The cavernous photography studio in New York City is bustling with fashion assistants, hair and makeup stylists, and models chatting in white terry robes. All typical on a photo shoot, but when the robes come off, you see what's different. Kate Dillon, Ashley Graham, Amy Lemons, Lizzie Miller, Crystal Renn, Jennie Runk and Anansa Sims -- some of the top plus-size models working today -- have beautiful curves, round shoulders, belly rolls and lots of other womanly stuff many of us see when we look in the mirror. Oh, and there's lunch, which the models actually eat. "Gosh, it's so nice that they're feeding us," says Lemons. "When I was doing runway, all I was ever offered was water and champagne, all day long." But it's not the food the models are excited about -- it's the mission. They've been assembled to help Glamour continue an extraordinary dialogue on body image that you, our readers, began.

It started in our September issue with a small photo of Lizzie Miller sitting au naturel -- confident, sexy and clearly unconcerned about a little belly overhang. We loved the photo, but it was just one of more than a hundred of full-figured women we've run in recent years, so we were surprised when it hit a nerve. "This is true beauty!" wrote one commenter on glamour.com. "A woman that eats!" Added Megan Fehl, 23: "Because of my own belly, I always thought I was some deformed woman, but not now. Holy hell, I am normal!" And in the words of another reader: "I've struggled with eating disorders and body image since I was 12. Seeing this picture is the first time I have felt good about myself and comfortable with my body (just the way it is) in a very long time. Thank you for the self-esteem."

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 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. And maybe, as Emme, a pioneer plus-size supermodel and host of More to Love believes, "we've just had it with the beyond-slender, airbrushed-from-head-to-toe models and actresses who've dominated [newsstands] for over a decade."

Glamour has been on this wavelength since the early nineties. We've put Queen Latifah on the cover twice and frequently feature other fuller-bodied celebs and models (including all the women you see here, with the exception of Glamour newcomer Jennie Runk). But the phenomenal response to the Lizzie Miller photo shows there is a thirst for an even more inclusive view of women's bodies. So what's keeping the fashion and media worlds from portraying as many size 10's and 14's and 20's as we do size 0, 2 and 4? And what ratio of fantasy to reality does the average American woman really want to see in magazines and ads?

It All Starts With the Clothes

Let's say you fit the most popular American dress size, a 14, and you want to wear high-end designer fashion. Good luck to you, because most designer fashion labels don't make a size 14 (they stop at 10 or 12). That's an aesthetic decision, not a business move, says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the market research firm NPD. "We know that larger-size women will pay almost anything for good-quality clothes that fit, and luxury brands could benefit greatly from serving that need," he says. "But there remains a deep stigma against going plus-size in the high-end fashion market. Find a brand that's willing to bet its image and licensing revenue by doing this, and you will find a progressive company."

Such companies do exist, and kudos go to Michael Michael Kors, Isaac Mizrahi for Liz Claiborne New York and Baby Phat, among others, for making chic clothes in sizes larger than 14. But even if more designer fashion came in plus sizes, you'd still rarely see it modeled in a magazine by plus-size girls. Why? It's the sample-size problem. When fashion editors do photo shoots, they can't simply buy clothing that's in stores now. They need samples of clothing that will be available when the magazine hits newsstands -- samples made by the manufacturer and cut, almost always, to fit a woman size zero to 4. When Glamour uses models and celebrities who are larger than sample-size, getting of-the-moment fashion for them "can be a challenge," says Maggie Mann, senior fashion editor. "We'll have a tailor standing by, doing alterations and opening up seams. And we might buy clothes off the rack if we can find something that'll be available months later when the issue comes out." Major celebrities have it a little easier; a designer will occasionally make a dress in her size as a courtesy, as happened when Queen Latifah was Glamour's cover girl.

