Preppy Androgyny?

I have always considered the preppy look ESPECIALLY in the winter to be rather androgynous. In the summer I am constantly in bright colored polos with skirts or dresses but, in the winter with the low temps pants must often be utilized. As I mentioned in my last post (P.S. sorry for the infrequency there for the last week work is crazy and I have not had a full day off since thanksgiving.) I mainly opt for brightly colored cords in the winter months and pair them with button down shirts (collar popped) topped with a cashmere sweater and loafers to round it out. Now let me make it perfectly clear that I am by all accounts a "girly, girly" and lover of men (preppy men to be exact) just so there is no confusion. I will admit though that some mornings the only difference between me and my preppy guy crushes are the colors of sweaters, pants or blazers.

I love boys ties and especially a bow tie! However I have just never had the confidence to sport one ( have to say I still dont think I could). But I have been very interested to see some recent gender bending fashion choices.

I first noticed the lady in bow tie look on the Rugby website. Now I get Ralphs look and I understand that in modeling for a brand like this they style the models to really so as much of the collection as possible. I think this outfit it totally adorable so it brought me a little closer to accepting the look.

Then one night one of the guests on some fax news show was a young lady about 25 and she was wearing a Red tie with a white button down with the tie tucked into her high waisted shirt and a cute pair of horn rimmed glasses. While Hannity was giving her a little grief over it, the look once again peaked my interest in the neckwear for women ensemble.

Then on A Curious Monogram a few weeks back he posted on the androgynous photos on Close Up & Private

  I think these outfits are totally adorable. I am infatuated with whimsical bow ties so I think the last pic is my favorite. The more and more I see this look popping up the more I am intrigued, but also have a few trepidations. So thats when I decided to consult the manual.

If everyone will open their textbooks to page 99 you will see there that we have a prime example of preppy androgyny.

These two are dressed almost exactly alike. This perfectly illustrates my point preppy men and women are both into well made, good quality, stylish and functional clothing that will last a lifetime. So while I dont think a bow tie is in my future I did branch out this week and wear one of my silk scarves styled as an ascot tucked into the neck of my white button down topped by a chocolate herringbone blazer with suede elbow patches and my hunter green jcrew cords with brown leather loafers. I loved the look so right now I think I'll stick with that and we'll see where we go from there.

I still cant get past my love of bow ties so I started to think how girls could use the idea in a more feminine way. I came up with the idea of having the part that goes around a mens neck made larger and wearing it as a belt with dresses. When you just tie a normal bow you dont get that effect but with a bow tie you would so I think it would be so cute with a solid colored strapless dress. Or how about bow ties made into headbands, could be really cute....