Plus-Size Models Who Reimagined Hollywood’s Hottest Fashion Trends

As she recreated a Julia Fox look, Gabriella Athena Halikas showed the world what an “iconic outfit displayed on a thinner woman” would look like on a “curvier body type."

“The beauty standards have had it a-- backwards for so long now to think that you can only pull off a fit like this if you’re thin or have abs. so i’m here to show you guys that you can look just as damn good rocking something like this in a thicker body!!!” she captioned the 2022 photo.

“Our thoughts are so skewed from what the media has been pushing in our faces for decades now... that now i have to train my mind to think otherwise,” she continued. “us curvy women, CAN pull off low rise pants/outfits. we CAN rock a minimal fit, showing extra skin. & we CAN feel just as sexy and beautiful wearing what we typically only see shown on a thinner body type.

As always, Katie nailed it once more when she took on a Hailey Bieber look.

She admitted she “hated this fit” and thought it was something she would never wear, but she took on the challenge for her #SuperSizeTheLook series in 2021.

“Tbh I hated this fit. Felt like something I would never wear, but that’s part of why I love #SSTL!!” she wrote in the caption at the time.

“Pushing our own boundaries and style can be fun bc guess what...I would wear this now,” she added. “Blame @haileybieber. It’s never about who wore it better, that thought process just keeps us down!”

Paloma Elsesser and her stylist Eric Mcneal managed to track down the very same dress that the late R&B legend Aaliyah wore to the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. 

“I’ve always been obsessed with this look,” she tells Vogue in 2021. “It spoke to an era of cool regality that made the ’90s so iconic, and Aaliyah is the image of this moment that will always be sacred to me.”

The plus-size model, who wore the outfit to a friend’s wedding, said the dress had a sentimental value.

“Aaliyah has always been a style icon of mine, from an oversized denim suit and boots to a yellow silk zebra print dress,” she told the outlet. “She is the reference, she is the blueprint.”

Katie—the founder of Megababe, a body care brand selling products for every body—recreated an Olivia Rodrigo outfit because she loved the way the singer styled her D.A.R.E shirt.

In an interview with Vogue to promote her book Body Talk: How to Embrace Your Body and Start Living Your Best Life by Katie Sturino, she touched upon how people from every generation have their own versions of body image issues.

“It’s a real shame how much time we waste talking and thinking about our bodies negatively. I get even sadder when I speak to women who are in their 60s, 70s, 80s, still talking about body image and still saying, ‘I’ve got to lose that 10 pounds or I don’t look good,” she told the outlet.

“It’s really a question of, What is the point? And, when I did free up that space and when I did accept myself, I was able to do so much more,” she went on to say. “Not only did I have that brain space back, but I had a more purposeful focus. I had more confidence and more courage because having bad body image ties into your whole life…”

Diana Sirokai took on Kim Kardashian’s viral look and delivered a recreation that left the internet speechless.

"I've always been told that if I lost weight I'd look like Kim Kardashian, the plus-size model and fashion designer told Buzzfeed in 2017. “I had the idea of recreating Kim's image to show the world that we don't need to look like Kim to feel and look gorgeous.”

She said the reaction to the recreation was “absolutely insane.”

“I did not think it would go viral like that. The meaning had a huge impact on people from social media,” she added. “That again reminds me why I am here. I am here to help others, because I've felt like that before."

Calling it the “perfect fall fit,” Katie added her signature #SuperSizeTheLook magic to Kaia Gerber’s effortlessly cool, model-off-duty style.

“This might actually be the *perfect* fall fit!!!” she wrote in the caption. “Ventilation but also some fall plaid??? We love this look on every body. Remember it’s never about who wore it better, that mindset just keeps us down!”

Gabriella had also taken on Kim Kardashian’s iconic Hollywood-inspired SKIMS look in 2022, and let's just say—she nailed it! 

“When i saw this vintage Hollywood shoot for kim’s @skims line go live, i knew immediately i needed to recreate it on a curvier body type,” she said. “someone as iconic as kim kardashian who has so much power over the beauty standards, i wanted to show you that you can look just as ICONIC wearing the same thing in a bigger body.”

As she posted the recreation on Instagram, she said she wanted to “change the narrative around beauty and society’s bulls--- standards.”

“I want to change the perspective of what people think they can or cannot pull off because of their body type,” she continued.

“The coolest thing is that we are all beautiful in our own way. we are all so unique and that’s what should be celebrated, not whether or not we fit into the ‘beauty standards’!!! YOU CAN ROCK THESE SUITS TOO HUNNAYYY” she declared.

Another standout look from Katie was her take on Julianne Hough's chic ensemble. In this recreation, she brilliantly mimicked Julianne’s effortless street style, showing how confidence can elevate any outfit.

Katie proved that killer confidence is all it takes to pull off a “complicated” top.

“Complicated tops, as I like to call them, used to be a no-no for big girls but Julianne and I both look cute as hell! Yep, it’s NEVER about who wore it best!” she said in the caption.

In another post for her “THICK GIRLS CAN ROCK THIS FIT TOO” edition, Gabriella turned the heat up again by recreating Julia Fox’s bold and boundary-pushing grocery store fit.

Gabriella said in her 2022 post that the fit was her “most scandalous one to-date,” and she “never felt more liberated walking into that store.”

“For so long now more revealing outfits were only accepted to be worn by thinner women, whereas when a curvier woman wears the exact same fit, it’s too ‘inappropriate.’ ‘too scandalous,’ and ‘too sexual,’" she said. “i’m here to say that’s a bunch of bulls---.” 

“I felt so free in my body and felt as if i just broke through society’s hypocritical standards and expectations,” she added.

Katie Sturino has proved time and time again that curvy girls can slay high-fashion trends as fiercely as anyone.

She once took on Miley Cyrus’ effortlessly cool street style for her #SuperSizeTheLook series.

The grunge-inspired look proved that fashion is truly for everyone, no matter your size.

“H-O-T comes in all shapes and sizes! Remember it’s never about who wore it better bc that mindset just keeps us down,” she wrote in the caption.

When Stella Williams saw Hunter Schafer's Vanity Fair Oscar Party look, she felt compelled to recreate the gorgeous ensemble, composed of a white mermaid skirt with feather top.

"There was something about Hunter’s outfit that I loved and I was like, 'I need to see myself in this,'" she told Yahoo Life in 2023.

The plus-sized model and content creator also touched upon how a lot of people are still entrapped by conventional ideas of beauty.

"People are not exposed to different types of body shapes, different types of people," she told the outlet. "We've gone from a very standard set of beauty to having so many different ways people are able to creatively express themselves now, and it's new."

"Unfortunately, I think a lot of people are still behind, and they still have this foundation of what a beauty standard is in their mind, and they can't shake it," she added.