Named the ‘New Crystal Renn’, plus size model Myla DalBesio shares her experience with becoming a model and battling body dysmorphia before accepting her body for what it is. The life of a model has always sparked interest and most recently controversy, after PLUS Model Magazine published an article exposing the dangerous BMI most runway models have today among others. In addition to this, various models have tried to expose the not-so-glamorous life behind becoming an acclaimed model.
In an interview with Claph Magazine, 24 year old plus size model Myla DalBesio shares the struggles she had to face to become a model and reveals developing a case of body dysmorphia in the process, all in order to achieve that ideal body that is required in the modelling world.
Myla, who is both a Ford Model and a multidisciplinary artist, is a size 12 and couldn’t be more happy with herself as she tries to experiment with different media areas. Talking to Claph about the beginning of her career, at the age of 16, Myla said: “Modeling was never something I had seriously considered before, but they (her scouters) were caring and informative, and my family pushed me to pursue it further. Unfortunately, my body simply doesn’t fit into the ‘normal’ model mold, and after two completely miserable years of trying desperately to shape it into something it could never be (and in the meantime, adopting a crippling case of body dysmorphia) I gave up any ambitions of life in the fashion industry and went to art school.”
However, things took a different turn when she learned that there is another face of the fashion industry: the plus size. She was sent to the renowned modeling agency Ford and she has been a model for the agency ever since. She said: “..I walked into Ford and they signed me to a three year contract on the spot. We’ve been a team ever since.”
In an interview with Fashionista.com, Myla also revealed that in her attempt to enter the straight modeling industry, she was always faced with the obsession of weight loss and was always told that she needs to drop a few pounds. She said: “I tried for a long time to make myself do it. I tried throwing up after I ate and that’s awful. That is painful–I would never wish for anyone to do that ever. And then I’d go through weeks where all I ate was black olives or pickles because they have no calories and nothing was happening. I wasn’t losing weight, I was spending hours in the gym. I have a really large chest and it’s never going to go away.”
Myla also states that she believes the people should ditch the differentiation between full figure models and straight models as a model is a model regardless of her size. In addition, she says that the clothes that target plus size women seem to be created without too much thought.
Do you agree with Myla?
Photos courtesy of Claph Magazine