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So...what is "plus size"?

Before reading the rest of the page, take a moment to think about what sizes you think count as plus-size. Why do you think that? Who or what told you which sizes count as plus-size?

Danielle+Redman+Endometriosis+Foundation

Plus-size models Danielle Redman, Marquita Pring, and Ashley Graham 

Here's the thing: whatever you said, you're right ...sort of. 

Ashley Graham started at a size 16, and is now a size 14. Candice Huffine and Danielle Redman, other popular plus-size models, are both size 12. And plus-size model Alexandra Serafini is a size 10, the size which many agencies consider to be the start of plus-sizes. One model was even deemed too large for the normal industry when she was a size 6. The term plus-size fluctuates in meaning, almost to the point where it doesn't have one. "Plus-size" is also an inaccurate and generalizing term when considering that the average size of a woman in America, as stated in the 2017 International Journal of Fashion and Design, is 16-18. On the whole, the categorization of plus-size is telling girls who are much smaller than the national average that they are already too large to be considered normal. And many models have spoken about this– Candice Huffine stated in a 2015 interview that she wonders if “‘plus’ being in front of my title as a model is becoming as harmful for young girls as seeing really skinny girls. Because if a girl is larger than me, and I’m called plus and then they’re always like, ‘What does that make me?’ ” 

Many models state that they got into plus-size modeling because it was a place where they could feel healthy and accepted, without giving up the profession they loved. They speak about feeling strong, empowered, and as if their bodies are finally happy because they're getting a break from trying to be something they're not. The movement to be more inclusive of women who are larger than the old "industry standard" should not have to be tied to terminology that makes the customers it's meant to serve feel abnormal. Models are now, more so than ever, trying to break that stigma of the fashion world. Ashley Graham even heads a model's collective called ALDA that is aiming to break down these categorizations in fashion. The inclusion of models over a size 10 was, is, and will continue to be a good thing for the fashion industry. But it will never be quite inclusive enough until it stops telling women who is "standard" and who is "plus-size." To hear Ashley Graham explain her thoughts in her own words, watch the TedxTalk below.

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Model Candice Huffine

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