Charli Howard leaves agency with Facebook post 'for being told she was too big to work'

At 5ft 8. and weighing 7.5 stone, Howard claims she was told her body shape was ‘too curvaceous’

Charli Howard posted an angry letter about her agency on Facebook (Facebook)

A model who posted a “f**k you” letter to her modelling agency on her Facebook page says she is overwhelmed by the support she has received world-wide.

Charli Howard claims she was repeatedly told she was “too big” or “out of shape” by the modelling agency, which she does not name, despite being a UK size 6.

The 23-year-old, from London, posted an angry letter criticising the unnamed agency for allegedly instructing her to “lose an inch” off her hips.

“I refuse to feel ashamed and upset on a daily basis for not meeting your ridiculous, unobtainable beauty standards, whilst you sit at a desk all day, shovelling cakes and biscuits down your throats and slagging me and my friends off about our appearance. The more you force us to lose weight and be small, the more designers have to make clothes to fit our sizes, and the more young girls are being made ill. It's no longer an image I choose to represent.

 

A photo posted by Charli Howard (@charlihoward) on Sep 26, 2015 at 2:03am PDT

“In case you hadn't realised, I am a woman. I am human. I cannot miraculously shave my hip bones down, just to fit into a sample size piece of clothing or to meet 'agency standards'. I have fought nature for a long time, because you've deemed my body shape too “curvaceous”, but I have recently began to love my shape. I don't have big boobs, but my bum is ok, a large majority of my clients are ok with this.”

Howard said she was “blown away” by the support she received from women, agencies and photographers after posting her open letter and has vowed to keep modelling, but on her own terms.

She wrote: “My mental and physical health is of more importance than a number on a scale, however much you wish to emphasise this.”

Her claims echo those made by the Swedish model Agnes Hedengard, who shared a video of herself in her underwear on Facebook after being rejected by casting agents because her hips were "too wide". She has a body mass index of 17.5, which is considered underweight.

The Independent has contacted the UK agency she was previously represented by for comment.