Plus-size model Tess Holliday (previously known as Tess Munster) made history on Thursday when she signed to MiLK Model Management in the U.K., officially becoming the largest woman of her size ever signed to a major modeling agency [via Daily News].
"I feel like it's breaking ground. This is a milestone," Holliday told the Daily News. "I never could have imagined that I could be here."
According to the Daily News, plus-size agency models are typically taller than 5 feet 8 inches and fall somewhere between a U.S. size 8 to 16. Holliday is 5-foot-5-inch and a size 22.
Holliday was named one of the top plus-size models in the world by Vogue Italia in 2013, the same year she kicked off the growing social media movement #EffYourBeautyStandards.
Holliday's Instagram and Twitter feeds are filled with beautiful photos of herself in bikinis, skin-tight dresses, and lingerie. The photos are often accompanied by inspiring captions that encourage other women to love their body and wear what they want — regardless of what societal beauty standards dictate.
I hope this makes you realize that it's okay to be yourself, even if you happen to exist in a fat body. I'm sexy, confident & give no fucks. Also, fuck anyone for saying otherwise.
Her photos have inspired thousands of #EffYourBeautyStandards posts from women on both Twitter and Instagram. According to Topsy, over 1,200 tweets went out with the hashtag in the past 30 days.
The 29-year-old is helping others, after being told she wasn't good enough since she was a teen. At her first modeling audition, Holliday was told she was too big and short to fulfill her teenage modeling dreams. Thanks to the support from her mother, Holliday says the negative comments didn't stop her from working toward her dream of becoming a model.
"My mom always encouraged me," she tells the Daily. "But the rest of my friends and family thought I was nuts."
For now, Holliday is still getting used to the success. "It doesn't feel like it's me. Every time I have a big thing happen in my career, it's an out of body experience," she tells the Daily News. "I'm always still that 13-year-old girl in Mississippi who people told I wasn't good enough. I never could have imagined that I could be here."
#EffTheHaters, Tess Holliday. You are beautiful and so is the movement you've started.
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Caitlin is a freelance writer based in Minneapolis, MN.
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