Gail Kandel is not a rabid "Real Housewives" fan by any stretch. But she will be glued to her television this season when the hit Bravo series debuts its latest cast from Washington.

Kandel won't be paying that close attention to the expected hair-pulling, romantic drama and cattiness that have become synonymous with the show. She's going to be looking at the clothes — with hopes that she'll spot a couple of pieces from her Pikesville boutique, Vasarri.

This season, the ladies from the Beltway will likely be rocking garments from Kandel's store along with clothes from a number of other Baltimore-area businesses.

Credit Pascale Lemaire, a Silver Spring-based stylist, who has been tasked by the series' producers to style a number of housewives for national ad campaigns and red-carpet events. As a result, several of the housewives, including Stacie Scott Turner, the owner of a real estate practice, and Lynda Erkiletian, the housewife who owns T.H.E. Artist Agency, have hired her as a personal shopper. Lemaire, a former fashion editor for Baltimore Magazine, used a number of contacts she had from her editing days.

For the better part of the year, Lemaire has been pulling clothes in search of different looks for the women of the show. Until recently, many of the business owners and designers did not know that their clothes would be worn by the women because of strict confidentiality agreements for the show, which premieres tonight at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

Lemaire "said she had a really big secret and a really big smile on her face," Kandel recalled a visit by Lemaire to her store in January.

Kandel was used to Lemaire's dropping into her shop looking for garments for clients. The two have worked together for more than a decade.

"She has had some very unique clients," Kandel said. "This might be the most unique client yet. It is a national phenomenon. It's huge. And it's national."

Like Kandel, Manish Singh, owner of the Stevenson-based Victor Rossi designs, was not told by Lemaire where his 16 dresses would end up. He eventually put the pieces together and figured it out.

"I knew they were shooting the show," he said. "I didn't realize that some of the other cast members were going to wear my clothes. It's so exciting."

Lemaire knows that fashion is a major element of the show, which chronicles the lives of a group of socialites in a particular city. The other shows were based in Orange County, Calif., New York City, Atlanta and New Jersey. A sixth installment of the show will be based in Beverly Hills.

"This first season will be telling," Lemaire said. "We'll see what works on camera and what doesn't. It is a challenge. You can't wear anything twice."

Fashion has become its own character on "The Real Housewives" series, according to Sheri Parks, an associate professor of American studies at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"Fashion enhances the character and it becomes its own phenomenon," Parks said. "Without the fashion it wouldn't be so popular. It would just be a bunch of people fighting."

Clothing on reality-based shows such as "The Real Housewives" series tends to be over-the-top, flamboyant and expensive because many of the women on the show use fashion as a gateway to affluence, according to Parks. The "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality trickles down to fans, who want to emulate the look of their favorite characters.

"Usually when you have a group of characters on TV shows, audience members don't identify with everyone. They identify with one," Parks explained. "Adult women will identify with a character and identify with their clothes. That is a phenomena as old as 'Dynasty.' "

Lemaire pulled clothes from a variety of places, including high end stores such as Saks in Chevy Chase, where she did personal shopping for both Scott Turner and Erkiletian; boutiques such as Vasarri; designers such as Victor Rossi; bridal shops such as Betsy Robinson in Pikesville; and unlikely places such as Target.

Vasarri was a natural choice because of its ability to dress a wide range of body types, including clothes for Scott Turner, whom Lemaire describes as the curvier housewife of the D.C. cast.

"They don't have to buy the same way department stores do," Lemaire said, adding that Vasarri tends to have larger sizes for curvier women. "I've always been able to fit real women's bodies there."

Vasarri's owner, Kandel, said it feels good to be recognized.

"I think we do something that is very unique in the fashion world," said Kandel, who has owned her boutique for the past 12 years. "My clothes are for so many different women. They are all rather timeless."

Lemaire knew Singh from his days of designing gowns for pageants.

"It's kind of nice she is being recognized and that she is pulling from places she can count on," said Singh, who estimates that Lemaire used about 16 dresses for the housewives. "She has contacts all over. I really appreciate it."

Housewife Catherine Ommanney has worn dresses from Vasarri and Victor Rossi in ad campaigns.

Lemaire also went to Target on York Road in Timonium and found a $79.99 strapless, multi-colored Zac Posen dress for Erkiletian.

"I'm an equal opportunity fashionista," Lemaire said. "There is something to be said about something great that costs $30."

Lemaire's major challenge was to find clothes that complemented the housewives while making sure their clothes popped on screen.

"Everyone has their own sense of style," she said. "Dressing people like this, you have to know their body shape and how it will look on camera. It is a challenge to balance their personal taste with your own sense of style. You have to let their personal taste shine through while making sure that it works on camera."

Lemaire picked primarily jewel-toned garments so that the women would pop on camera.

"If you have a black dress it can fade," she explained. "The bold colors on TV really grabs our attention."

Lemaire has had almost no contact with Michaele Salahi, the infamous White House crasher housewife.

"She's pretty much been on her own," Lemaire said.

Working with the show has been a hoot for Lemaire, a self-professed "Real Housewives" fanatic.

"I've already got the popcorn ready," she said.

john-john.williams@baltsun.com