FROM PLUS SIZE TO ROLE MODEL - I catch up with the stunning Louise O Reilly - Ireland's top plus size model.

 

Reality meets fashion; fed up with all those size zero skinny minnies on the catwalk? So, too, is Louise O'Reilly, Ireland's most popular plus size model.

Here, she tells why she's proud of her curves!

Georgina Heffernen: Have you always been plus size?

Louise O'Reilly: Looking back, I would have been yes. I was sick for a period of time and ended up going to a size 22/24. I lost about 7 stone and plummeted down to size 12 and, honestly, it didn't really suit me! Now I'm a healthy, happy 14-16.

GH: How has your size affected your image of yourself?

LOR: It was a bit of a roller coaster in terms of accepting the fact that I was bigger boned and a different shape to other girls during my teenage years. I was surrounded by teen fashion and clothes I just couldn't wear because, at the time, there was a limited selection for bigger sizes on offer. It was tough but it's been such a great learning curve and really helped me establish who I am and what I want to achieve in life.

GH: How did you get into the modelling business?

LOR: It was pure fluke! There was a competition held in 2009 by plus size catalogue Simply Be. When my friend recommended it to me I actually laughed to myself and said "Me? A model?" I ended up applying and too my utter shock - I got to the final 15 out of over 6500 girls. Gok Wan was our judge along with a panel of Irish judges such as Celia Holman Lee and Alan Hughes. The whole experience from start to finish was just fantastic. A week later I ended up signing with an agency here in Dublin and, within the same week, I had my first booking; it all went from there really.

GH: Do you feel that 'plus' modeling is helping to redefine beauty?

LOR: Absolutely! I think the concept of plus size modelling is vital nowadays. It sends out a message to young girls and women that you don't need to be a size 8 to look and feel gorgeous. The most popular size is a 14 both in the UK and Ireland - so it's great to see the appearance of bigger sizes peeping up in places like Brown Thomas where most people would have never even bother about before. Just the other day I found out that top Irish designer Joanne Hynes designs up to a size 16; I thought that was just fantastic!

GH: What tips do you have for my readers who want to live a healthy and balanced life while not being obsessed with the media version of the perfect size?

LOR: For me, my health is my wealth and I really put that forward in everything I do. I usually go to the gym about 2-3 times a week and I really enjoy it. That's the important part, to enjoy what you do. In terms of food, I eat low sugar low salt foods which will really help balance out my energy levels throughout the day and it really helps me especially because I have M.E (chronic fatigue syndrome). I don't see anything wrong with treating yourself just as long as in within reason so you don't get that annoying guilty feeling afterwards!

GH: Who is your role model or hero? Why?

LOR: My grandmother, she was such a determined woman and showed me that nothing is impossible once you put your mind to it. At the age of 65 she travelled all around America on a Greyhound bus by herself, she then found love and remarried at the age of 75 in Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York. She was so elegant and graceful in everything she did; even at the age of 98 she could still do her makeup to absolute perfection!

GH: What plans do you have for your future?

LOR: At the moment I'm in the process of finishing off my degree in International Relations so haven't thought too far ahead just yet but my motto in life is "What's meant for you, won't pass you by", so I welcome and embrace every opportunity that comes my way.

GH: What would you like women who struggle with their weight to know?

LOR:That there really is more to life than worrying about your weight. You are the one who authors your own happiness and confidence - a measuring tape and a weighing scales can't give you that; trust me! Do not under any circumstances compare weight to that of your friends, family or even celebrities, everyone is a different height, shape and proportion so the most important thing you can be doing is investing that time and head space into something productive for yourself. Your friends and family love you for who you are not your jean size.

HOW TO DRESS THINNER....magic tricks to help create a slimmer silhouette

Deception is at the heart of fashion. Enhancing the waist, minimising the hips, and creating a cleavage where none exists are tricks that every designer has up their sleeve. Fashion is, in large part, an art of tromp l‘oeil: it can make people look thinner (head-to-toe black); more powerful (shoulder pads); and more prominent (red).Yet many women remain innocents in the game of deception, subjecting themselves to a succession of diet and exercise regimes and ignoring the easier ways to look good.

 We spend hours in the gym and years counting calories. We endure high-carb, low-fat diets, and low-carb, high-protein diets. All in the pursuit of that perfect toned body. But what if we are putting ourselves through all that for nothing?


No matter how hard we slog with our diet and exercise regimes, there‘s a limit to how much it helps because our weight and shape are in our genes. If you don‘t believe it, stand next to your mum .Scientists have found that body shapes are inherited and you can‘t change your fundamental body type no matter how much you diet. So there‘s no point in trying to starve your way to a Kate Moss body if you‘re built like Beyonce.

And , as much as you may wish, you can‘t simply run out on your body and decide to start a new life somewhere else with a new one, so perhaps it‘s time to start loving the body that you have. Let‘s make a start with your posture. When your mother kept telling you to sit up straight, she did have a point. Sitting up properly not only improves your posture but also helps your internal organs realign, eases back pain and can make you appear instantly thinner.

And remember to walk tall. It is the one statement that says more about us than our clothes, accents or the company we keep. The way we walk is the most powerful first impression we can make: remember Monroe‘s wiggle and John Wayne‘s swagger. Our walk also gives a fascinating insight into our personality, even our sexuality. So walk with your head held high and ooze confidence - even if you have to fake it.

The world is populated by women of all shapes and sizes: from petite to Amazonian, from
androgynous to curvaceous, the variety of voluptuous and feminine forms really is something to celebrate. Why make things difficult for yourself when a wardrobe of carefully chosen clothes can transform the body, making a size 16 figure look like a 12.
 Not only will the right clothing make you look slimmer and more glamorous - it will make you look younger as well.

