Satisfied Customizers
Shoppers want to design their own stuff, and businesses are happy to oblige
Toys. Browsing the shelves of the Build-a-Bear Workshop in Tysons Corner, Va., 10-year-old Nika Montgomery is proof that kids like to customize, too. Her goal was to find the perfect shoes for a cuddly pet she created at the booming chain store, which lets customers "pawsonalize" a stuffed animal by working through steps, including picking out a heart and deciding how much fluff should go inside. "I really like when you stuff it yourself," Nika says. The new Lego Factory designer (at lego.com ) lets customers build an online 3D model with any kind of bricks in the Lego line. They can share their creations, like "Bat With Snake," featuring a hungry bat, which uses 243 pieces that anyone can buy online for about $35. A toy can know not just your child's name but also what the little one needs to know with My Own Learning Leap from LeapFrog ($35, leapfrog.com ). The speaking plush frog will insert your child's name into its messages and the educational game cartridges. For kids of all ages, there's the sentimental line of Candyland-like board games from Gamesake ($30, gamesake.com ). For birthdays, weddings, or Christmas, your family and friends write memories and directions on the cards (like "Johnny lost Judy's number after they first met at the library, sulk back three") and then it's in the game forever (bar and bat mitzvah and reunion versions are coming).
Bags. Your taste is in the bag. Custom Boat and Tote Bags at L.L. Bean (from $27, llbean.com ) let you choose hues and strap length. The Custom Super Deluxe Book Pack ($65) and Custom Heatwave Messenger Bag ($64) also let you pick a color for various panels and make decisions about reflective stripes, zipper pulls, and mesh pockets. Illuminex technology sets you back an additional 10 bucks. The Custom Messenger Bag from Timbuk2 (from $70, tim buk2.com ) offers two fabric choices, 16 color options for each of the three panels, and add-ons like a phone holster ($15). Timbuk2's newest product, the Artist's Canvas Bag ($90), requires its owner to work for that personal look. The middle panel of untreated canvas is ready for paints, stencils, and other creative endeavors.
Clothes. Brooks Brothers will whip up a custom sports jacket for about $1,000. Less tony clothing vendors have turned to Archetype Solutions, a firm that promises to deliver incredible fits, generally for under $100 an item. (Sadly, they're not doing sports jackets yet.) Target to a T (target.com) does chinos, women's jeans, and men's shirts, J. C. Penney Custom (jcpenney.com) offers twill pants and men's shirts, and Lands' End Custom (landsend.com) has blouses, jeans, chinos, and winter jackets. The website asks you a litany of questions from straightforward (inseam measurement) to potentially embarrassing (butt shape). Then the program figures out what alterations need to be made to create the ideal garment. Our skeptical tester, whose flat posterior makes pants shopping a challenge, ordered a pair of custom jeans from Lands' End. The result? A perfect fit, at a price ($54) comparable to a pair of ill-fitting jeans she'd purchased at the Gap.
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