Top 70 Tess Holliday Quotes

Plus-size is a term that’s never been used in hate; no one has ever used it in a negative way. The industry has always used it to help us identify where to shop.

My mom is one of my best friends.

I’m not like recruiting people and starting a cult and telling people to be fat.

I don’t share a lot of my kids on social media for a reason.

Self-love is for everyone and we all need it!

When I describe myself as fat to people, whether it’s a driver, anywhere around the world, or a friend, and I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s just because I’m fat,’ people are like, ‘Don’t say that about yourself.’

I firmly believe that a big part of the obsession with women’s thinness comes from the same place as male power fantasies.

I feel like it’s important to talk about my health, which is fine, and my size because there are young girls who see someone like me and can validate their own existence.

I didn’t realize how important it was to exfoliate and moisturize the days leading up to getting a spray tan.

The societal obsession with appearance is definitely something that weighs on your mind as a model.

I take antidepressants, which I was embarrassed about for a long time, but it keeps me going.

I was angry and sad that people kept commenting on my pictures saying, ‘You’re too fat to wear that!’ or ‘Cover up! No one wants to see that!’

I’m OK with being called plus size, I’m OK with being called fat. If someone is shouting that I’m fat in the street in a derogatory way, then obviously I’m not OK with that, but I’m comfortable using the adjective fat to describe myself, because I am fat.

I represent women that you don’t see a lot in media and in print.

The real issue that I have is the erasure people are trying to do with my very valid feelings in regard to how plus-size and fat people are treated in fashion. The way that people just kind of overlook us and pretend that, you know, we don’t have style, that we aren’t trendy or fashionable. It’s dehumanizing.

No one tells you that when you get older sometimes you never escape the bullying. I had no idea people could be as mean as they are when you’re an adult.

I think people think how I got work came easy. People assume that I was an overnight sensation, because they’re just now hearing about me, or that everything happened very quickly.

One thing I think constantly is if brands like Gucci can make plus-size menswear, then why can’t we see it for women?

The majority of my following is not plus size, it’s very diverse.

Health is everyone’s personal decision. It’s their choice and I think that should be respected.

Obviously I probably have internalized fatphobia about myself and what the world has ingrained in us.

I have no friends from high school. That was probably the reason I ended up dropping out, and I dealt with that by eating.

I love layers. And I definitely love boots and hats, I have a ridiculous amount.

My health is no one’s business.

The States are more accommodating to fat people – there are more plus-sized clothing labels, and people talk openly about it.

I have to wear Eloquii to red carpet events where my friends are wearing custom Versace.

If you want to eat pizza, have the pizza. If you want to run 5 miles up a hill, cool, go run. Do whatever you want to do, but don’t let the size of your body and other people’s opinions about you stop you from living the life you deserve.

Why would I want to walk the runway for a brand to be their token plus-size girl when they’re not even making my size?

I think that some of the biggest surprises I’ve had early on, actually to this day, are all the misconceptions about my body and my health. There are so many people who think that being a plus-size model, that there’s something wrong with it, or that I must be unhealthy or that I’m promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.

Being fat doesn’t necessarily make me feel stronger. What makes me feel strong is knowing that I can live my life and be who I want to be.

People laugh in my face sometimes if they don’t know who I am. When they find out that I model they’re like, ‘well what do you model?’

I would really love to work with major photographers who haven’t featured plus-size models before.

Miss Piggy’s a big girl, and glamorous, and people think it’s silly when I say she’s a role model to me, but she was.

Imagine just wanting to share photos of my kid and instead being told I’m unfit to be his mom because of my size.

I’m a normal person, but people see me as this person who’s not really real, almost like I don’t have feelings. They think they can treat me any way they want to.

Designers still won’t dress me, and if they do, they will send a dress that doesn’t fit me because it’s the only sample that they have in their office that we can get to in time, and then it’s hard because I don’t want to support certain brands that I don’t feel like are diverse in their messaging.

I’ve seen a lot of Black content creators calling for white folks to stop using the voices of Black folks to make TikToks because it’s like digital blackface. That’s valid.

I’ve been fortunate enough to pick the brands that I collaborate with based on if they feel authentic to me and if it’s on-brand with what I am doing.

I think it’s really important for all young girls to see themselves represented in fashion so they don’t feel alone in the world.

Don’t get me started on PETA.

Casting plus size girls needs to be genuine.

We need to support our LGBT youth.

I would love to be in the pages of Vogue.

I love taking baths with Lush bath bombs, or just sitting in a dark room and watching Netflix to turn my brain off.

The plus-size fashion world is definitely built by women of color – 100 percent.

It’s really hard to find boots for plus-size women because most of us have larger calves – not all of us, but most of us – so it’s hard to find boots.

It’s hard enough to break into my industry when you’re my height and my size but adding the tattoos on top of it, there’s not many clients that will hire you if you have Miss Piggy tattooed on your arm.

Why is it controversial that I chose to talk about my abortion? And the fact that I got an abortion when I was in a marriage and could have financially supported a child, why did I feel so much shame for that?

Why is it controversial to talk about the fact that fat people deserve to take up space and deserve to be sexy?

I’ve been called fat my whole life. I am fat, so it’s kind of silly to get mad about it.

I feel sexy when I can be in charge of how I present my body and how I am in this world.

I was bullied from fifth grade on. They started making fun of me because my mom was in a wheelchair, then they started making fun of me because I was poor and then it evolved to my size.

It’s refreshing and weird when your kids get older and they’re able to tell you how they feel and what they want.

I don’t have to prove that I’m healthy to anybody.

I do admit that black men love me. I always forget that, and then I come to a black neighborhood and I remember.

At the end of the day, we all have issues with our bodies.

Obviously there aren’t many opportunities for someone who looks like me to walk in fashion shows. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Designers are either not interested in making larger sizes or they don’t feel that it’s important.

My past is just that, my past. I try to not think about it and only keep moving forward.

Many companies and publications don’t understand what it means to be body positive or what it means to be plus-size. They’re just trying to capitalize on the term because it’s a hot topic.

None of us have it all together; it just seems that way on Instagram.

I was really self conscious as a kid, I felt terrible – like a prisoner in my own body.

I’ll wear a crop top if I’m not loving my stomach because it kind of forces me to pay attention to it and to love it, really.

I have created a life for myself that I only thought was literally a dream.

Just because we’re plus size, doesn’t mean we have to prove that we’re healthy, just as someone who is smaller than us or average size doesn’t have to prove they are healthy.

If I have the opportunity, a massage or facial is a great way to take a little ‘me time.’

Learning to love yourself is not going to happen overnight – the first step is trying to be kinder and more patient with yourself, and I understand that it takes time.

I don’t understand why it’s not okay to be plus-size. I don’t know why people hate that phrase. Many models have built their careers as plus-size women and then suddenly don’t want to be called that anymore. But you’re still cashing checks from plus-size designers.

Sometimes I feel like a million dollars and sometimes I feel terrible. But I’ve always been open about the fact that it’s OK to be human and embrace those feelings.

I just say throw on your bathing suit or the shortest shorts you own regardless of your size and rock it.