I'm not one of those women with a really thin body. I have body fat.
I'm a size 12 and I'm very happy with it.
With 'America's Next Top Model,' I've always cast girls who the industry might call 'plus size' but I like to call 'fiercely real.' That was always important to me.
It's impossible to accept love from anyone else if you don't love yourself. It's a big issue, particularly for us plus-size ladies and for anyone dealing with weight, because we're not taught to love ourselves or be our own cheerleaders.
I'd much rather be known as some curvy Kate than as some skinny stick.
I have experience dressing me as a 6, a 12, and more. And when you go above a size 12, you don't lose your love of fashion.
Working with Victoria's Secret, it is very celebrated to have curves.
She was so fat that her bathtub has stretch marks.
I've seen petite brides carry a ballgown, and I have also seen plus-size women carry a ballgown, though you wouldn't think so.
I did a lot of lingerie modelling, like, for plus-size, like Macy's and Dillard's and Bloomingdale's. I was, like, on a billboard in New York one time in, like, a bra and underwear. Yeah.
I've never felt like I needed to change. I've always thought, 'If you want somebody different, pick somebody else.' But sure, criticism can sometimes still get to me. Some things are so malicious, they knock the wind out of you. It's like I'm managing to achieve all this success in spite of my affliction... Would you ever put [America's plus-size sweetheart] in the headline for a male star?
I thought it would be more of a challenge than it was to cater for every size, but as you're aware of a woman's curves - they're kind of like a race track - you can create something glamorous and beautiful.
I have learned more and more to enjoy my body when I have a few extra pounds on, just being more voluptuous.
I mean I've always been a big dude.
I'm embracing what I have. I'm a curvier bombshell with big boobs. I'm not high-fashion. I don't do runway. You won't see me at Fashion Week.
I have a voluptuous body. I am not one of those skinny girls. I like to enjoy life.
I was 230 kg, with a size 81 waist. I couldn't buy anything off the shelf and needed more than one tailor to measure and stitch my clothes.
I'm curvy.
Sexy for me is a curvy woman - doesn't have to be skinny, which I hate anyway. I'm glad [the fashion industry] is changing slowly a little bit now to get more into the boobs and hips again.
It is harder to dress a bigger woman no matter what anybody wants to say.
We sell in Moda Operandi, which, if you don't know what it is, it's a beautiful luxury site that does pre-trunk shows for designer collections. We got them to change their algorithm online to go up to a size 24.
I feel it's very important to remove labels; the progress in fashion will be when people completely cut out the words 'plus size' from their vocabulary and accept that women come in many sizes - especially over a size 4. Once that happens, I feel as though inclusiveness of body type will finally start happening.
I don't think there's anything wrong with the word 'curvy' or 'plus-size' because there are women who identify as that, and I'm not offended by it whatsoever because I don't feel like being bigger is anything wrong.
When I modeled, my name always came with a preface: 'the voluptuous Sophie Dahl.' I was the anti-waif, as round as a Rubens.
My existence in Hollywood is a political statement, because there are so few women who are plus-sized or above a size 6.
