One of the best parts of being in such an amazing community of curvy women who are all about fashion, beauty and defying the notions of what society thinks our lives should be like in regard to our size is that there are so many opportunities to get involved and be a part of amazing campaigns, fundraisers, and revolutions and I have been lucky enough to get to take part in  Healthy Is The New Skinny™!

Healthy Is The New Skinny™ is a T-shirt fundraiser to promote health as common goal for all women! This is not about a size. It’s about a movement.

Healthy is the New Skinny is about revolutionizing the values of the fashion industry. It’s about putting happiness and vibrant good health first and foremost. Generations of young women have assessed their own worth by how far they are from the ideal of unrealistic thinness. Healthy is the New Skinny believes in natural beauty, the kind that can’t be defined by a hip measurement, but is defined by fitness and joy.

Healthy is the New Skinny is partnering with acclaimed designer Jessica Svoboda, whose breakthrough denim styles for straight and “plus size” figures are catching attention across the country. Jessica is attempting to be the first designer in the history of New York Fashion Week to use models between the sizes of 6 and 10 on the runways. These models are healthy, stunningly beautiful women whose bodies represent a healthy, fit, desirable ideal.

The size standards in fashion today are extremely unrealistic, even harmful. They give all of us a distorted image of true beauty, depriving all of us of a chance to see just how good healthy can look. Healthy is the New Skinny wants to be the first to show you this new vision – and we want to show you in a big way.

When Jessica first applied for New York Fashion Week, she was told that the organizers had no interest in seeing plus-size (really, natural size) models in any of their shows. One person actually asked Jessica, “Who wants to see a herd of elephants stomping on the runways?”

Ouch. If that’s what industry insiders think of healthy, naturally beautiful women, we’ve got news for them: the “elephants” are coming.

With support from Healthy is the New Skinny, Jessica Svoboda is applying for New York Fashion Week fall/winter 2011. There, she’ll be launching her fully merchandised, ready-to-wear collection for all women sizes 2-28, featuring “Natural Beauty” models from the nation’s newest plus-size agency, Natural Model Management in Los Angeles.

Healthy Is The New Skinny™ was one of the amazing sponsors for Viva Fat Vegas myself and all of the other 10 bloggers were given a Healthy Is The New Skinny t-shirt in our swag bags an encouraged us to cut it up, get crafty and use the shirt for a look that was uniquely us! Well yesterday I took out my scissors and in the words of my main man Tim Gunn  made it work!

I am not much of a “Little Susie Homemaker” and I really have no skills in the craft department so I kep the bedazzler away and worked with my scissors and cut the tee into and 80′s style with a wide off the shoulder neckline, shortened the sleeves, and cropped the bottom. I decided since we were going for a retro “flashdance” vibe I paired it with my hot pink xoxo bra, faux leather Torrid leggings and my hot pink Torrid pumps and was feeling very RETRO! To top it off and make it a little more me I took the neckline and scraps from the tee and made myself a nice little bow headpiece to top off the look! This was such a fun look for me and I think was a great way to express my healthy, exuberance, outgoingg personality and my life  not as a skinny mini! Thanks again Healthy Is The New Skinny for letting me be a part of the revolution and get involved!

How can you get involved?

1. Buy a Healthy is the New Skinny t-shirt. All proceeds will go towards Jessica Svoboda’s show. If you want to see a healthy revolution in fashion wear a t-shirt — and be our spokesmodel!

2. Tell friends and family to join us on Facebook and follow our progress. New York Fashion Week won’t let designers know if they’ve been chosen until two weeks before. As the remark about elephants makes clear, there are powerful figures in the industry who don’t want to see models like ours on the runways. The more excitement we can build about Healthy is the New Skinny and Jessica’s line, the more pressure we can bring to bear on the industry to open Fashion Week to our vision.

3. Embrace the Healthy is the New Skinny message. In our hearts, we know that this is the direction the fashion industry needs to go. This is about liberation, this is about self-acceptance, this is about celebrating happiness and health. You know it’s the right thing.

T-shirt size small- 3x $20 plus shipping!

Get involved and send me your pics of you rockin the revolution of Healthy Is The New Skinny to stilettosiren@live.com I would love to see your looks and share them with my readers!

xoxo

Stiletto