3rd Birthday Giveaway #10 – Be a Volup2 model!

Hello lovelies! You’ve all been so nice on twitter and in the comments about the blog’s birthday, so thank you! To make things easier, I’ve separated each giveaway into its own post. You can enter as many as you wish, however you won’t be able to win more than one prize, as that won’t be fair – hope that’s ok!

I thought I’d save the biggest and best for last. I’m so excited about this one!

Myself, Fashion Loves Photos and Volup2 are giving one of you the chance to be an editorial model for a future issue of Velvet d’Amour’s magazine, in a shoot styled by me! What do you think? Sounds pretty fun, yes?

We’re hoping the shoot would take place in London in October – so, whoever wins will have to be available and local (or rich enough to pay for flights!) to London at that time.

It’s slightly different this time, peeps. To win, I’d like you to comment below on why you would want to model for Volup2 and what it would mean to you if you won.

Best of luck my lovelies! I shall be picking a winner this Friday. xx

LollyLikesFATshion

Velvet is a hero of mine and inspiration! Her beauty, talent and gift is beyond words. Her photography has had me stunned at the amazing shots and models she gets. Her Magazine Volup2 is a breath of fresh air and would love to model for her and the magazine. Your shoot for the mag was one of my faves Lauren as it showed your awesome style and attitude. Love and respect to you both x
notamakeupsnob

I would love the opportunity to model for Volup2 as I feel it would be a very fitting way to celebrate my fat acceptance journey and all the hard work I’ve put into loving my body. Velvet was one of the first people who made me realise that fat really is beautiful, and being styled by such a fierce plus sized blogger would be a dream come true!
http://www.facebook.com/sallyre Sally Reeve Edwards

I’m almost scared to type this as I’m not sure, if I won, if I’d be able to be as AMAZING as the women featured in Volup2. Both issues I’ve seen have been so inspiring- so inclusive – such wondrous images of women in all shapes and sizes and I love it. My mind keeps telling me I might be a bit old at 41 but then I remember some of the diverse models featured by Velvet and tell myself to stop it – I may be a mature(ish) mother of two, but I’m sure, with you styling and the whole ethos and image of the magazine, that you could make me look just as fantastic and beautiful. It would be a wonderful way to show the world that you don’t have to be a size zero, under 25 woman to feature on the pages of a magazine. Plus it would be something to show my children and grandchildren!
Kabikaj

I’d love to win this because I’ve never accepted myself as being ok, regardless of how much I weighed or how big my waistband is. This would take me out of my comfort zone and quite frankly, I think this is what I need to even begin to accept myself for who I am.
http://twitter.com/pixieandmurphy Pixieandmurphy

Um abut scared but ok yes thank you, I think I will!
http://tutusandtinyhats.wordpress.com/ Laura

I love Velvet D’Amour and Volup2! It’s amazing to see beautiful women of all shapes and sizes, ages, ethnic backgrounds, and physical abilities. The magazine also has a funky, colorful, out-of-the-box aesthetic that really speaks to me. I’ve always loved fashion, but the fashion magazines I grew up with took a toll on my self-esteem. Seeing women like myself represented in fashion in the fat-o-sphere has been a big part of my self-acceptance journey, and I would love to be able to continue and celebrate my journey–and hopefully inspire others!–by posing in Volup2.
Miranda

I’ve suffered with depression officially for about 8 years, which has had an affect on my self-esteem. I never truly feel pretty or beautiful so if I won this comp, it would help just for one day to banish those negative thoughts and have some belief in myself.
Janie Britton

Blimey , what a hell of a prize, I’d love this because I want to show that I’m not to fat and too old to model and look good. I could talk about what a crap year I’ve had and that my hubby nearly died , but I wont, even though a sort of have ( sorry about that) .

I love what Velvet stands for , love the magazine, love clothes, fashion everything that goes with it. So pick me xx I will be a dammed good model and I am very very proud of the skin that I am in :0)
Caroline CurvyWordy

I have spent quite some time wondering about what to write here in order for my comment to stand out. Even as I type, I am not sure I am choosing my words correctly but I hope my longing to win this prize comes through clearly enough.

