WebProNews

Tag: plus size

  • Ashley Graham Shares Racy Sports Illustrated Spread On Social Media

    Plus size model and “advocate for beauty of all shapes and sizes” Ashley Graham recently revealed that she will be featured in Sports Illustrated’s upcoming Swimsuit 2016 Rookie Class, and will be appearing in a series of ads for Lane Bryant’s new body positive campaign.

    Graham, 28, took to Instagram to share the news alongside one of the sexy photos from her recent pictorial.

    “It’s official – I’m a @si_swimsuit model!! This is a dream come true,” Graham wrote. “Thank you to everyone who stood up for curves- our voices were heard and together we can help me win Rookie of the Year.”

    “Stay tuned for voting instructions #beautybeyondsize #siswim,” added the model.

    The image has already earned over 28,000 likes. Fans who were inspired by Ashley Graham have also expressed their gratitude for advocating a positive body image for plus-sized women.

    Graham will be featured in a series of ads for Lane Bryant alongside plus-size fashion celebs Denise Bidot, Georgia Pratt, Tara Lynn, and Precious Lee. The series of ads aims to encourage women to be confident with their own curves.

    The new campaign for the brand has become a platform for the models to tell the world what their bodies are made for.  In an interview with Refinery 29, Graham revealed that she believes her body is made to “start a revolution.”

    “My body is for starting a revolution,” the new member of SI Swimsuit 2016 Rookie said. “I realized I could use my career as a model to create change and disrupt the fashion industry, so I started calling myself a ‘body activist’ to help redefine society’s definitions of beauty.”

    Ashley Graham Starred in Lane Bryant’s ‘Plus is Equal’ Campaign

    Ashley Graham also appeared in Lane Bryant’s “Plus is Equal” campaign last September. Last year, she became the first plus-size model to be featured in an ad in the SI Swimsuit Issue.

  • Jennifer Lawrence Says She’s Considered Obese; Ashley Graham Has A Problem With That

    Jennifer Lawrence previously made a comment that she’s considered obese by celebrity standards. Plus-size model Ashley Graham begs to disagree. According to her, Lawrence shouldn’t be Hollywood’s idea of a curvy woman. Graham told The Edit, “Jennifer Lawrence is the media’s poster girl for curves — she’s tiny. There needs to be more education in schools, because that’s where eating disorders start. It’s not just about being healthy; it’s also about loving who you are.”

    The 27-year-old model added, “We need role models for young girls who say embrace your curves, who cares if your body isn’t perfect? I think that you can be healthy at any size and my goal is to educate women on that. It doesn’t matter if you’re a size 2 or 22, you can be healthy as long as you’re taking care of your body, working out, telling yourself ‘I love you’ instead of taking in the negativity of beauty standards.”

    Graham is certainly a role model for anyone grappling with body issues. Graham has made stops at high schools around the country to talk to teenagers about the importance of body acceptance.

    And while Lawrence may not be the poster girl for being curvy, body positivity is still a matter that the outspoken star deeply cares about. Back in 2013, Lawrence was interviewed by Barbara Walters for her special, Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2013. During the interview, Lawrence said, “I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV. Because why is humiliating people funny?”

    “I get it, and, and I do it too, we all do it,” Lawrence continued. “But I think when it comes to the media, the media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool, so then all of a sudden being funny is making fun of the girl who’s wearing an ugly dress.”

  • Candice Huffine: Is Worshipping Plus-Size Perfection Any Better?

    Candice Huffine is 5 feet 11 inches tall. She is a size 16. When she wanted to start modeling at age 15, he mother took her to New York for two days to meet some agents.

    “It was devastating,” she says now. “I was a size 6-8 at the time and I didn’t realize that was way too big to be a model. I thought I was fit, trim and cute. I had no idea about sample sizes.”

    For the guys, sample sizes are the tinier versions that runway models have to fit into for the fashion shows. They are not the sizes more widely sold to the general public.

    But Candice Huffine has persisted. She is well-known in the “plus-size” realm. Nowadays, there is a fascination with watching “plus-size” models crossing over into the world of “regular size” fashion. Kind of like when country music star Garth Brooks hit the pop charts with “Shameless” back in 1991, I suppose.

    It is becoming less and less rare. Next thing you know there will be hardly any line left to blur. Kind of like Taylor Swift, I suppose.

    And that’s just what some people want: for “plus-size” to be seen by the general public as “just as sexy”as “regular” models .

    But for some people, that’s not making things any better.

    “All this incessant worship of the hourglass, under the premise of promoting ‘body confidence’ has served to do is replace one very narrow beauty paradigm with another,” says Natasha Devon, a former five-foot-eleven model herself.

    In a season that has seen Kim Kardashian’s bottom worshipped to the point of straining the limits of the Internet, it would seem that we are finally getting comfortable with the idea of “size”.

    But maybe that’s just another verse in the same song.

    “Let’s face it, it’s just as unattainable to look like Beyonce, or indeed Candice Huffine, as it is Kate Moss or Elle MacPherson,” Devon argues.

    Candice Huffine admits that the whole thing is a bit suspect.

    “The concept of going on stage to be judged is probably a bit odd,” she said, “but as a child I didn’t look at it that way, it was just really fun.”

    What Huffine does know is that she is affecting young girls.

    “I get young girls saying, ‘Thank you, I can see how happy you are, I can see you ate pasta last night…’ I feel I’m quietly doing something,” she says.

