Charles gave me a gift card to DSW for Christmas, so after my trip to Barnes and Noble, I headed in that direction. I hit three chain clothing stores on the way, and the nicest long-sleeved shirt I could find was a hoodie. (Really? It’s 2011, and the uniform of America’s youth is a hoodie?)

In case you’ve never been to one, DSW is a monster-sized shoe warehouse. Usually I head straight for the back to the clearance section, but this time I was armed with a generous gift card. I started up and down the aisles of full-priced shoes. As I glanced over hundreds of pairs, I kept thinking how there should be a place like Build-a-Bear Workshop for grown-ups. Instead it would be called Build-a-Shoe. You could pick out a template for the style and design of the shoe you wanted, then you could pick out the material you wanted. When they had your choices, they could sew up your shoes right there to custom fit your feet.

I couldn’t stop thinking about this idea because I had a picture in my mind of what I was looking for, and I couldn’t find anything in all those aisles that even came close to what I wanted. There were pretty shoes and comfortable-looking shoes, and even trendy little shoes that cost hundreds of dollars and wouldn’t go with one outfit in my closet. I also noticed a trend toward round-toed flats, which doesn’t work well at all with my child-sized feet and short legs.

I finally ended up in the clearance section anyway, where I was pleasantly surprised to find lots of shoes I wanted to try on. (I’d only tried on two other pairs in the rest of the store, and I didn’t like either.) I ended up with a pair of boots and two sets of cute pumps, all for under a hundred dollars. I was thrilled with my purchases, but it occurred to me that my experience might say something about my personal style — I’m at least a season or two behind. Maybe that’s why I’m not down with the hoodies. Ask me again next fall and I might be all over them.

Music for today: Have to say Tokyo Police Club, who we saw last night. Great show! See them live if you get a chance before they blow up and start selling out arenas.