I have been a fan of Volup2 since I entered the competition to find new models some months ago. Sadly I didn’t make it through but several of my lovely friends did, including Georgina, Lorna and of course, you, Lauren. I remain in awe of how beautiful you all are, both in real life and in Velvet’s pictures, and I would love to have the chance to be styled by you and appear in Volup2.

Like many people, I have occasional wobbles about my appearance but it would be amazing to be photographed professionally by Diana from Fashion Loves Photos. I met her at Plus London Two and had so much fun in the photo studio with her, her assistant and some of my friends. She was fantastic at putting the attendees at ease and got some really special photos of us all.
This is such an amazing opportunity – thank you Lauren, Velvet and Diana for giving us the chance to aspire to participate in something incredible.
http://twitter.com/MrsBeBe_ Becky B

Oh this could turn into a big cheese fest and for that I apologise in advance… But…. A long time ago I wanted to be a plus size model, I even moved to London and went to castings, only to be sneered at as my size 28 body didn’t fit the rules. I left that dream in the past, I became a wife and a mum, a different dream instead. But when I became a mum I lost all sense of me, I forgot what it was like to be me, I lost my direction with style, but, slowly I’ve begun to find that again through all the fabulous blogs and the fatosphere. To model for Volup2 really would be the cherry on my big fat yummy cake, such a unique publication can only go to help me find my sense of unique again too.
Mel C

I literally couldn’t think of any better way to round off my body acceptance journey than to be an actual real life model for a day. People with my body are never represented in the fashion world, I’ve grown up very rarely seeing anyone with the same shape as me in pretty much all aspects of life, unless they are the face of ridicule or scorn of some sort. Publications like VolUp2 do so much good work in bringing body diversity into the media and it would absolutely mean the world to me to be part of it.
miss marmalade

I want to model for you to remind everyone that ALL people of ALL shapes and ALL sizes have body confidence issues. It was also mean a rocking set of pictures for my vanity to drool over!
I now know my bad points, I know my good points, I do my best to embrace the latter and I ignore the former, when I can. It hasn’t always been that easy, but at 38, I’m in a pretty good place. I haven’t the body I’d choose, but its a bloody good body and one that I love and work hard to look after. It is this attitude that means I am comfortable behind a lens, I will work hard for the camera to deliver a professional shoot with great poses. I have been fortunate enough to have been photographed by Diana in the past. I am always secretly stunned by the spectacular results – not because I doubt her talent as she has an amazing eye and captures brilliant stolen moments from her subject, but more that actually I look pretty damn good after all. To be published would just be the cherry on top!!
Patricia Moral

I would love to be a model for Volup2, it’s such an inspiring publication makes you feel so good about your self. Isn’t that what we all want to achieve…be happy with the way you look. It will be a confidence boost for me or whoevers win.
If it was me I will frame the picture and hang it at the entrance of my house where everybody could see how proud I am of being a curvacious woman.
thanks xx
May Marsh

I’m a big subscriber to the theory of looking good to feel good only for yourself, not for others, and have long preached this from the rooftops – however probably not usually taking my own advice! When my ex of 4 years left me, ‘citing he didn’t feel the same about me anymore as I’d put on weight over our time together, he no longer found me attractive and that was the sole reason he was leaving, cue nights of weeping, lots of vino-being drunk, and lots of hating myself in the mirror. 2 years later on and I have worked hard to accept what I have, and that he was wrong not to want me as I am….I’ve given myself new challenges like running the London Marathon for Cancer Research which I wouldn’t have had the guts to try with him, I’ve started to learn to burlesque….but even being proud of these achievements and subsequently losing wsome of the weight, the mirror is still there.
I still quake at the sight of a camera and have to pull silly faces or down gin and performing burlesque for the first time in a group, I hated standing alongside much more petite (and toned) girls. People don’t see this because I laugh everything sensitive off… I’m the big funny friend in a group, relied on for entertainment!
I’ve lost weight (mostly a big man-sized lump since the ex left!) and I’m doing everything I can to feel better about myself and appreciate how far I’ve come – but still fail to make the mirror less scary – and along the way my style has lost direction – I don’t know how to dress the new me. So if you’re up for a huge challenge Lauren, please pick me!
http://twitter.com/Whitsat Whitsat

