Star in a Bra is open to all confident and naturally curvaceous women who are D plus cup size. The winner has the opportunity to receive an exclusive one-year international modeling contract with Curvy Kate, and become the U.S. face and body of the brand, fronting a marketing campaign that includes website, video and print components.

Star in a Bra has already taken place five times in the U.K., becoming a widely anticipated event garnering thousands of entries, and has since launched in Australia, and now for the first time, America. Curvy Kate uses only amateur models found through Star in a Bra, and have signed a diverse set of women with dress sizes from 8 – 16, and cup sizes from E – J.

Star in a Bra was born out of necessity when Curvy Kate launched in the U.K. in 2009, and company executives couldn’t find a professional model that wore the product well and also fit the “flirty, fabulous, full-busted” brand image.

Lauren Colfer, who won in the U.K. in 2009, said she entered by taking pictures of herself in the bathroom mirror.

“I sent them to Curvy Kate, and here I am now,” Lauren said. “If you’ve got it, flaunt it! It’s great seeing curvier girls in the fashion industry to relate to.”

Between now and April 27, women ages 18 and over with natural D plus cup sizes can create an entry profile on Curvy Kate’s Facebook page. To enter, you’ll have to upload five pictures of yourself wearing their lingerie or swimwear, and write a short summary of why you want to be Curvy Kate’s Star in a Bra.

People will be able to vote on the winner starting in June. The winner will be flown to the U.K. for a series of photo shoots to execute the marketing campaign with other winners from the U.K. and Australia.  In addition to the modeling contract, the winner will also receive a year’s supply of Curvy Kate lingerie.

Click here for official rules

Morae is the daughter of actress Lisa Raye, and appears with her mom on the reality show “Lisa Raye: The Real McCoy.” According to Bossip.com, Morae is Apple Bottoms’ first plus-size spokesmodel.

Morae herself recently said that in the modeling world, what’s considered “plus size” is what the rest of the world considers normal. She told Gloss magazine: “I don’t because most people don’t realize when you see plus-size models, you see a girl that’s about a size 12 or 14. To me, it’s just thick, it’s not plus-size. I don’t think I’ll ever be skinny; I don’t want to be skinny.”

Here are some behind the scenes pictures from the Apple Bottoms shoot, which was done by photographer Derek Blanks. Looks like the shoot will be featured in an upcoming episode of “Lisa Raye: The Real McCoy.”

Click here to shop Apple Bottoms’ plus size line.

Last year, thousands of young women entered the House of Dreams model search. And several past finalists have signed with modeling agencies such as Wilhelmina International Inc. and Ford Models.

This year, Torrid will narrow down the competition by hosting a place on Torrid.com where fans and friends can vote for their favorite contestant. Online voting will begin on Aug. 16 and House of Dreams finalists will be chosen that same month. Finalists will receive a trip to Los Angeles to participate in an exclusive photo shoot and one winner will be chosen for a trip to New York and meetings with top models and influencers in the industry.

To enter, you’ll need to fill out an application and send an 8×10 photo by Aug. 13. The application, available on Torrid.com, asks questions such as “If you were an item of clothing or an accessory, what would you be and why?” and “A charity or cause that is close to my heart is…” Plus, you’ll need to say why you think you should be the House of Dreams winner.

Watch below to see a video of from last year’s House of Dreams fashion show:

Julien MacDonald with models of his preferred size

Plus size models have gotten a lot of buzz lately, from spreads in V and Glamour, to Whitney Thompson winning “America’s Next Top Model” a few cycles back. So it seems that “Britain’s Next Top Model” judge Julien MacDonald was a little off the mark when he called plus size models “a joke” in an interview with Wales Online.

“This is a serious show. You can’t have a plus size girl winning – it makes it a joke,” he said.

He went on to say that plus size models are “looked down on,” and a plus size girl who wins “Top Model” is being set up for a fall. I think Thompson might disagree; since winning the American show, she has modeled for retailers such as Torrid and Forever 21′s extended sizes line Faith 21 (Sheridan Watson, the winner of Tyra Banks’ plus size model search, also worked with Faith 21).

The New Jersey teenager wears a size 14 and proved her modeling skills through a competition showcased on Tyra’s talkshow. She and five other finalists competed in five areas: Work Out, Denim Diva Look, Iconic RockStar, a Runway-off and a B.I.O. (beauty inside and out) speech. In her speech, Sheridan asked for a boycott of media that objectifies women

Tyra wrote on the Fiercely Real Web site: “Sheridan proved her confidence, speaking and modeling skills topped the other Fiercely Real girls.”

