The Perfect Party Dress Can Be Two Good : Outfits: A sense of humor will help ease the situation for guests in identical ensembles.

At a recent holiday luncheon staged by the Fashionables, a fund-raising group for Chapman University, event chairwoman Mary Dell Barkouras was standing in front of the Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach greeting guests when she did a double take.

Coming up the red carpet was Lois Aldrin, wife of astronaut and moon walker Buzz Aldrin, wearing a gold brocade knit suit by St. John identical to the one worn by Barkouras.

“Oh, my God,” Barkouras said, laughing when she spotted Aldrin. The twins embraced.

Party-goers who see double at this year’s round of New Year’s galas aren’t necessarily the victims of too much champagne. In an age of mass-produced merchandise and copycat looks, it’s not uncommon for two (or more) party guests to show up wearing identical outfits.

“This is not as bad as the time I went to a party in the desert and there were five of us in the same Bob Mackie dress,” Aldrin said. The dress was a flesh-colored sheath covered in white rhinestones. Aldrin posed for a picture with the quintuplets.

“It’s the only time I’ve had my picture in the Enquirer,” she said.

At another gala, she sat at a table with a man and his soon-to-be ex-wife and the woman who would become his wife. The women’s taste in men proved to be the same as their taste in clothes--both were wearing identical gowns.

Even Hillary Rodham Clinton, who as First Lady has access to one-of-a-kind designer outfits others can only dream about, found herself in the middle of a fashion fiasco on a recent trip to the Mideast. Clinton and the wives of the Israeli prime minister and Jordanian king all sported similar pale-blue business suits. The matching ensembles “made them look like the Andrews Sisters on tour,” quipped columnist Erma Bombeck.

For her part, Barkouras said she wasn’t surprised to see someone else wearing the same outfit to the Fashionables gala. When a well-known line like St. John came out with a great-looking outfit that reminded people of Christmas, she knew she wouldn’t be the only one to pick up on it for a big holiday party, she said.

“If you wear something purchased recently, there’s no way you won’t see it,” said Barkouras, a Newport Beach fashion consultant. “If you don’t wear something old from your closet or something you have made, it’s going to happen. There are too many people buying from the same inventories.”

Aside from keeping as much distance as possible between you and your look-alike, there’s nothing you can do when you see your twin at a party, she said. “You just get a big kick out of it and move on.”

The worst thing for twins to do is to be miserable and hide. Rather, they should follow Aldrin’s example. She takes it as a compliment.

“No. 1, I’m flattered. I figure I’m in good company,” said Aldrin, a Laguna Beach resident. “It should give you more confidence, not less. You can either be miserable or have fun with it.”

Humor is the best way to defuse the potentially embarrassing scenario.

At a recent benefit for the Food Distribution Center of Orange County staged by the Harvesters, co-chairwoman Jennifer Van Bergh spotted a woman wearing the identical black St. John suit.

“Can you go home, please?” she asked. “You’re the third woman with this dress on.”

When it comes to dressing alike, men are luckier than women. Men are expected to look alike, in their nearly identical black tuxedos. Yet those accompanying a woman who encounters her twin can feel the same discomfort as the fashion victims.

“Men aren’t as easy about it as the ladies. They don’t think it’s as funny, although that’s the only way you can handle it,” says Mary Lou Hornsby, a Newport Beach resident. Hornsby’s involvement in charities, including her role as president of the Fashionables, makes her a frequent guest at Orange County galas.

While women may laugh about it, they will still do their utmost to avoid seeing their likeness. Among the precautions they can take: Buying clothes from stores that keep track of who’s wearing what to which party.

Neiman Marcus in Fashion Island Newport Beach keeps a log that tells shoppers which gowns have been bought for an event.

“We keep track because nobody wants to walk in wearing the same dress,” says Dana Rosenberg, spokeswoman for Neiman Marcus. Customers intent on having a one-of-a-kind outfit often order it directly from the designer at trunk shows, she says. That way they can choose a different color or change a detail that gives an outfit a new look.

Computers have helped stores keep track of where their merchandise will be worn. La Galleria in Tustin uses computerized purchase histories that show whether someone else bought the same outfit for the same event.

“We try to steer customers away from things other people have bought who are going to the same event,” said Russ Casenhiser, co-owner of La Galleria. “Where we run into trouble is when someone buys something and they don’t tell us where they’re going to wear it.”

The system also fails if another store is carrying the same outfit. La Galleria tries to carry as many items exclusive to Orange County as possible, but they’re usually more expensive, Casenhiser says.

“Lower-priced items are more likely to be seen in other stores. As you go down in price, you have less ability to say it’s exclusive. Exclusivity is expensive.”

Even if people can’t afford an exclusive garment, they can still make their outfit look unique by adding accessories, Barkouras says. Scarves, belts, hats and jackets can make the same outfit look unrecognizable on two people.

Finally, if you do see yourself coming and going, remember what Aldrin says: “Are clothes really worth getting upset over?”