I’d like to win because I’ve never felt beautiful before. I’m a big gal with some wicked wit, I can make you laugh, beat your ass in any pub quiz and might even once have pulled off “cute”. Most of the time I feel uncomfortablw in my own skin, and would never dream of teying something like this for fear if being mocked. To have – just once – an experience where I felt beautiful would be… Perfection.
http://www.lilybobombslovelylumps.com/ Mhairi

I fell in love with Velvets photography a while ago and have loved seeing you and Gina modelling for her, I would love the opportunity to model for Velvet, it would push so many of my self imposed boundaries out of the window and that is an amazing thing, I wont go off on a big gushy comment but this would mean everything to me, wearing my swimming cozy on my blog has been terrifying and liberating this would be amazing!
naomi_g

Why?

Because there is a severe lack of women with my body type in mainstream media fashion edits, visibility through an outlet such as Volup.2 can ensure that every body type gets the positive exposure that it deserves and needs for acceptance and awareness that beauty is in EVERY body, regardless of shape or size. Why wouldn’t I want to be part of that?

What would it mean to me?

It would rock my world to be able to be included in an edit based on empowerment and positivity with some seriously fierce ladies! Oh hell yes!

Naomi

http://diamonds-n-pearls-fat-girl.blogspot.co.uk/
http://twitter.com/Kathroooon Kathryn Kaupa

Oh my, what to say that these ladies haven’t already said, and I’m sure that the entries that follow me will say as well.

I do well with words. I can express myself well in the spoken and the written word. In a crowd, or one on one. Photos, not so much. I pull a face. Pull a silly pose. Laugh. Avoid the face.

I am slowly getting better at sartorial choices, but I struggle to associate me with them. It’s like I’m dressing someone else.

Being a part of this wonderful community is helping me so much, but it is still such a personal journey that it is hard to measure, hard to conjure, and ultimately, hard to keep. To be able to keep the photos of my ‘good’ sartorial days, to prove that I got it part right on some days, would inspire me on days when I struggle. But as I said, photos, I struggle with.

If I had the opportunity to have a reel of photographs taken by the delightful Velvet, and where I am styled by the keen eye of you Lauren, I would have the inspiration to push myself harder, to step outside of comfort zones, to challenge myself, and others.

I have no doubt that I will not win this, with so many deserving women above and below me, sharing their amazing stories, hopes and dreams with you.

But I wanted to be a part of this celebration of the Pocket Rocket Lauren, and share with you this little piece.

Much love my dear, xx
http://twitter.com/PicPixie Isha

I’ve thought long and hard about
whether or not to enter this competition. I’ve been struggling with it
for a few days, and finally decided to do it.

You see, there are various groups
of disadvantage, and I happen to belong in all of the following: female,
plus size, short, and black- I never really had a chance did I? In a
world where the opposite of all of these things are seen as redeeming
factors. It has been a constant and exhausting battle against myself
self and others, battling with looking in the mirror and seeing
something that could be seen as beautiful. People of colour represented
in the media are embarrassingly few and far between. I remember the
cheers when Naomi Campbell and Iman first walked the catwalk, people
thought that this was a new era for people of colour; but in truth, I
see no change. I still see a white dominate catwalk, I still see people
of colour in the minority; and with that, even those whom do “represent
minorities” do not look like me- they are tall, thin and striking;
whereas I’m 5 2″ and plus size.

It’s just not good enough.

