Once too shy to model, plus-size woman's stripped-down photo featured on city buses
Bus billboards for local photo studio the 1st to feature a plus-size model not promoting plus-size fashion
As Jillian McClary was doing her own makeup and hair for her first-ever modelling gig, she overcame shyness in preparation to be one of the first plus-size models featured on a Halifax Transit bus billboard.
"Part of me feels like, what's taken so long?" McClary said from her Beaver Bank home.
"To finally see that beauty's everywhere and in every size and shape. It's good to be a part of that."
McClary is featured in an awareness campaign for Halifax Boudoir, a photo studio specializing in intimate, boudoir-style portraits for clients of all sizes.
The ad's slogan, "Be Empowered," reflects the company's photography and mission statement to promote all body types.
'I never had the confidence'
McClary, 34, responded to the company's model call for women between the ages of 28 and 45 who wear sizes 12 to 20.
"I've never been asked to model before, but I never had the confidence," she said.
About 300 women applied within an hour, said Jenn Gregory, Halifax Boudoir's president and principal photographer.
Gregory said she learned through her advertising company that McClary's photos would be the first Halifax Transit billboard to feature a plus-size model who is not promoting fashion or a business that specifically targets women who wear plus sizes.
The photo features the dark-haired McClary posing on a bed wearing lacy lingerie, a necklace and smoldering eye makeup.
"I haven't seen any average-slash-curvy girls used for any promotion aside from Addition Elle," said Gregory. Addition Elle is a Canadian chain of clothing stores that sells plus-size clothing and lingerie.
Gregory says it doesn't matter if McClary is the very first to appear on the buses. What matters is the message to "celebrate every body type," she said.
Campaign runs for 1 month
The billboard campaign, which started today, will run for one month.
Once lacking self-esteem, McClary said the gig has given her a big confidence boost.
She hopes to be the kind of role model she searched for as a young girl.
"I want to send a message to my daughter. I want to send a message to women, in general, that beauty comes in every shape."