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.

Take, for instance, what she wore to the Oscars. Before the big night, Fox News pointed out what while smaller plus-size stars like Jennifer Hudson and Adele are outfitted for events by big designers, Sidibe usually wears off-the-rack items by plus-size retailers such as Curvy List favorite SWAK Designs.

“Throughout the awards season nominees usually wear super high-end dresses you see in the windows of Rodeo Drive,” (fashion expert Natalie) Rotman said. “So is it because Gabby is not sample size that she’s only been gifted off-the-rack designers? That’s my question to Hollywood.”

Back in September, Sidibe recalled to New York Magazine an interaction with a friend:

“I was eating a light potato chip, and she eyeballed me like I was the most disgusting thing she’d ever seen. She says, ‘Every time you want to put something disgusting in your mouth, think of the designers who won’t make a dress for you because you’re fat.’ ”

But Sidibe — whose body is much larger than the barely heavy figures that are considered plus size in Hollywood — has repeatedly said she’s comfortable with who she is, and she feels beautiful no matter what her size.

So a lot of people were wondering what the talented actress would be wearing to the recent Oscar ceremony. She showed up in a gorgeous, jeweled, navy gown by Marchesa. Sidibe described it, according to Huffington Post, as: “If fashion was porn, this dress is the money shot.”

While she was on the red carpet, she even flirted with the hunky Gerard Butler. Check it out on this video from “The Soup”:

Seriously, how much do we love Gabby?

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.

Looking for a reason to buy Glamour magazine this month? The November issue  features a beautiful photo of seven of the world’s most popular plus-size models, unabashedly nude.

The shot includes Crystal Renn, Amy Lemons, Ashley Graham, Kate Dillon, Anansa Sims, Jennie Runk and Lizzie Miller.

The shoot, according to the Glamour article, was a little different than many fashion shoots. “Gosh, it’s so nice that they’re feeding us,” Lemon said to the magazine. “When I was doing runway, all I was ever offered was water and champagne, all day long.”

Accompanying the photo is a long article titled “These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size,”
about the movement to use more normal-sized models in fashion. It details the genesis of the photo, which was inspired by the response to a small photo of a naked Miller that appeared in the magazine’s September issue. Apparently, it hit a nerve with readers.

Why did this particular picture, at this particular moment, resonate with so many women? Some possible reasons: The recession has us all in a back-to-basics, tell-it-like-it-is mood, so realer images of women’s bodies seem appropriate now. Celebrities like Kate Winslet, Jessica Simpson and now, on page 182 of this issue, Scarlett Johansson have spoken out against a culture that nitpicks a woman’s every thigh dimple. First Lady Michelle Obama dresses to accentuate rather than camouflage her regal curves, and has the entire world swooning.

The photo was unveiled on The Ellen Degeneres show today. Four of the models pictured were on the show to discuss the picture — and why what you and I consider “plus” isn’t the definition the industry uses. Click here to watch.

You can check out the Glamour article here. Or show ‘em you support their choice by purchasing the issue — which features Scarlett Johansson on the cover — at the newsstands. Maybe if this issue is a hit, more magazines will feature real women.

Renn has discussed her struggles with weight, including eating disorders. The book, called “Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves,” details her journey from emaciated, unhealthy and miserable to curvy and happy size 12.

A recent article from Fox News detailed the horrific health complications Renn endured to stay thin: heart palpitations, excessive water retention, hair falling out and loss of her menstrual cycle

In the excerpt posted at ABC, Renn talks about how she got from here to there.

I started to eat. I stopped churning mindless circles on an elliptical cross-trainer for seven or eight hours a day, my arms and legs jerking like a marionette’s. I stopped obsessing about chewing a single stick of sugar-free gum. I got heavier. I put on pounds by the dozen and leap frogged dress sizes—from 00 to 12. But I honestly didn’t mind the weight gain and the loss of my matchstick limbs. I made a choice to stop starving.

You can buy “Hungry” at retailers nationwide. Click here to get it from Amazon for $16.50 (it’s also available for the Kindle for $9.99), and here to get it from Barnes & Noble for $20 or $10 for the digital edition.

Elliott plays size-0 model Deb, who through a mixup in heaven got sent into the body of Jane, a successful curvy lawyer. The show realistically portrays some of the struggles larger people have with their bodies and their weight — being a helluva lot of fun to watch.

The NY Times piece, called “In TV Series, Some Reality on Weight,” includes this insight into why some of us will likely never be thin, no matter how hard we try to diet:

The show’s premise raises an obvious question: Given Deb’s success at maintaining a model-like figure, why doesn’t she just put her new body on a diet and lose the weight?

Shows like “Biggest Loser” proffer the message that all it takes is exercise and willpower for fat people to become thin. But “Drop Dead Diva” — 9 p.m. Eastern time on Sundays — explores a different reality. While the slim Deb could comfortably subsist on a diet of grapefruit and celery, Jane’s plus-size body craves chocolate doughnuts. While Deb spent her days working out and obsessing about the size of her knees, Jane discovers that long hours at the office drain her of the desire and energy to exercise.

When a friend suggests a strict diet, Deb (now in Jane’s body) makes a valiant effort to return to her model eating habits. But she discovers that Jane’s body craves chocolate and Cheez Whiz. When she is inside Jane’s body, Deb says: “I don’t like celery. I like sandwiches.”

The NY Times article also mentions Jane/Deb’s sense of curvy style, noting that she carries a green Michael Kors purse, and Entertainment Weekly spotlighted the beautiful Kay Unger shirtdress worn by Elliott during a birthday party scene.

Click here to read the New York Times article