After over two months of competition, the Plus-Size-Tall.Com Model Search final took place last Saturday at the Avalon, East London. 14 finalists made it through to the final stage but only one could win – Kelsey Arif  came first place and will be flying to Las Vegas mid February to take part in The Curvy Revolution !
After hot tips from Chyna Whyne (www.walkinginstilletos.com), the 14 girls could do nothing but smile ! Managing to give them the confidence they needed to pull this nervous show off, Chyna introduced the finalists to the catwalk, showed them how to seduce the panel and walked them through a pre-final rehearsal.
Sue Thomason (Beautiful Magazine), Lauren Darling (Rocket Pocket Blog), Abigail Bloom (Hughes Models), Rianne Ward (Evolve Magazine) and the Creative director of Evans were lined up on an extravagant sofa while the beautiful ladies had their hair and make-up done by professionnal beauticians. There was such an exciting buzz downstairs in the changing rooms ! Eyes turned as they entered the room, one by one, then three by three – exchanging encouraging looks as they walked on extremely high heels – no worries !
First of all, the gorgeous plus size women chose their favortie tee-shirt and jeans, and striked a couple of casual poses here and there, amongst the velvet arm chairs and chaise-longues. Then, the audience was treated to a very classy finaly, as the finalists slipped on their evening gowns and answered the judges questions one by one. Questions altered from favourite designers to more personnal thoughts on the plus size cause and the contestants went from sparkling smiles to moving tears, explaining why they thought it was important to defend the plus size community.
“What would it mean to represent UK’s plus size women at the Curvy Revolution” asked Rianne Ward, editor of Evolve magazine. “I think it is important to send the right message to young ladies. There are too many eating disorders out there. Everybody should know how important it is to feel right in their own body” explained Serena Jacobs who finished second and won a £250 Evans voucher. “I was greatful to be a finalist,” she explains after the show, “but to win ?! Well, I’m still in shock!!”
As the day rolled on, finalists became closer and closer, appreciating what they had in common. It was great to unite ladies with the same ideas at heart. ”It is not every day you get to meet so many lovely women who share so much,” explains Heather, who said she took part in the competition to prove to her children that big could be beautiful.
“I am speechless”, says winner Kelsey Arif, “But really, we are all winners” she smiles. And so it was, each and every women there that day smiled a million dollar smile. They felt beautiful, that was what counted there and then, and hopefully they will hold on to that feeling. Plus-Size-Tall.com had accomplished its mission and had managed to make 14 beautiful ladies feel special, unique and confident.
Now it is up to spokeswoman Kelsey to say that out loud as she speaks for UK’s plus size women at The Curvy Revolution in Las Vegas, February 2011…
The Evans team had an enjoyable day too, especially as they are not used to supporting events like this : “People see a big name, but behind that brand there are people, and we want the best for our customers,” explains Zoe. Well, the 14 finalists who each won over £100 in Evans vouchers were certainly satisfied !
We thank you all for your support and interest and hope you enjoyed this Model Search as much as we did – we had some technical difficulties but all is well that ends well and we look forward to watching Kelsey hit the American catwalk in a little less than a month’s time ! More news soon…
Meanwhile, why not check out Evans end of Sales and brand new collection on www.evans.co.uk !
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