GAP: Born to Fit Party!

I was born to do anything but fit.

I've written about it here enough times that I should have neck problems from all my navel-gazing. But my problem wasn't just fitting in with people. It was fitting in clothes.

How do you buy for a six year old with hips? An eight year old who needs a bra?

Early onset puberty made clothes shopping was a nightmare. My body, which had I wanted to use to climb trees and run bases and shoot baskets, became a source of shame and embarrassment. I donned armor in the guise of sweatpants. The weigh piled on and it became something else to worry about. Something else to be ashamed over.

In my late 20s I decided to stop measuring time and happiness by a number on the scale. I'm not always successful, and when I was asked to be a GAP brand ambassador, I was a little nervous. I love clothes, but I hate shopping. Even at 50 pounds lighter each time I step foot in a dressing room I have to remind myself that just because something doesn't look good doesn't make me terrible human being.

With puppies being kicked and wildfires raging out of control and children who don't have access to clean drinking water or health care, my tears in a dressing room are a first-world non-problem. People should be so lucky.

Flash forward and I have the opportunity to invite my blogger friends to a "Born to Fit" party at the GAP pop-up store in Beverly Hills on Robertson.  

The one promise I made to myself is that no one was going to complain that they were fat. No one was going to cry in a dressing room. Even though we were all different shapes and sizes, everyone would go home feeling beautiful. We'd all be born to fit.

Hosting a party is making everyone fall in love with you for thirty seconds at a time, then introducing them to other people and making them fall in love with each other.

At the GAP party, it was mini-matchmaking sans pants.

Everyone went home with a pair of jeans that made them feel like a million bucks.

 

Modeling the "Long and Lean."
Photo by Janet Barnett.

Photos from the party can be found here. Thanks to Kae of Are You Ready to Rock? and Janet Barnett of Barnett Lifestyles Photography for their photos. You can read more accounts of the party by Kae and Julia.

Did you get this far? Good, because I've got a GIFT CERTIFICATE for FREE PAIR GAP JEANS! You can enter THREE times.

1. Leave a comment telling me about your CURRENT favorite pair of jeans.
2. Write a story on your blog about your PAST favorite pair of jeans and leave a link to the blog post in the comments. This MUST be different than the above. I will check!
3. Tweet this contest and leave a comment with a link to your tweet.

You can do ANY ONE of the three. But you MUST leave it in the comments here, or else I won't be able to put you in the drawing. You have until Friday, September 4th at NOON PST.