Nothing like a model search to get the blood going.  I post about model searches in the United States all the time so it is great to read about plus-size modeling competitions in other countries.  UK  clothing merchant Simply Be has begun their 2010 plus-size modeling competition where the winner has an opportunity to win some cash as well as get a photo shoot!

The Simply Be Plus Size Model Competition 2010 is now open!

Ever wanted to try modeling? Well here’s your chance because we’re running a plus size model competition! We’re looking for curvy women, from size 14 up. No experience necessary, but you have to be comfortable in front of the camera and happy to strut stuff down the catwalk. If that sounds like you, then we want to hear from you!

What’s in it for you?

We’ve got some amazing prizes lined up for our lucky winner! You’ll get £10,000 to spend at Simply Be… a double page feature in Best Magazine… a photo shoot for Simply Be’s Style Files… loads of portfolio photos… and a consultation with 12+ UK Model Management! So this really could be the start of your plus size modelling career!

To enter you need:

• A size 14 or above
• 18 or older
• Include your information
• A recent photo

Let me offer a tip on submitting your photo.  If you are looking to get your career started based on how you look today, make sure your photos show the best side of you and are no older than six months.

When it comes to doing what it takes to launch your career ladies what do you have to lose?  The exposure alone will tell you where you stand in your career and to take the top prize will be just what the plus-modeling community world wide needs, another model getting the spotlight shined in her direction.  I like how on the Simply Be blog they state “plus size is the new zero” if you like that quote as well enter to win and follow Simply Be on Facebook, Twitter, and their blog to stay up on plus size fashion and this competition.

Last summer I had the pleasure of meeting plus-size model, the 2009 face of Full Figured Fashion Week,  and all around good person Teslyn Butler. Because of ladies like her I have focused a little more attention on the plus-size modeling world to compliment the clothing that I talk about daily.  Well Teslyn needs your help in the Wet Seal Model Search and I need your help as well.

What Teslyn needs if for you to watch the YouTube video of her contest entry so she can make the final cut and win and I need you to go shop around the Wet Seal website and introduce yourself to some of the new trendy fashions they have available.  Check out the video, if it does not play the link to it is below the box. Even though Teslyn did not ask me personally to blog about her entry I want to give as much attention as possible to plus-size models to show the world they have a solid support system.

“Hello, I made the top 100 finalist for the Wet Seal model search and I need your views of my video to make the top 50.  Please Please PLEASE PLEASE spread the word and tell everyone you know.  I posted my video a little late.  I just need to get the top 50 or 25.   Post it on facebook, twitter, myspace.  I want to win soooo bad.    Here is the link.  Please view it MANY times.  Thanks for your continued support.”

Contest Details

• 100 entries will win a Flip Video Camcorder to film a video for Youtube.
• The 50 videos with the highest views will move on to be voted on by the public
• The 25 finalists with the highest number of votes will go before a panel of judges to select the winner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL_whqcHf1o

Thats it so go help Teslyn out and help your summer wardrobe out by going shopping at the Wet Seal website.  Stay tuned for a Full Figure Plus review of the site.

Never did I think almost two years ago when I started a project to show my appreciation for plus size women around the world would there still be ladies submitting their photos and asking questions about how to get into the world of modeling.  Since the original project started in April of 2008 quick stats are:

• 134 submitted photos
• 64 ladies featured so far (70 and counting waiting to be featured)
• Ladies from 5 countries have submitted photos
• 74% of submissions come from ladies with limited modeling experience
• 10 ethnic backgrounds

What keeps me excited about the PSBOTW is that ladies are viewing it as a gateway into the modeling industry which I view as a sign that plus modeling is not only here to stay but is growing at a steady pace despite what critics have to say.  Additionally, this segment has been sponsored as a way of thanking the ladies for their submissions currently I am looking for a full time sponsor of this segment.  If you are interested contact be via the blog contact form.

With that being said I am excited about this weeks beauty because of the ties to Full Figured Fashion Week™.  This weeks beauty is none other than the face of Full Figured Fashion Week™ Rosie Mercado!  As you can see from the photo below Rosie is stunningly beautiful showing that when it comes to beauty it does not matter what your size is.  She will be featured on the homepage of FFP for the next seven days as most of you are already aware of.  Remember ladies that to be featured the only requirement is that you be a size 16 or above.

