Charli Howard has gone from a starving model to a woman who loves her curves and the shape of her hips, but she has admitted that she once thought she would detest getting bigger.
The 26-year-old, who is now a part of Muse Model Management’s ‘curve’ division, was famously told she was too big to be in the fashion industry as a size 2. In a new interview with Today, the British model reveals how she learned to love her hips after years of trying to shrink them to meet the the industry’s standards.
‘Now I really like my hips. I love them. I love grabbing them and wearing clothes that accentuate them. Before I would have worn baggy clothes to cover them up,’ she said.
Role model: Charli Howard says she now loves her curvy hips after years of starving herself as a straight-size model, and now works with body-positive brands like Desigual and Aerie
Quite a change: The 26-year-old British model recently shared an image showing what she looked like when she was trying hard to be thin (left) compared to now (right)
Charli explained that when she decided she wanted to become a model at 16, she had no problem getting scouted, but she was told her hips needed to be 34-inches.
She said she had ‘no idea why that number was so magical’, but she beat herself up trying to get down to that size.
‘Being so thin … your period stops. Your nails are blue and purple because you’re not getting any circulation. Your hair falls out. You have really bad breath,’ she said.
‘You look in the mirror and you never see yourself as being thin. When you go on shoots, people try to shoot you at an angle so you look thinner. It’s a constant mind f**k.’
Showing them off: Charli said she now liked to grab her hips and wear clothes that accentuate them
Struggles: The British model was told when she was 16-years-old that her hips needed to be 34 inches, and she spent years trying to keep her body that size
Learning to love herself: Charli admitted when she posed for the All Woman Project last year, she was scared to be in a bikini in the unretouched photos
On billboards: She is now the face of Anne Klein’s new Fall 2017 campaign
After she was told she was ‘too big’ when she was only a size 2, Charli moved to the U.S. and has found an agency that allowed her to embrace her natural size.
Charli admitted when she posed for the All Woman Project last year, she was scared to be in a bikini in the unretouched photos even though she was smaller than she is now.
However, she noted that seeing the other models, who were all different shapes and sizes, made her realize that she is ‘normal’.
As a model, Charli is neither ‘super thin’ or ‘super curvy’, and she hopes more and more agencies will start representing women of all sizes.
The model recently posed for an unretouched swimwear campaign with Desigual, and she’s the new face of Anne Klein’s Fall 2017 campaign.
Acceptance: Charli recently shared this image of her stretchmarks saying that, to her, they are like ‘a cool map’ on her body
Back in the day: Back in April, Charli shared these before and after photos and declared: ‘I may be heavier than I was, but I’m happier than I’ve ever been’
Sending a message: The model also wrote on Instagram that she is ‘proof’ of how ‘being thin does not make your life better’
Charlie proudly took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a billboard featuring her Anne Klein ad, which sees her wrapped in a wool coat.
‘My worth is not defined by other people’s perception of me,’ is splashed across the black and white photo.
‘Look Mum, I’m on a billboard!’ Charli captioned the image. ‘Proud to be a curvy model in a high fashion campaign.’
Charli also frequently shows off her figure on her Instagram page, as she continues to encourage her 100,000 followers to love their bodies.