In addition to Tyra, judges were Whitney Thompson, the first plus size America’s Next Top Model winner, Jon Ilani (from Wilhelmina Models) and Seventeen magazine’s Ann Shoket. ANTM judge and photographer shot some of the photos of the finalists.

“I’m still waiting for it all to hit me,” Sheridan told People magazine. “Growing up it was like modeling was not an appropriate profession for someone my size because I’ve always been curvy.”

Tyra, who has often challenged stereotype ideas of beauty, said she wants to exchange the term “fiercely real” for plus-size.

“What’s considered plus-sized in the fashion industry is actually average in the real world. I want women to realize that the women they see in the magazines are not the norm,” she said to People.

Sheridan won a three-year contract with agency Wilhelmina, and will also appear in Seventeen.

Click here for more photos of Sheridan and a behind-the-scenes video.

In conjunction with the Fiercely Real model search, Thompson modeled looks for plus size clothing store Torrid. Click here to see the outfits and buy the clothes.

The competition, naturally, is called Tyra’s Fiercely Real Teen Model Search. It’s open to teens ages 13 to 19 who wear sizes 12-20 and are 5’9″ to 6’1″ tall. To enter, you’ll need to submit four photos of yourself in leggings and a t-shirt or tank: one full-body, one from the waist up, one face-on head shot and and one profile. The model search site, where you’ll enter, has examples to show you what you need to send.

“I want young girls to realize that what’s considered plus-sized is the average American woman,” Banks told Us Magazine. “That woman is healthy, fit and beautiful. Adolescence is such an impressionable time in a young woman’s life, and I hope this contest helps teen girls discover their own beauty from the inside out.”

According to the magazine, the finalists will be announced on the March 2 episode of Tyra’s talk show, and the winner will be announced the next day. The winner will receive a one-year modeling contract and a spread in a major fashion magazine.

Image courtesy Models.com/V Magazine

CNN has published an interesting piece, examining whether 2010 will be the year plus size models become more than just a trend. Is this the ‘year of the plus’ they ask?

It’s a good question. There have been two high-profile magazine spreads featuring larger models in recent months. The first, from Glamour, included Crystal Renn, Amy Lemons, Ashley Graham, Kate Dillon, Anansa Sims, Jennie Runk and Lizzie Miller, all in the buff. Then, in V Magazine‘s January issue, several more plus size models were shown both nude and clothed. The pictorials received a lot of attention and positive feedback from readers. So are agents and models gearing up for more business?

Yes and no, according to CNN.

The network quotes one model who said she has seen more work.

Krista Mays, a size 12 model who has already graced Glamour’s pages for editorials on finding the perfect pair of jeans, is optimistic that this year, the trend will stick. “The work is picking up — I do agree that 2010 is going to be the ‘year of plus.’ The industry is constantly growing,” Mays said.

However, long-time agents have seen spikes of interest in plus size models before.

V magazine’s issue proclaims that big is in, but [agent Aida] Brigman said it is doubtful that these splashes of acceptance in the fashion world will translate into having more than one major runway show for plus-size models. Remember, she cautioned, this has all happened before. “In the late ’90s and early ’00s, [plus-size] was supposed to hit big and it didn’t,” she said. “Grace and Mode [magazines] didn’t survive; the Lane Bryant fashion show ended. We live in a country where it’s a trend for five minutes and that’s it.”

Another interesting point brought up in the CNN piece: Why are these photo spreads so obsessed with nudity?

“We don’t have to take our clothes off for you to be able to see that we’re plus-size,” Ashley Stewart says to CNN.

Models.com/V Magazine

Models.com has posted several photos from the much talked-about plus size photo shoot of V Magazine. The images are from the magazine’s size issue, which hits newsstands Jan. 14. The plus-size models are both clothed and nude, and they are beautiful. The pictures are from a feature called Curves Ahead. Click here to see more

The V plus size issue January issue will feature uber-popular Crystal Renn, along with other plus-size models, both clothed and nude, says Page Six.

The article quotes V editor-in-chief Stephen Gan as saying, “Big, little, pint-size, plus-size — every body is beautiful. And this issue is out to prove it.”

But the folks at New York Magazine aren’t impressed. Calling the casting of plus-size models “a trend,” Amy Adell writes:

Like giving nonwhite models a fair shot at landing runway shows, ad campaigns, and editorials, casting plus-size models shouldn’t be so out there that it becomes an item to ooh and ahh over in “Page Six.” After all, plus-size models are really just normal-size people deemed “plus” by fashion’s extreme standards.

I have to admit: she has a point. If it’s a big deal to spotlight gorgeous women with attainable bodies, then America’s standards of beauty are at the very least a little screwed up.

Or a lot screwed up, as is the case with designer Karl Lagerfield: “No one wants to see curvy women. You’ve got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly.”