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Model Stephanie Hogan's SimplyBe Shoot 2011

It was a friend that told me about the SimplyBe competition. The famous plus size clothing catalogue was in search of a new curvy model to represent the brand. As well as this, the prize included a consultation with a plus size agency and a feature in Reveal Magazine. I sent away my details and thought nothing more of it…until I received an email saying that I had been chosen and was in the final 25 from over 500 girls!! The final was held in Manchester at a venue called The Monastery. It was an amazing jam packed day which consisted of catwalk lessons, hair and make-up, a photo-shoot as well as styling. All of the girls were gorgeous and I knew it would be a tough competition. The day was presented by top plus size model Wendy Brooks and was filmed for the SimplyBe website and blog. Our first challenge was to model their clothing on the catwalk. Once we had strutted our stuff the judges went away to deliberate and try and narrow it down to the final five. The wait was nerve wracking but when my name was announced I was in shock! It was such a hard decision that there turned out to be a final seven. We were then whisked away to be glammed up and all given the same dress to wear. Again, we hit the catwalk but this time asked a couple of questions at the end. Unfortunately, I wasn’t chosen to be the Face of SimplyBe 2011 but I had the most fantastic experience and met some lovely people. If anything it has spurred me on to pursue plus size modelling!

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