothes you can move comfortably in, accessories that add color and flash, a jacket and comfortable shoes in case the date extends to a walk on the beach and, most of all, a level of comfort so it's you — not your clothes — doing the talking on the big day.

Gwenn Friss can be reached at gfriss@capecodonline.com.