On plussize, and not being big enough.

I’ve talked about this many times, with many people, and I wanted to do a blogpost on it. One of the comments plus size models receive the most from the public (be that plus or slim) is “how is this plus size? She’s not big enough!”
It doesn’t matter what size you are; there are always people that think you are not “big enough”. You are never “really” plussize. Even I, as a size 16 model (which is at the bigger end of plus) hear it all the time. And it has to stop, because really, it’s beyond ridiculous.
First of all, when it comes to models, “plus size” is a term that refers to the industry. It is not a term to describe their weight, or who they are as people; it’s a term used to describe that they are a model that is bigger than the size fashionmodels have. Since fashionmodels have a size 0-6, plus size technically starts at size 8. Does this mean that a woman who has a size 8 is a plus size woman? Of course not. It’s an industry term. Not a term to describe what she IS as a woman, but what she DOES as a model. Are there some plus size models who also identify themselves as plus in real life? Sure, sometimes there’s an overlap, but usually there isn’t.
This is a beautiful plus size model in a size 12. If I had to describe this woman, would I ever use the word plus size? Not in a million years.
This is that same beautiful model, next to another beautiful model who has a size 2. I still wouldn’t describe the woman as plussize, but it is undeniable that she is bigger than the regular fashion model. Her SIZE is PLUS, so as a model she is plussize. That’s all it means in this context.
If there is one thing to be frustrated about, it’s that the industry has these barriers up in the first place. In my perfect little world, it wouldn’t be about size; it would be about what the model brings to the table. Size would be irrelevant.
 This is is not a war, there is room for all of us. We have got to stop all the fighting and the judging and the trying to squeeze everyone into little boxes of “she’s too big” and “she’s not big enough”, and just focus on the awesome people behind the size (no matter what their size is!) and the awesome job they’re doing. Diversity.

Coco Rocha on plus size models


Great job Coco!
Coco with size-doesn’t-matter-model Crystal Renn.