Plus-size models are having a major moment, and none more so than Tess Munster (now going by Tess Holliday). You may remember her breakout moment covering Beyoncé’s “Flawless”, and she’s now one of the top plus-size models in the world, landing a contact in January with the U.K.’s Milk Modeling agency. She immediately parlayed that into a gig as the new face of Torrid — and we’ve got the inside look at her first photoshoot. Read on and check out the exclusive video below!
Courtesy Torrid
In the shoot, Holliday, 29, poses in a variety of looks, from casual to flirty to sexy to professional, and she shares a few tidbits from the set with us (including that it was “Dog Day,” and she got some on-set smooches from a very cute pooch.
“Torrid carries clothing that makes you feel that you can be plus-size and sexy and cute. You don’t have to worry about wearing bad prints paired with a bad fit,” she says of why she decided to collaborate with the brand. “You can feel good and embrace your body and not have to cover it up with bad clothing.”
“We’re so excited about working with Tess,” says Kate Horton, senior vice president of merchandising. “Everything about Tess is Torrid: She’s young, fun, sexy and confident. It was the perfect fit!”
The “sexy” component is key for Holliday, who says it’s one of her favorite ways to dress. “Years ago we were really limited, but there are so many more brands to shop for your body,” she says. “I was limited to a couple stores before I started modeling, and I’ve kind of learned to embrace my sexuality through clothing, which was previously frowned upon if you were plus sized.”
RELATED: Have you met our shape blogger Allie McGevna? Tons of outfit inspiration right this way!
Courtesy Torrid
And she shares her confidence with girls the world over thanks to her popular #effyourbeautystandards social media moment.”The more or the less you want to wear, you should be able to do it,” she says about the thought behind the hashtag. “I realized I wasn’t the only person that had issues with my body and issues with the way society tries to place us in a box … but really, when I created the movement, it unified everything and made me feel like I wasn’t so alone.”
Stay tuned for more from this collaboration and tell us: What do you think of her ads? Are you part of the #effyourbeautystandards movement?
–Alex Apatoff
