Tess Holliday, reinventing the word “supermodel” one magazine cover at a time, is at the top of her game.
White dress
Black dress
According to People, she’s the first woman of her size to sign with a well-known modeling agency.
1940s fabulous
Tess, who’s 29 and a size 22, couldn’t be more thrilled. “It’s something that I’ve wanted my whole life, so to even think that it’s happened, it feels like an out-of-body experience,” she told People.
Swim season ready
The small town girl from Laurel, Mississippi, took things into her own hands when a modeling agency in Atlanta told her she was too short and too big to be a plus-size model.
Beach beauty
She posted shots of herself on Model Mayhem, and her career took off like a shot.
Girly tomboy
Tess is no stranger to bullies, but says her modeling career helped her deal with them in a positive way. “Modeling really helped my confidence because I started seeing myself in a different light. I started seeing myself like, ‘Wow, I’m actually pretty.’ ”
Funky yet polished
Holliday is actually Tess’ fiancé’s last name, but she took it as her official “stage name” when she signed with MiLK Management in January of this year. Can we say “aw”?
Lingerie
The way she met him is pretty adorable. “He messaged me on Tumblr in 2012 and he said, ‘I love how you inspire other women.’ I just remember thinking how cute he was, so we started talking and it quickly turned into a relationship.”
Cocktail hour
Even though she’s a busy working model, Tess makes time for her 9-year-old son Rylee. She actually picks him up from school every day!
Unbuttoned
Anna Shillinglaw, managing director at MiLK, touts Tess for being, “a cool size with an incredible face. She had more social media stats than all the top plus-size models put together.”
Gothic Victorian
Needless to say, her huge social media presence and awesome look made the modeling company anxious to sign her.
You’re hot, America
Now she’s modeling for plus-size brands, and brands with plus-size outlets, like crazy. She just finished up a campaign for Torrid — a well-known British plus-size brand.
Pretty in pink
While she still deals with bullying comments from trolls — about 1,000 a day — she loves her fans dearly. She told Buzzfeed, “if it wasn’t for my following, I wouldn’t be working,” she says. “I’m very grateful to them.”
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