I know I just blogged about the size of models, but plus size models are making news and I just gotta shout about it.
HALLELUJAH!
Whether it’s backlash against ridiculously thin models or the influence of fashion shows and governments restricting the hiring of sticks masquerading as humans, women with curves seem to be gaining acceptance by the fashion world.
Denise Bidot was recently featured on the cover of Plus Model magazine. The curvy Denise is a size 14—and represents the average size woman in America and Australia. Meanwhile, Sydney native Robyn Lawley became Australian Vogue‘s first plus-size cover girl—all 6’2″, size 16 of her. Granted, size 16 on a 6’2″ frame looks much different than on the average 5’6″ frame, but let’s not complain. As the new look of Boux Avenue lingerie, Robyn gets to show off her curves a lot more, and I’m tickled that in one photo of her, you can actually see she has a stomach pooch. Seriously! The shot is taken at a slight side angle and you can see what I have never before seen on a magazine model.
That’s because most models in plus-size catalogues are a size 8. Very few are actually plus-size. The rest rely on tucking and pinning to make size 14 clothes (the smallest plus-size size) not swallow them up. This is equivalent to lying to consumers, because, as Denise explains in an interview on Yahoo Shine, it doesn’t show a plus-size woman what an article of clothing will really look like once you add curves, bumps, and natural padding. As my readers know, bigger women are usually busty women, and a prominent bust changes the way a blouse hangs on the torso. That same blouse on a cup size B and 86cm waist ain’t gonna look the same.
Meanwhile, Robyn seems to rub her size in the face of the image-obsessed modeling industry with her blog which features the most scrumptious photos of food you’ll ever see. Bacon. She posts photos of BACON. Now that’s a woman I can admire.
So I say more power to the plus-size women of the world—model, mom, or maven. We know we look good. It’s time the media thinks so, too.