  • Plus-size Clothing: Tired Of Being Overcharged By Old Navy? Shop These Alternatives

    The Old Navy (Gap Inc.) plus-size clothing controversy is presently shining a bright light on gender-related sizeism.

    Dissatisfied customer Renee Posey opted to create a Change.org petition to deal with what she felt was blatant discrimination by Gap Inc.

    With more than 76,000 signatures, the petition has generated quite a bit of buzz and perhaps caused Gap Inc. to rethink their treatment of plus-sized women.

    However, there is an alternative to pressuring the Old Navy owners to change: Shop elsewhere.

    There are a growing number of retailers that either carry stylish plus-size clothing sections or make no distinction between sizing at all.

    And to be perfectly frank, the styles are a lot cuter than what you’re being overcharged for at Old Navy.

    Dorothy Perkins

    Head over to the US site for British retailer Dorothy Perkins and look around for a plus-size clothing section.

    Notice anything?

    Despite offering clothing options to US size 18 (certain sections go up to size 22), Dorothy Perkins has NO plus size section. And all clothing items are the same price no matter what your size.

    Evans

    British retailer Evans has an American website which offers plus-size clothing specifically; clothing options begin at size 10 and end at size 28.

    The site even lets you shop by body shape. If you’re an “apple”, never worry about buying jeans designed for someone who’s more of a “pear”.

    Forever 21+

    If you’re looking for something trendy and cheap, you can rarely go wrong with Forever 21+.

    Also, there doesn’t seem to be a difference in clothing prices regardless of whether you’re a size 6 or a size 20.

    ASOS and ASOS Curve

    The UK seems to be on a roll when it comes to plus-size clothing options.

    The ASOS (U.S.) site is interesting in that its general clothing sizes run to size 16. So if you’re a plus-size shopper in this size range, you can shop the main site as well as ASOS Curve.

    As with Forever 21, there doesn’t seem to be any pricing distinction for plus-size clothing.

    These are but a few fashionable alternatives to Old Navy if you don’t want to be charged extra because of your size.

    If plus-size fashionistas have other suggestions, feel free to share in the comments section!

  • Teen Starts Petition: Make Plus-Size Disney Princess

    Ever notice how Disney Princesses all resemble one another? Jewel Moor, a junior in high school from Farmville, Va., noticed their larger-than-life eyes to their irregularly small body proportion resemble one specific body-type: unrealistic. Moor has taken it upon herself to open up the eyes of the Disney creators to create a plus-size princess through one growing petition.

    She started the petition on Change.org to not only create a plus-size princess, but to feature the new addition in an upcoming movie.

    In the petition Moor writes, “I’m a Junior in high school named Jewel. I made this petition because I’m a plus-size young woman, and I know many plus-size girls and women who struggle with confidence and need a positive plus-size character in the media.”

    So far the petition has generated 5,000 signatures along with a handful of responses.

    Hallie Marshall from Rantoul, Il., replied to the petition post saying, “I am signing this because I believe that Disney characters are influential. The latest movie, Frozen, is encouraging! To all the haters out there who say that fat people are just lazy, please stop generalizing! Generalizations are the bane of our existence! Everyone’s circumstance is different and I imagine you would hate it if you were lumped in with whatever generalizations there are about your gender, race, background, etc. Before you post your vitriol online, stop and think, would you say this to your daughter, your mother, your sister, or your wife.”

    Another user replied by saying, “I hate the term ‘plus-size’ its merely a way to sugarcoat reality to fat, over weight people. Being over weight has just as much, if not more negative health issues short and long term compared to being slightly underweight.”

    So far, Disney hasn’t made a comment on the petition.

    Click here to read more about the petition.

    What do you think about the petition? Should Disney take note?

    Image Via YouTube

  • Plus-Size Barbie Doll: Is This a Bad Idea?

    The Facebook page Plus Size Modeling has stirred up quite the controversy by asking whether toy companies should put out a Barbie that has an expanded waistline. The page has gotten thousands of responses, with many debating whether such a toy would promote poor health or encourage a positive self-image.

    Anyone who has ever examined a Barbie doll knows that her proportions aren’t exactly in line with the average female’s. If a woman had the waist size of a Barbie doll, her waist would be 16 inches compared to 37.5 inches, the waist size for the average American woman. People have discussed whether the current Barbie doll promotes anorexia and other eating disorders for years, so Plus Size Modeling decided to see how people feel about a plus-size Barbie.

    The question posed by Plus Size Modeling a few days ago was, “Should toy companies start making plus size Barbie dolls?” An image of a plus-size Barbie doll was included and users were instructed to ‘like’ the page if they supported such a Barbie doll and to comment if they disagreed. More than 40,000 people have liked the image so far and just over 5,000 people have commented.

    Check out the original Facebook post below.

    Post by Plus Size Modeling.

    Of the 5,000 comments Plus Size Modeling has received, it appears that quite a few users are in agreement that an average-size Barbie doll should be made, but not the one in the picture. One user wrote, “love the fact of having a realistic and curvy doll, but way too many chins is non realistic, it makes us plus size women seem obese and unhealthy.” Another woman echoed a similar sentiment: “Nothing wrong with a curvy Barbie….real women have curves, show girls it’s ok to have meat on their bones, but the double chins are a little much!!”

    The plus-size Barbie photo was submitted to Worth1000 in 2011, so it has been around for a while, but began making waves just days ago. Check out the original photo that shows a plus-size Barbie and a traditional Barbie side-by-side:

    (image)

    Image via Worth1000