STYLE Dad's closet can be the source for latest trend in women's wear

Tie becomes playful accessory item in women's fashion.
BALTIMORE SUN
There's something about a woman in a tie that often has set hearts aflutter.
There were Marlene Dietrich's androgynous suits and ties, which conveyed power and rebellion with a hint of domination. And, in the 1970s, there was the endearing Annie Hall, whose ties and mannish attire were part of her appeal.
Recently, however, a different sort of siren in a tie has sprung up in fashion. She's sweet, she's playful and she wears her tie in ways women never have -- knotting it loosely over a tank top, T-shirt or ruffled blouse.
Her neckwear isn't meant to simulate male power or make any feminist statement. Instead, the new woman's tie is simply an accessory.
"It's fashion irreverence, that 'I'm not quite a boy, not yet a woman' thing," said Hollywood stylist Phillip Bloch, whose clients include Halle Berry and Salma Hayek. "It gives you that feeling of dressing up in your dad's clothes. It's taking an old-man classic and turning it on its head."
While young pop divas such as Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch have been most noticeable in flaunting this new fashion statement, celebrities who have tied one on recently include Heather Graham, Gwen Stefani and Raquel Welch. And with designers such as Dolce & amp; Gabbana including neckties in spring 2003 ensembles, the woman's necktie looks set to stick around for some time more.
Anti-Britney
The new tie-on-a-woman trend grew out of an apparent anti-Britney movement led largely by Lavigne, a fresh-faced 18-year-old singer with supermodel looks. With stars such as Spears and Christina Aguilera assailing the world with increasingly risqu & eacute; outfits that flaunted midriffs, legs and derrieres, a new crop of young female singers emerged wanting to assert their sexuality in a different way.
To that end, Lavigne has appeared on MTV and the covers of magazines such as Teen People and YM pairing preppy schoolboy ties with tank tops and blouses.
"Britney and Christina were all about being sexual in a very overt way," said Elizabeth Kiester, fashion director of YM. Lavigne and her cohorts "are expressing their feminine power in a more realistic and more nonthreatening way."
And, with ties, the new pop stars have found they can assert a fresh playfulness.
"It's fun and in your face and flip," said Kiester, who recommended scouring vintage stores or raiding boyfriends' or fathers' closets for ties. "It's very rarely shown with a buttoned-down look. It's more an accessory, like a necklace or a piece of jewelry."
Where it started
Valerie Steele, a fashion historian who is chief curator and acting director of the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, said women began wearing neckties in the late 19th century, when the woman's tailored suit became popular. She said American merchants pioneered the look when they started selling women's ensembles around the 1890s that combined long, tailored skirts, waistcoats, jackets and stiff, collared shirts. The tie, of course, completed the look, which became a favorite with both working and society women.
During World War II, women in ties resurfaced in popular culture with actresses such as Dietrich seen wearing Army uniforms (complete with ties) to entertain the troops. The look didn't return until women began consciously dressing in mannish suits during the feminist movement decades later.
"In the past, it was always a part of a serious look," Steele said. "There was that whole 'dress for success' thing, where, in order for women to be taken seriously, they really had to dress like men, wear a suit and basically the same kinds of accessories, including ties."
Although '80s punk looks led women to wear ties in a less straight fashion, the early '90s saw the resurgence of the masculine power suit, capped with the unironic tie. The new look, of course, has none of this seriousness.
"Nowadays, everybody is so sophisticated, people know the necktie is a phallic symbol," Steele said. "So, there is that element of women wearing ties that's kind of a joke."