My favourite trick to disguise a pot belly is to wear a beautiful flowing scarf over, for example, a simple grey or black dress. The long line of the scarf will draw will make you appear taller and slimmer by drawing attention away from the midriff towards the vertical lines created by the scarf. A long pashmina casually falling gently over your tummy can hide a multitude of sins while looking young and Bohemian.

Make sure that your garments fit and flatter.The simple fact of it is that if you wear clothing that is slightly too big for you, you will look as if you‘ve lost weight. If your clothing is a bit small, you are going to look like you‘ve gained. So many women wear clothes that are too tight, honestly, I find it astonishing. You may wish you were a size 10 but if you are not - squeezing into a pair of too tight jeans will only serve to make you look bigger  and, let‘s face it, none of us want that.

Studies into the link between body shape and attractiveness show, perhaps hardly surprisingly, that for men a shapely figure is a far bigger turn-on than a thin, stick-like one so please don‘t beat yourself up if you‘ve put on a few pounds. Just accept your new body shape, learn to adore it, and dress in a way that makes the most of your figure. Keep this in mind and look for styles that flow- rather than cling. Opt for flattering empire line dresses or smock tops as these are the perfect shape to disguise a large tum.

 Also, it‘s important to remember that giant accessories will make you look small, so bin that teeny weenie clutch and opt instead for an oversized bag, because the bigger your handbag the smaller you will appear in comparison. That‘s why Victoria Beckham carries a Birkin bag wider than her waist and Grey‘s Anatomy‘s Katherine Heigl never leaves home without her enormous Valentino hold all.

 The same applies for other accessories; statement necklaces, oversized sunglasses and large earrings are in right now, so take advantage. The same advice also holds true when it comes to footwear. The larger your shoe is the slimmer your leg will appear that‘s why many celebrities, such as Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and Gwen Stefani are often pictured wearing wedge heels when they are pictures in glossy magazines.

 They are made to create the illusion that you are taller, your legs are longer and your bottom is perter than it really is. And that‘s why I love wedges. Unlike the common old pump (a poor excuse for a shoe); wedges do all of the above and more.  

"Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don't start measuring her limbs.‟
- Pablo Picasso



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PLUS SIZE FASHION....THE BIG ISSUE

When top model Crystal Renn was anorexic, her career thrived. She had protruding collar and hip bones and worryingly thin arms, but the sicker she became, the more her career seemed to flourish. Crystal was featured in Vogue; she was in catwalk shows and ad campaigns; she was shot by leading photographers Steven Meisel, Craig McDean and Patrick Demarchelier.

Crystal Renn

Fast forward a year or two and Crystal weighs 12st and is a UK size 16. She says she has never been happier. Today Renn, who is the face of Evans' latest campaign, is the highest-paid plus-size model in America and she has become a role model for young girls and women worldwide. Plus size or not, she's drop dead gorgeous.


But she's not alone - when 20-year-old model Lizzie Miller appeared on the pages of a US fashion magazine in 2010, un-airbrushed to show a small roll of fat around her stomach, it caused a media storm. That one simple picture was seemed to signal a shift against the super-slim aesthetic that has gripped the fashion world for so long.

Lizzie Miller

The March edition of French Elle also picked up on the debate by featuring Tara Lynn wearing a white jumpsuit on the cover. Lynn is a plus-size model who sports, it said, "adorable belly fat" and inside appeared with three other larger models for 32 pages of a "special edition" dedicated to plus-size fashion. It came a month after Italian Vogue launched an online section called "Vogue Curvy" dedicated to fashion and beauty for larger women.

Tara Lynn

Many championed it, others hated it - but no-one can deny it bought the plus-size issue to the fore. The controversy over super-skinny models has been growing in recent years. In 2006, model Luisel Ramos died during Uruguayan Fashion Week, having fasted for several days. Later the same year, Ana Carolina Reston, a Brazilian model, was killed by an infection resulting from anorexia nervosa.

 Ana Carolina Reston

 In 2009, British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman wrote to all the big fashion designers voicing her concerns that models have "jutting bones and no breasts or hips", they have to wear "minuscule" garments and that Vogue frequently has to airbrush fashion photographs to make the models look bigger.

Catwalk model

For as long as anyone can remember, thin has been the aspirational body type - the one that went hand in hand with success and glamour and money and, above all, fashion. But now the rail thin look is beginning to look out of step with the times and after years of size 0 - skinny has lost its ability to shock. The new crop of plus size models, which include Crystal Renn, Kate Dillon, Tara Lynn and Hayley Morley represent the diversity of women's bodies and I, for one, am delighted to see more realistic shapes being shown on the catwalk.



Top Irish model - Louise O Reilly



Where once lanky, size-zero sticks stalked the catwalk; a plus size revolution is quietly taking place, and designers such as Antonio Berardi, Michael Kors and Mark Fast are regularly using curvaceous models in their  runways.

The likes of Kelly Brooke, Beyonce, Holly Willoughby, Alesha Dixon, Nigella Lawson and Scarlett Johansson are also making us realize that there are many ways to be beautiful.

Actress, Kate Winslet, has been quoted as saying: "I like the way I look. Why is it women think that in order to be adored they have to be thin? I don't understand. "All I know from the men I've ever spoken to is that they like their girls to have an a**e on them."

The proof is in the pudding. Karl Lagerfeld was recently quoted after sending girls away from a casting because, "They looked as if they had grown up in a Third World country with no food to eat."

At last, slowly and from within, it seems fashion is falling back in love with the things that make women truly stunning: confidence, sex appeal, health. Big, little, pint-size, plus-size - every body is beautiful.

"Accentuate your best features and disguise what you are not so happy with. Choose outfits that fit and make you look comfortable rather than those that are up-to-the-minute." - Giorgio Armani

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