Everything will stay the same as far as photos being submitted to beautyoftheweek@fullfigureplus.com.  Their is no need to wonder if you will be featured the only requirement is you be plus size and the photos be clear enough to be shown.  For you legal eagles out their read below for the specific details of what it takes to submit your photos.

One of the things I have enjoyed the most about being a part of and watching the evolution of Gwen Devoe and everything involving Full Figured Fashion Week™ is that no matter what there is going to be something either ground breaking or extraordinary to come out of the Full Figured Fashion Week™ camp.  This time not only will plus models get to strut their stuff on the runway but the winner will walk away with some cash!  The details are below.

A word of caution to those that enter.  Go to the Full Figured and Fabulous™ entry page fill out the form and your in, but be sure to follow all the directions to the letter.  Don’t be disqualified on a technicality.  I can’t wait to get to New York so I can see history happen again!

Are you between the sizes 14-22 and have fierce runway skills? Full Figured Fashion Week™ is pleased to announce the return of FULL FIGURED AND FABULOUS™, the Plus Model Runway Competition! Full Figured and Fabulous™ will be held June 17, 2010 during the Full Figured Fashion Week™ festivities.

Auditions will be held:

Saturday, May 8, 2010
2:00 PM Sharp
Ripley Grier Studios
520 8th Avenue (bet. 36th and 37th Sts)
10th floor, room 10A
New York City
Please bring I.D. to enter the building

Entrance Fee: $100 (payable in two installments) – NO TICKET SELLING REQUIREMENT

GRAND PRIZE: $1000 cash and an Igigi dress.

Please bring heels 3 or more inches, your best runway walk and a full length photo. Only those have competitive runway skills will be seriously considered.

Note: If you live out of New York State and would like to be considered please send a link to a video clip of your best runway walk via YouTube or Flickr 2 minutes MAXIMUM to ffandfabulous@fffweek.com. If we receive clips longer than 2 minutes you will NOT be considered. The last day to submit your video is MAY 3, 2010.

A while back I wrote about whether or not fat-sploitation was real or myth.  With all of the attention that plus size fashion and plus size modeling has been receiving the last few months I have come to the conclusion there is a bit of exploitation going on in the world of fat but not in the way most of us would think.

Up until the 1960′s most of the celebrities and models were larger.  Think about Marilyn Monroe and Jane Mansfield.  Both of these ladies in their prime were considered gorgeous voluptuous women with hips and curves that many admired and some were even jealous of.  What changed?  Enter Twiggy and the view of what was considered beautiful went from curvaceous to pre-pubescent boy looking ladies.

Fast forward to today the world of image and fashion is over crowded with models who are so skinny they look near dead.  Not to mention what they have to go through in order to maintain that look is abuse at its highest level.  We hear about it in small doses but it wasn’t until I read Crystal Renn’s Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves that I was given an insight into the world of super skinny so-called super models.

The verdict at least for me is that fat is being exploited in a subtle way and the curvy revolution that most including myself have been enjoying is really just a continuation of what was stifled in the 60′s.  Plus size, fat, bbw, curvy or whatever you want to call it is actually the larger community fighting for something we never should have had to go to war about in the first place.  The battle lines were drawn and the fight continues with fashion, modeling, and society trying to dictate what a person should look like and what they can and cannot wear.

Should we be fighting this fight?  My answer is no, but as long as we are part of a system in the United States that measures a persons worth by dress size we will continue to fight.  Even with hard evidence stating that as long as a person is healthy their size does not matter.  Finally, though my thoughts are that the fat community is being exploited from both inside and out I also feel that the establishment is finding it harder to ignore a section of the population that refuses to be held down.  What do you think?

IGIGI does it again bringing the art to plus size fashion and plus size modeling.  Plus model Fluvia Lacerda looks fabulous in the video showing how gorgeous she is and how great the clothes look.  After looking at the video be sure to check out the Spring 2010 fashions from IGIGI which include demin dresses and new styles of maxi dresses.

Being you is Being Beautiful, a film from IGIGI by Yuliya Raquel, www.igigi.com
Director: Marc de Paola
Cast: Plus-size super model Fluvia Lacerda