Because the plus-size industry shamefully discriminates against models over a size 20 (a practice that obscenely parallels the straight-size industry's suppression of models in double-digit dress sizes), this site is always on the lookout for goddesses size 22, 24, 26, 28 who are gorgeous and who take professional-quality images, to demonstrate that legitimately fuller-figured girls can be just as attractive as their faux-plus rivals.
In the authentically plus-size category, no other model has approached the spectacular success of Rosie Mercado, who, at a sumptuous size 28, is enjoying the kind of professional career that even girls less opulently proportioned than she can only envy.
However, one model alone cannot a category make, therefore we are thrilled to see that another generously proportioned girl,
Tiffany Kaelin (who states that her size varies between a 22 and a 28), has also returned to the world of professional testing.
The first of Tiffany's two recent tests was photographed by Lynda Ray (www.lyndaraydesigns.com). It opens with a magnificent view of Tiffany's scrumptious figure. The top is an eye-catching ruby red in a hue that is dark, but no so dark that it obfuscates her luxurious curves. The bright colour of the belt and the shoes add a youthful playfulness to the ensemble.
A closer view discloses the subtle but seductive detail that Tiffany's belt is on its last notch. The unhindered fullness of her waist gives her a comfortable, secure appearance, as does her confident pose. Her expression conveys a sense of invitation, a come-hither glance that is steamy but tasteful.
The next set of images from this shoot consists of a series of headshots, and in each, the most eye-catching aspect is the sight of Tiffany's wild, feathered blonde tresses. In keeping with the rules of proportion, the more luxuriously full a model, the more voluptuously voluminous her tresses should be, and Tiffany's unrestrained, flowing blonde locks correspond perfectly with the richness of her physique.
The following is by far the most gorgeous of Tiffany's heashots. Nowhere else do her facial features appear as opulent and replete as they do here. Consider that even this authentically plus-size model appears most beautiful in the images where her fullness is most evident. The disclosed decolletage and the view of her soft shoulders adds to the sensuality of the photograph. The dreamy, looking-away glance was perfectly chosen, as it imparts to the model a quality of youthful, daydreaming romanticism. Her lips are delectably kissable.
This view, showing the model in near-profile, has an artistic quality about it. The hand-in-the-hair pose is quite dramatic. The image also showcases her chandelier earrings--the ornateness of the jewellery corresponding to her opulent physique. The eye travels over every inch of her blonde tresses, delighting in each golden curl and wave.
A glance toward the viewer shows the model looking especially languid and indolent--and thus, supremely seductive. She hasn't a care in the world, one imagines; no task to perform other than to appear gorgeous, to be admired, and to indulge herself freely.
When the camera pulls back, it offers a suggestion of the alluring robustness of the model's midsection, with the hint of a curve visible alongside the frame of the chair. Her forearms appear round and full, her hands plump and pretty.
One final example from this test shows the model with a casual look, but what makes this image so irresistibly sensual are the clearly defined dimples at the model's knuckles, an adorable trait that only genuinely full-figured goddesses possess, a characteristic that artists such as Titian celebrated in Renaissance art. Those dimples intimate a seductive, babylike softness on the part of the model. Plus-size models are beautiful precisely because of physical features such as these, which identify them as being authentically well-fed.
* * *Tiffany's second test is more conceptual, and indeed, more tantalizing. For this shoot by photographer Satu Vuorenmaa, she was consciously styled in the manner of a '50s pinup--but surely there was never a pinup as desirable as Tiffany. The wide-open neckline with the red trim recalls a flower opening to disclose the beauties within. She raises her glass to the viewer, perhaps in a toast, but in a way that seems to invite him to taste, like Isolde offering the love potion to Tristan in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.
In a second variation on the same theme, the model's desire seems much more urgent, thus raising the temperature of the image. Here, her appetitive nature is abundantly evident. She tempts the viewer to join her in sensual indulgence. Fittingly, the image includes a seductive characteristic that the first variation did not--the sight of the dimples at the model's knuckles, this visible detail of fleshiness adding to the carnal undercurrent of the photograph.
Now the camera pulls back for a full view, itself seemingly drinking in the sight of her generous figure. The fact that the model sits at her elegant ease, like an empress, makes for an alluring visual, as it suggests that she is too indolent even to stand and prefers to relax at every opportunity. The dress is defined at the bust, indicating her opulent voluptuousness, but loose otherwise, suggesting the abundant fullness of her physique.
In the most openly seductive image in the test, Tiffany coquettishly raises the hem of her dress to disclose the luxurious fullness of her legs. The vibrant red of her undergarment suggests the passionate excitement that the sight of her generous limb evokes.
What makes these images especially bold and liberating is the model's certainty that the sight of her legs--the sumptuous legs that go with a size 28 figure--is so alluring that it would ensnare the heart of any man. For well-fed goddesses to see their physical selves as irresistibly desirable would be the ultimate triumph of size celebration, and furthermore, would correspond with reality, for in the real world (unlike the media world), the plus-size female figure is supremely seductive.
The model's gesture in the following image implies that she might be preparing to call out to someone. The hairstyle is very appropriate for the '50s pinup theme, but all in all, we prefer the voluminous, untamed, feathered style of the Lynda Ray test. When a model possesses as much voluptuous blonde hair as Tiffany does, she should certainly let it out.
The final pair of images show Tiffany looking playful, but exploring a theme so sinful, so transgressive, that one adores her for daring to venture into this territory. The first of the two images captures her with a delicious, calorie-laden cupcake in her hands, looking theatrically surprised, as if she were startled that someone had discovered her propensity toward self-indulgence. Her facial features exhibit the sensual detail of a soft curve under the chin.
If the previous image is the setup, then this is the payoff. The model, having been discovered surrendering to her self-indulgent tendencies, now digs in eagerly, watching as the viewer becomes intoxicated by her greediness. The underlying suggestion is boldly size-celebratory: that in order to be as luxuriously beautiful as Tiffany, a girl should feel free to eat whatever she wants, and as much as she wants, because--as these images conclusively demonstrate--"sexy girls have dessert."
* * *Bravo to Tiffany Kaelin for keeping her lush curves, for shooting full-length images, and for exploring sensual themes in her tests. Kudos as well to her photographers, Satu and Lynda, for celebrating the model's abundant proportions.
In particular, we wish to applaud Tiffany and Satu for breaking the ultimate taboo and showing this legitimately full-figured model sinfully indulging herself--and looking gorgeous doing so. It is one thing for a Holly Madison to pose eating a cupcake, but quite another for a lavishly well-fed model like Miss Kaelin to do so.
Tiffany's images are beautiful in and of themselves, and they deliver an unambiguously pro-curvy message as well. If the plus-size industry were to embrace more models like Rosie Mercado and Tiffany Kaelin, then abundantly curvaceous women would recognize their own beauty, would stop starving themselves, and would learn to love their naturally full-figured physiques.
We look forward to more expressions of size celebration from Tiffany in the near future.