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Tara does it for the larger lady

Irish girl beats 500 other finalists to win Plus Size title. By Angela Sammon - 25/02/09

A FULL-BODIED university student from County Cork, has scooped the title of “Britain’s Next Plus Model”.

Curvy Irish beauty, Tara Logan Buckley, from Ballinhassig, beat nearly 500 potential models to become the first winner of the title.

The competition was launched by “Just As Beautiful”, a magazine for the plus-size woman, who said they were constantly bombarded with requests for modelling opportunities.

Close to 500 women ranging from size 16 submitted their pictures and statistics, but the Cork native emerged victorious.

Tara, a student at the University College, Cork, said: “I wanted to be Britain’s Next Plus Model as I have always been so proud of my curvy shape and frame. I have always worn my clothes with pride and encourage others to do the same.

“I feel, as a university student, that I can represent a younger generation in which the size 0 is not fashionable and not healthy. Being from Ireland we have nothing here that allows us to be proud of our shape; that’s why I was willing to travel for my love of the modelling world. I’ve got boobs and a bum and I’m not afraid to show them.”

Buckley travelled to the competition in Champneys, Forest Mere (Hampshire), where she faced a strict judging panel of some of the plus-size industry’s biggest names.

The panel was made up of Chloe Marshall, winner of Miss Surrey, Miss Teen England and the first ever plus-size runner-up in a Miss England beauty pageant; model agency founder Cheryl Hughes; author Lyndsay Russell; and Australian plus-size retailer Phil Ryan.

The panel agreed that despite the fact that 16 is the average dress size of the British woman, this is hardly ever reflected in the fashion and advertising industry.