Gone Style: Family Jeans (Sponsored)

One of my earliest childhood memories involves a puddle, purple rain boots and a pair of denim overalls with a flower on the front pocket. It was the first item of clothing I could put on myself, untwisting the straps and hooking them to the buttons before proudly standing before the mirror. There I was, a bonafide big kid ready to take on the balmy summer afternoon, pockets full of the plastic zoo animals I took with me everywhere.

Fast forward to now, twenty some odd summers later… I’ve outgrown the overalls by a mile but I’m still kicking around in denim and so, not surprisingly are my kids.
Archer brilliantly pairs his favorite grey jeans with yellow shades, coincidentally coordinating with the “Travel Town” balance beam. Well played.
Fable strikes a pose in her denim jacket, drop-waist dress and handmade bow.
In my favorite skinny dark-denim jeans and denim wedge shoes.
Vest belonged to my grandfather.
Shirt = thrifted.

I tend to (try to?) dress for comfort and style. Same goes for my kids who must at all times be comfortable for daily adventuring, collecting moments and playing games, running down sidewalks, digging in the sand… For us that means jeans, mixing and matching denim pieces with cotton dresses, tees and sandals for summer.

Archer’s at the age where he picks his own clothes but Fable, for the time being, is still my baby and I omgso completely enjoy picking her little outfits in the morning. Layering thrifted pieces with new items, hand-me-downs with homemade gifts.

I think a lot about Archer and Fable and what they will remember. And I wonder if, much like I can remember the feel of the suspender buttons on my flowered denim overalls, they will hold the same kinds of memories. Of the lovingly worn jeans with the hole in the knee…
…The denim jumper that started as an infant dress but over the months became a shirt:
… The jacket she wore to the family picnic on the fourth of July:
And if for whatever reason they don’t, I will.

And if I happen to forget, my mind cloudy with a chance time-blurred memories? I’ll have thousands (literally, thousands) of pictures to remind us all.

GGC

This post was sponsored by the lovely people at Gap. Thank you, Gap! (ED: All items of clothing, including denim pieces were purchased and styled by GGC and fam.) For more on Gap's new denim line including stylespiration for the whole fam, check out Gap's uber- fab 1969 style stream. Enjoy!

29 comments:

Aurora | 9:00 AM

Beautiful - words & clothes! You should do a how-to post for the navigating of thrift stores. You always look fab, but I get overwhelmed when I walk in the door!

GIRL'S GONE CHILD | 9:05 AM

Will absolutely be doing a thrift-post. Or several! I'm on a bit of a thrift-binge right now and think if everyone knew how to ransack thrift racks, we'd all be doing it. (And I'm like you, I totally get overwhelmed but it's SO satisfying to find something lovely for $3. Just gotta push through the "omgwtf" of it all.) xo.

Polly | 9:08 AM

love love love your amazing kids' style. in spir ation

avb | 11:43 AM

Cute genes (and jeans)!

wonderchris | 11:52 AM

Denim ROCKS - and your family knows how to ROCK IT!!!

Marie-Ève | 12:06 PM

You've been a kids-fashion inspiration for me for... two and half years? My son has long outgrown the clothes I picked while you took us shopping on Larchmont when you were six months pregnant with Fable, but I still have fond memories from it. Now, I'm pregnant with my second, and... it's a girl. Do you know the first thing I did when we found out for sure last week (at six and a half months)? I sent my mom your post on Fable's little handmade dresses, so she can be inspired to do something similar.
Therefore, thank you.

P.S. I was totally planning to buy my daughter the little GAP 1969 jeans jacket.

mommymae | 1:39 PM

my little miss has been picking out her own clothes for months! and she usually goes for her big brother's stuff, not her closet-full of hand-me-downs from the twins. it's killing me, but what can i do? of the few items of hers that she loves & still asks for on a daily basis are her jeans. of course, we live in the desert, so it gets pretty hot, but she doesn't seem to mind.

Shauna (Fido and Wino) | 2:04 PM

Those are some fabulous wedges you're wearing!

Shilo | 5:05 PM

That first photo of your daughter with the jean jacket and tutu just made my ovaries crawl out and punch me in the face!

Holy shit dude, that level of cute is NOT OK.

Joking aside, your children are gorgeous, but obviously you know this already. :)

Anonymous | 5:36 PM

Seriously? Sponsored by the Gap?! Did I read the fine print correctly? I am in shock. Disappointed. Let me check that again.

GIRL'S GONE CHILD | 8:29 PM

So sorry you're disappointed, Anon. I don't know if you noticed but this entire blog is sponsored. So are the videos I do with Momversation. I run ads here and have done so for many years now. This blog is how I make my living. So sorry to disappoint you but so long as this blog is free for you to read, money must come from advertisements and sponsorships from companies I would support anyway.

(ED: I am very selective when it comes to what advertisers and sponsors I work with. I reject close to half of what I receive because they are companies I would never support, eat at, purchase from, etc. Gap is somewhere I regularly shop at for my family and have always supported as a brand. And I will continue to do so regardless of sponsorship opportunities.)

