Yeah, I already have all kinds of beef with the fashion industry...

OP - I'm with you. There is no way that model shops in the plus size section of any store. But, and this just my own opinion, I have no "facts" to back it up other than my personal observations, it seems that it is standard practice for underweight models are used to sell clothing to normal sized women, and normal sized models are used to sell to overweight/larger women.

Yep I would say that woman has a large frame and is very tall.

But it's the same thing as with regular fashion models - just it's the opposite direction of small frame and tall. Again, it's making the clothes look as good as possible as a show piece.

Yep.

I really don't think anyone has a good grasp on weight/size at all. Especially those of us who have been really big for a really hard time. For example, my cousin just lost 75 pounds. She looks amazing, and I knew she'd put a lot on when she was pregnant, but I thought she maybe needed to lose 30. I have no concept of how big people are, because I am always bigger than them.

I think the plus sized masses have gotten a little more defensive than we need to be when it comes to models and all sorts of other things. For example, I saw a meme on facebook the other day to the effect of "who wants a skinny girl? Bones are for dogs meat is for men". And of course, the people who were sharing it around were all morbidly obese. First of all, those aren't curves, they're rolls, and secondly, how is that in any way promoting body acceptance??? If you reversed it and said "who wants a fat chick?" You'd hear the screaming clear to Tripoli. It's discriminatory, it makes us look ridiculous for claiming to look like Betty boop when we look more like Peter Griffin, and it's just plain old mean spirited. By all means, love your hips, your butt your boobs... if you're healthy. But don't demand to be treated like a sex symbol and have clothes modeled on people your size when you're 350 pounds and near death.

You aren't a failure for being overweight. But you're not a failure for being skinny either. (and men are going to want you either way). There are some gorgeous "Plus size" models out there - but lets face it - even if they're much larger than Kate Moss, the majority of them are at what we've set as goal weights.

It is very true that people have little idea of what weight looks like. When I was 335, no one knew. I had ppl telling me I'd kill myself if I tried to lose 200 cause I was like 250! At first I thought they were being kind but I realise no they honestly do not know. As I've lost weight I have been increasingly barked at by 'plus size women' for 'not understanding why' they are all for the 'curves' campaign and why they have to put down smaller women, its like they have forgotten I was 335lbs at one time...I didn't forget where I came from cause I lost 138lbs but I didn't think it was right to put down smaller people when I was 335 and I still don't at 197. There are some gorgeous plus sized models out there and even ones not of my goal weight! For example Teer Wade. She is stunning. But she isn't the run of the mill plus size model I guess. But shes gorgeous but she isn't morbidly obese either.

It's sad really. I think that it comes from a place of insecurity. When you're that big you don't feel like there is any beauty at all in you sometimes, and you cling to anything that may give you a little status in this very vain world. By all means celebrate your body, but love it enough to care for it, and respect the skinny girls too.

yes, we all deserve respect , even if you're smaller youll still be worried about something on your body XD the smaller I get the more wrong things I find I don't like on my body.

I never felt like I was living large, I honestly really didn't. There were days that I felt downright gorgeous whether I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with a ponytail or a size 24 dress with heels and my hair all done up and make-up all dolled up.

Then I'd catch a glimpse of myself either in mirror in public or in a wedding/party picture and I can assure you I was not gorgeous at all.

My husband makes me feel like I am the most beautiful person in the world and for that I am grateful, but I was hardly ever a model no matter what my heart believed.

I love the way you put things; your have such a way with words! There is too much girl on girl hate and no one should be judging another's body, be it fat, thin, dark, light, or whatever. And you're absolutely right, there's a big difference between healthy curves and morbid obesity.

Models are "aspirational" so a plus size model is usually a size 12, smaller than the average plus sized woman, just like a standard model is smaller than the average non-plus sized women. They want the clothing to look as good and as flattering as possible so that more people are tempted to buy it.

I'm so much more insecure now. I nit pick everything, But it's only because the veil of denial lifted. I would have nitpicked at 400 pounds and been much more unhappy.

And thank god for men like that. Unfortunately I was so busy feeling loved (and bonding over food) I never noticed the last 60 pounds come on. :-)

Absolutely agree. Way too much girl on girl hate. We need to stop basing our value solely on our looks and ability to attract men.

Our ideas about plus sizes are really skewed. When I was a health nut in high school, I was 5'7" and 140 pounds and wore a plus size - a 12 And 12's were RARE and hard to find in normal stores. This was the 80s, which sounds like a million years ago to some of you but really was not. I was absolutely the "fat girl" of my group. When I was 18, I found a size 12 dress in a vintage shop and couldn't even CONSIDER zipping it up. Again, 5'7", 140 Not exactly huge.

I see people on here who weigh aver 200 pounds fitting into 12's - there's been a little creep in the sizes, y'all. No denying it.

Half the people I see in a given day are overweight, the other half are thin, wearing work out clothes, and on their way to/from the gym/running. There is no in between. We don't know what plus size really looks like because normal has disappeared.