I didn’t want to enter this
competition because part of me felt that others wouldn’t want to see
someone like me representing VOLUP2. But I’ve taken it upon myself to
enter, not just for my want to do it, but for my want to represent a
group that has for too long been brushed under the carpet. Beauty comes
in all forms, shapes, sizes and colour- I am beautiful and it has taken
me too long to realise this, when all around me is telling me different. I want to represent those whom feel they don’t have a voice, those whom feel they don’t deserve a voice…

I want to do this to represent the old me and show others that they can be wonders- even if it’s just for a day.

x
http://twitter.com/Nixic Nik A Currums

Theres no simple answer as to why so many deserving, beautiful people would love a chance to do this, maybe its to see a different aesthetic, maybe its a sense of unfairness and under-representation in the media, maybe its simply to fulfil a life time ambition or to feel beautiful.
Deep down every plus size girl who has spent a life time being “funny, quirky or bubbly” wants to be beautiful, to be sexy to prove that our humour, quirks and out going personalities are not the sum total of what we have to offer- we are gutsy, ballsy, desirable, smart and quite frankly spectacular.
I have been told many times over the years that i “have such a pretty face” always said with that sympathetic smile and overly sugar voice that implies “shame about the rest of you”. WTF! all of me is beautiful thank you very much and its about time more people saw that.
We live in a world where even women who fit the national average are termed as plus sized, and every day we are made to feel less than we are.
But taking all the worthy arguments into consideration, and as vehement a supporter of body confidence and equal representation i am, i have to admit that it may seem shallow to some, but i have dreamt of a chance at modelling, of that idealised, glamorous world and the chance to just for one day know that people mean it when the call me pretty.
sarahlicious

Id love to win this prize!!!! :D Im a plus size lady who has recentley had a baby and would love the opportunity to have some fantastic pictures taken for such a revolutionary magazine!! thank u xoxo
- sarahlicious
  
  It would mean alot to me because after having my baby I feel like my sexy mojo has disappeared and this would help me bring it back!!!
http://www.divadellecurve.com/ divadellecurve

this would be cool if only I could easily reach london…
http://twitter.com/Rosieroundface Rosie Astbury

I would love the chance to model for Volup2 as its only recently I’ve started to actually feel confident about myself and loving me for who i am. I know I’ve been blogging for something like 2 years as a plus size blogger but its only in the last 6 months or so I’ve decided that I can wear what ever the hell i want. Being 19 I still struggle to love myself as I struggle to feel confident when I’m out with my friends for fear of getting things heckled at me and comments made but as I said they are suddenly not effecting my like they used to. I finally want to show everyone what I’m truely like and blogging is something has made me feel this way. I’ve always wished to be in something to prove myself to the people around me who just don’t get that I want to be confident in my own body and I’m totally sick of the back handed compliments i get from well to be honest family and I just want to show them how amazing I can be with a little help and this would be the ulimate boost to help me on my way! I also want to prove that i can be daring and brave and that the rosie some people think they know isn’t the real me at all its just the person they assume i am.this would also show teenagers that even at a young age you can be who you want to be and not hide away because you think it’ll make it easier through school life etc. I’ve made some amazing friends through the plus size community and they actually know me better than my friends back home. I know that if i won they’d also be alot of bloggers and online friends that would be proud of me too and that means alot.

I don’t know if I’ve put myself across well here but I’ll keep on rambling anyway it would mean that someones believed what I’ve said or has understood what I’ve tried to say if I won this comp and that i’m not actually the one that gets put to the back (which I tend to be more often than not) I realised I probably sound really confusing on this so I do hope you understand what i’m chatting about!
Cruellamcg

All I can say I would like the freedom this brings. I don’t consider myself photogenic. I love fashion with real passion however and want everyone to be able to feel that. I look interesting. I’m edgy. Im up for taking risks. I get into fights with nasty girls who take the easy option, because I worry about the women who this upsets and stops them living. I guess I would like to put this in pictures.

3rd Birthday Giveaway #10 – Be a Volup2 model!

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