Plus-size model shares secrets of her success

Emme encourages
women to be happy
with their shape
By clare marie celano
Staff Writer

Plus size model Emme has spent the last 10 years trying to impress upon women the need to be happy with who they are. She recently spoke at the Freehold Gardens Hotel, Freehold Township.

FREEHOLD — Life should be an equal opportunity employer.

Although at times it may not appear to be that way for everyone, there are always advocates out there taking steps to make it so.

Model Emme has spent the last 10 years trying to impress upon women the need to be happy with who they are. That’s not always an easy feat if you’re a woman, especially if you spend any time looking at fashion magazines or shopping for clothes that are the popular look each season.

Recently, Emme spoke to a packed crowd at the Freehold Gardens Hotel, Freehold Township. Her presentation was sponsored by the Friends Health Connection in combination with the efforts of the CentraState Medical Center Health Awareness Center and its health expo.

The Friends Health Connection brings people with health problems together, whether they live across the street from each other or across the nation, according to the organization’s outreach director, Karen Schneider. The organization presents a series of lectures throughout the year.

Emme was lined up to speak about her latest book, Life’s Little Emergencies, but the lovely model did so much more than plug her new book, which was available for purchase and autographing. She connected with an audience of women (and two men) who related to her life, her trials and turmoil. They had been there, too.

Being beautiful, fit, sexy and having the camera love you are qualities many models possess. But even if you have all those qualities, life is not always peaches and cream if you’re a model who is a size 16.At least it wasn’t 10 years ago. Through her work as an advocate, Emme has helped to change the image of the modeling industry, the fashion industry and, therefore, the way women see themselves.

With charm, wit and a sense of community with those she addressed, Emme took serious subjects and made them a bit lighter. She shared some of her own "horror" stories, some of which hurt her deeply. She relayed that years ago, most photographers did not want to work with plus-size models and some were blatantly rude in their response to them. Most of the women at the event could relate to her pain and hurt. Just being a woman is reason enough to qualify for admission into this club, according to the model.

Looking fit and beautiful dressed in black silk pants and a white, sheer, fitted long-sleeve blouse, Emme revealed that she, herself, is considered "obese" according to health charts, as well as to the industry. It was clear that the audience members refuted this statement by their verbal response.

Calling herself a "Jersey girl," Emme had some brief but effective advice for her guests. "Take your job seriously. Take yourself lightly," she said.

The model and author actually got a chance to practice what she had been preaching. Arriving 45 minutes late because her limousine had a flat tire and for some reason neglected to possess a spare, guests waited patiently for her to arrive as she was, in fact, out having a "little emergency" of her own.

Emme exerted star power as she entered the room filled with fans who knew her and those who didn’t. With elegance, grace and humor, she made light of a situation that could have turned into a disaster.

Emme told her audience that death and health are major issues that require a serious attitude.

"We must always be there for our loved ones, our family and our friends," she advised. "In these situations, tell them if you don’t know exactly what to say. Ask them what you can do to help them."

Emme, the host of Fashion Emergency on the E! cable television network, told her audience that her inspiration for her book came when she was living through a very hard time.

"And I’d be getting calls from people asking me about eyebrow plucking and problems with self-esteem," she said. "Somehow it all came together. When I had more time, I realized that emergencies hit all of us. Why not write a book on those that are tiny? I wanted to teach people how to keep those tiny ones incubated and not let these things ruin their relationships or affect their friendships. We all have the same experiences; they are the cement that makes us women, that make us human beings."

In the wake of Sept. 11 and the war in Iraq, Emme said she wanted her book to allow readers to "giggle" along with the author and add a little levity to a world filled with so much "heaviness."

"I wanted to have levity in my own life," she added, noting that the book deals with body image, beauty, fashion and relationships.

Emme writes her books with passion and lives her own life with the passion she wants others to learn to embrace.

"We need to learn to relax, to use our own voices and not to be put down by a monster," she said.

The monster?

A $50 billion diet industry that still maintains a 98 percent failure rate, according to Emme.

"Why do we do this to ourselves over and over again?" she asked her audience. "We need to learn to accept our body diversity. Instead, we continue to make a big package smaller, or a small one bigger. We try to make our skin lighter or darker. We are all beautiful and just right at this essential time."

Emme, who is about to turn 40, said she was "strong, fit, powerful and young in spirit." She said that to lose the 40 or 50 pounds agencies wanted her to lose years ago would have made her weak and fade away.

"I’m an athlete; I need to be strong," she said.

The model went on to say she was tired of not being able to find up-to-date and stylish clothing to fit her body and her lifestyle.

"Why did I have to shroud myself in clothing?" she asked. "It was as if I was a nonexistent person."

Her solution to the problem was to cre­ate a line of clothing which can be seen exclusively at J.C. Penney.

"All women should be able to wear clothing that is in style and that comple­ments and enhances their shapes," she ex­plained. "Most women our age have money to burn. They want to buy clothes, and considering that 60 percent of women are a size 12 and over, this simply does not make sense.

"Don’t let things like this get you off track, don’t let it make you lose your steam. Don’t let these blips and road­blocks affect your goals and desires," she added.

Emme said she is "passionate about ac­cepting the body diversity of our ‘vessels’ and the right we have to our own individ­uality."

"Women need to think better of them­selves. Considering that it is usually the woman who sets the tone in the home, if 75 percent of us are feeling bad, what does that do to the family? Great things can happen if we stop putting ourselves down. When we put a positive slant on things, to­gether it has a rippling effect on the world. Go passionately into life," the author in­structed. "Tear down the myths. Do not believe everything you see and hear.

"What if we only had one flower on the earth? Think how boring it would be if all we had were daisies to look at. We need to have that whole bouquet of color and de­sign."