CUSTOMIZATION Tailor a trend to fit your style and figure

More companies are offering affordable and customized designs to consumers.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Individuality is the one thing that never goes out of style.
Whether it's deciding color combinations and a message to grace your candies or customizing your kicks, everyone from M & amp;M's to Target to Nike is offering ways for you to make products uniquely your own, to tailor the hottest trends to fit your personality.
Car dealers have been offering custom designs for years, but now more companies are cashing in on customization, and they're making it much more affordable than it used to be.
Bag your own style
A Chicago-based handbag boutique called 1154 LILL allows customers to design their own purses with more than 20 bag styles and a boutique full of fabrics to mix and match.
The concept was cooked up five years ago by Jennifer Velarde, owner and founder, with the help of good friend Robin Newberry. (LILL has stores in Chicago, Boston and Kansas City, Mo., as well as online at www.1154lill.com.)
When you own a product that you have designed, it's more personal, says Newberry, vice president of LILL. And LILL allows clients to have purse parties, in the boutique or at their homes. So not only is it about a bag you get to design, but also it's an experience that can be shared with friends.
Carrie Trotter had her first LILL experience earlier this year during a visit to Chicago and already has three custom handbags.
"I love it so much because it is truly unique to me that I get to pick every little detail and make a one-of-a-kind bag that is perfectly matched to my style," says Trotter, 25, account manager for Three Wide Marketing in Kansas City.
Trotter says it's the opportunity to be creative and crafty that makes customization popular.
"It's another way to stand out," she said. Trotter also makes her own jewelry and represents Build-A-Bear, a company that lets customers make their own stuffed animals.
Expanded accessibility
One of the more traditional avenues of customized clothing is custom designs. Although most people associate custom fits with people who have deep pockets, the access to custom fit is becoming more widespread.
Last month Target introduced "Target to a T," its online custom clothing (target.com/custom-order/custom.jhtml).
It offers select denim for men and women, as well as men's khakis and dress shirts, starting at $35.
"Fit is really important to our guests, and this gives people the opportunity to create an item of clothing that fits the way they want in the color they want and has the features they want," says Aimee Sands, Target spokeswoman .
If you really want to be fancy, you can have your jeans or your entire wardrobe designed from scratch at Tomboy Design, in Kansas City. Custom denim starts at $100.
People often choose custom designs because of a lack of variety offered by mass markets, says Tomboy owner Laura McGrew.
"There is a demand for unique items and better fits," McGrew says. "If you can customize on an individual basis, your choices are a lot less limited."
To a tee
But the biggest market for personalized clothing is the T-shirt business. From www.funkylala.com and www.zazzle.com to www.customglamgirl.com and www.sparkfashion.com, there are thousands of Web stores that offer custom tees. They allow you to pick everything from the style and color of the shirt, to your own image and words.
Zazzle, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based online boutique, offers 82 shirt styles and has more than 300,000 members. Customers can pick from other people's designs, create their own or choose a Disney character to grace their tee.
And it's affordable. To put your picture on the front of a Zazzle raglan shirt and add a simple phrase costs about $20.
The popularity of custom tees is based on the basic human desire to have your style, background and voice be heard, says Matt Wilsey, director of business development of Zazzle.
Some of the biggest custom-tee consumers are young people, from Ashton Kutcher and Kelly Osbourne to Destiny's Child and Bow Wow.
"Customization is really important for young people today," says Jorge Ramon, fashion director for Teen People.
"Either by cutting the sleeves off of a top, adding buttons or patches or writing a message on a tee ... it's a way to stand out and let the world know their style story.
"In the '80s, punks to preppies customized to fit in," Ramon says. "Today young people do it to be unique and have one-of-a-kind clothes."