Size 20 model criticises Tess Holliday for boycotting the term ‘curvy’

Felicity Hayward thinks 'curvy' is much better than 'plus-size'

Instagram (Felicity Hayward)

A British plus-size model has hit back at Tess Holliday for arguing that women should refrain from calling themselves “curvy” because it is insulting.

Felicity Hayward was left fuming after the size 22 American model told Paper that she resented being referred to as “curvy” and "sexy".

“I don’t want to be called ‘curvy sexy-licious,’ that’s ridiculous. It’s insulting! We can’t even be who we are,” said Holliday.

She claimed that women stop using the term to describe themselves once they become famous because “they are too good for it”.

Speaking to Mail Online, Hayward explained why the term should not be refuted, arguing that “plus-size” is a far more ambiguous alternative.

“The difficulty with it is plus-size models start from a size 10 to 12,” the size 20 model said.

“And the average size woman in the UK is a size 16, that’s why a lot of models don’t like to use the term plus-size because they are a size 12, they’re not really above average.”

Hayward went on to explain that she preferred describing herself as “curvy” because she felt it was a more accurate representation of her body shape.

She added that plus-size models should be doing more to support one another.

“You should love yourself and know your worth as a person rather than any labels or any flaws,” she said.

“I personally think that society creates flaws to benefit on our insecurities, and that’s when you start to get messiness over what’s good and what’s not.”

The two models recently worked together on Simply Be’s size inclusive catwalk show, which included models that ranged from a size 10 to 26.