Again, apologies to disappoint but this blog is more than a labor of love. It's a labor of job. x.

cole | 8:55 PM

Style and good looks? Your kids truly are lucky!

And might I add, Mirena/stress/whateves has not stopped your hair from looking gorgeous. May I request a Gone Style how to so I can copy your waves?

momcents | 10:37 PM

I love denim but unfortunately both my husband and son hate it. Something about it that they just find too restricting. Oh well, more denim for me!

Also, I just started thrifting again after an almost ten year hiatus. It's part art, part science, that's for sure.

Deidre | 1:10 AM

You three look great!

I don't own a single pair of jeans. I've never liked them.

Anonymous | 3:38 AM

agree with anon 1, began reading and was like "why does this sound like a commercial?"...oh, because it was. i don't know of any blogs you have to pay to read. we all realize your blog is your job and where the buckaroos are coming from- sponsors (aka-companies, like the gap). howevs, i'm used to ads on the side or even in front of wonderful stories and amazing writing. not so much ads that are not-so-cleverly written to look like a personal story. i'm not trying to attack your choice, it's obviously your space, your dough and your family. only wanted to give you feedback that your writing sounded so different and even forced. the whole thing just seemed to betray your style more than highlight it. -jackie o'connell

AbraCat | 7:52 AM

Damn, wish I could rock the skinny jeans and wedge heels look, but I can't wear heels because I have terrible knees, and let's not even think about my hips in skinny jeans!

piper | 12:51 PM

sweet post. and how about Gap's American in Paris line? oh yeah!

Anonymous | 6:04 PM

Anon1 back to say I agree with Anon2.

It's not that I don't appreciate that your blog is your living. That is your choice. A fine choice. I recall well the day that Heather A. added ads and all the fallout from that initial venture into paid blogging. The biggest problem was mostly the jarring layout and how the readers were taken aback by the change in layout and ads without warning. It was fixed.

I enjoy very much your honest writing and beautiful photos. I look forward to checking in almost daily. The surprise in this post for me was the feeling that this advertisement was creepily woven through your post without my knowledge, rather than obviously placed over at the side or somewhere else ... more obvious and ad-like.

It felt like a tiny betrayal to read all your words and to look at and enjoy your photos and THEN at the end in tiny print realize, oh, that whole thing was probably contrived.

You know, if you had said at the _beginning_ of the post something casual like "Hey guys, this post is sponsored by the Gap but I really truly love the Gap and shop there all the time and would have posted this anyway ..." I would have felt so much less duped.

Now I sort of feel like I should go back through other posts to see if they were veiled ads as well - did your favourite Quinoa brand sponsor all those quinoa posts?

You did say that you were struggling with your life being your blog and your blog being your life. It's understandable that the boundary lines will get blurry from time to time.

Ray | 6:19 PM

Awww, I wish there was a photo of you in those denim overalls. I love the way you dress the kids. Archer is most definitely rocking those yellow shades. And I love the outfit he wore to the amusement park. Especially his rainboots! =D

GIRL'S GONE CHILD | 6:20 PM

I WISH Quinoa would sponsor me. That would be awesome.

Jen (and Audrey, too!) | 8:03 PM

As both a mother AND a part time Gap employee (GOOD LORD, do I love that discount!) I can totally appreciate this post.

I love your blog and I'm pretty sure you guys are the most adorable thing, whether or not denim is involved.

GIRL'S GONE CHILD | 8:26 PM

Thanks, ladies! You rock.

Chrissyfeen | 12:05 PM

Someone just drank a big ol' glass of hateraid. Burrrnn. I think that for the most part, when people make comments about advertisements, they are deep down jealous that they don't have the opportunity to blog/write about their lives and on top of it get paid. It's obvious you don't just have any ol sponsor or else there would be obnoxious banners in the middle of the page and you'd be blogging about mcdonalds. don't trip yo'. I for one love your words!

Twinkle | 10:04 PM

I haven't had a big ole' glass of hateraid but I agree a disclaimer before the post would be a good idea. There's something about a blog post created around an ad that makes me go "oh no"--it cheapens it (and makes me wonder how many other posts have been framed). If you were more up-front about the sponsorship I think I'd be more interested (I enjoy following your story, after all) and less apt to feel like I was reading an...advertisement.

ikke ikke | 3:21 AM

Good for you, GGG. I'm glad you can make a living and be a mom. Cute jeans.

GIRL'S GONE CHILD | 10:33 PM

Thanks for your constructive comment, Isabel. And for leaving one with you're actual name. Totally respect where your coming from and am making edits to the title because of your words.

And thank you much for your support, Ikke Ikke. Means a lot.

Unknown | 6:31 AM

My daughter is only 6 months but as I've been packing away clothes that she has grown out of, I've been saving the little jumper dresses to pair up with jeans and leggings. Super cute!

Anonymous | 10:51 AM

Thanks for the change, Rebecca. Post looks great.
: - ) Anon 1

Twinkle | 9:18 PM

You're welc's, Rebecca!
It's great you're open to "constructive criticism" (something I personally loathe)--kudos to you. I think adding "Sponsored" to the title makes a big diff...
Good job, girlfriend--keep up the blogging for all of us to enjoy...