WHILE MEN COUNT down to that time in the day when they can writhe free of their ties, women are eagerly donning their boyfriends’ neck accessories.

Call it the cravat craze. In August, at a performance at Central Park’s SummerStage, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon paired a pink mini with a skinny black tie. And in June, up at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Lauryn Hill rocked a tie with an old-school yellow Adidas tracksuit. Even teen-style icon Kelly Osbourne is wearing them. Magazines including Time and Entertainment Weekly breathlessly heralded the new style after spotting young, trendy rockers like Michelle Branch and Avril Lavigne wearing the fashionable nooses. But instead of lazily buying into the two-minute trend, we women do far more than simply tie one on and call it a day.

Sure enough, visit shops around Boston and you’ll find you can stock up on wacky, stylish options that turn ties — and the latest look on TRL — on their heads. Follow the lead of some the ladies who work the floor at Louis Boston — they reportedly frequent the men’s floors, snatch up slightly skinny Dries van Noten ties, and put them together with more femme fare.

Chic Beacon Hill shoe outpost Moxie carries a line of shoes and matching clutches by New York–based boutique Hollywould that are "tie-inspired." The sling-backs ($270) — in either red, black, and blue or pink, brown, and olive — look like they’re constructed from strips of striped satin ties. And the fabric is used for pumps ($250) as well. Matching clutches ($175) complete the ensemble, taking ties from the Financial District to fancy lounges. "It’s a ladylike look," Moxie owner Karen Fabbri says of the successful fall footwear line, "but it’s also so powerful."

Recently spotted at Allston Beat: pinstripe shirts with a tie permanently sewn on ($56). A black shirt is paired with a white tie (can we say the Hives?), and a pinstripe shirt is girled-up with a purple-and-pink-plaid tie.

Over at Hootenanny, girls can stock up on the subversive with skull ties ($9.99–$29.99). "We have short ones, long ones, and square ones," says a store employee named Tai. ("Ironically, yes! My name is Tai!" she gasps.) The store also offers shirts by Lip Service with a vinyl tie attached ($49) that can be adjusted in length with a zipper. Again, the color combos take corporate and turn it casual: a black shirt comes with a red tie; a white shirt comes with a multicolored tie; pinstripe is paired with plaid.

With these numbers, the only presentation you’ll need to make is yourself, in some swank boîte rather than in a boardroom.

Nina Willdorf can be reached at ninawilldorf@earthlink.net

Where to find it:

• Allston Beat, 348 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 421-9555.

• Hootenanny, 36 JFK Street, Cambridge, (617) 864-6623.

• Louis Boston, 234 Berkeley Street, Boston, (617) 262-6100.

• Moxie, 73 Charles Street, Boston, (617) 557-9991.

• http://www.ilovehollywould.com/.