In June, Alexandra Shulman, editor-in-chief of British Vogue, wrote a letter to top designers, begging for reform. "We have now reached the point where many of the sample sizes don't comfortably fit even the established star models," read a portion of her memo, quoted in The Times of London. She charged that designers were forcing magazines to hire models with "jutting bones and no breasts or hips." Strong words. Will they make an impact? "We hope so. It will take a season or two before we know," says Glamour deputy fashion director Sasha Iglehart. "Crystal Renn has already graced Glamour's pages multiple times. It would be a dream come true to work with beauties like her dressed in our favorite designers and brands."

Looking Into a "Skinny" Mirror

The sample-size problem means that standard-size models are slim. But guess what? Plus-size models aren't all that "plus." "At most modeling agencies, any girl larger than a size 4 might have trouble getting work because she won't fit the clothes, and over a size 6 she might be moved to the plus division," says Glamour senior bookings editor Jennifer Koehler. "There's a shortage of truly plus-size girls to choose from, and every other week I'm e-mailing the agencies asking, "Do you have any new size 16s?'"Often the answer is no, she says, because there still isn't enough work to employ them.

Jennie Runk, a size 12, admits she's often much smaller than the plus-size samples she models, so "I'll sometimes wear padding." Did she say padding? Indeed she did: "I travel with my own set. It's a series of foam ovals and circles you can put on your butt, hips, waist or boobs so you fit the clothes," Runk explains. Many commenters on Glamour 's picture of Lizzie Miller felt that, given her actual size, the term "plus" shouldn't apply. "This girl is normal, "wrote one reader. "Redefine plus-size for me again? Is every woman over 120 pounds and a size 2 considered ‘plus' now?"

Not all commenters lauded the photo, however; a sizable minority objected to it on health grounds. "Putting a young model who is obviously overweight and living an unhealthy lifestyle in your magazine to make some people feel better only serves to propagate that unhealthy lifestyle," wrote Angie E., 44. Another reader took that criticism a few steps further: "We have enough problems with obesity in the U.S. and don't need your magazine promoting any more of it. Shame on Glamour for thinking this was sexy!"

Obesity is a significant health problem. But let's check the facts: At 5'11"and 180 pounds, Miller, who exercises and eats a balanced diet, is "just barely overweight, according to her BMI. She is healthy and far from being obese," says Hilda Hutcherson, M.D., a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University. Dr. Hutcherson also notes that beautiful images of bigger bodies can help women feel good about themselves. "The first step to taking better care of yourself is having self-respect," she says. Glamour assistant editor Margarita Bertsos, who documented her 75-pound weight loss on glamour.com, is living proof. "Being told that I must occupy Barbie proportions in order to be beautiful is definitely not what motivated me to lose weight," blogged Bertsos. "In fact, those beliefs are what kept me obese for so many years. It's when I made the shift toward self-acceptance that I finally found the motivation to lose weight."

So What Do You Want to See?

OK, let's envision a world where women of more body types do get glamorous work in magazines and ad campaigns. Would female readers, viewers and buyers want it? Some commenters said no. "It's about fantasy, " posted one. "Even the most physically perfect human cannot measure up to the perfection in magazines. We all know that. But we can imagine that perfection while we read. We can all be perfect for a minute. "That's the argument for so-called aspirational imagery, which, according to advertising gospel, puts consumers in the mood to buy. But some media insiders say women aren't biting anymore. "We are undergoing a shift in the mind-set of the modern female consumer," explains Ben Barry, who coauthored a study on how women in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom respond to advertising images. Conducted in collaboration with the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School, the study of more than 3,000 subjects showed that women were most likely to want to purchase a fashion product if it was associated with a model that directly resembled them. "This does not mean that women want to do away with aspirational images," cautions Barry. "It is the very opposite. The worst thing a magazine could do is to showcase an image of a ‘normally sized' model that looks like most driver's license pictures, with poor styling, clothing and photography. Instead, women want these models to have the same glamour and artistry as other fashion models."

We at Glamour couldn't agree more, and we're listening hard to our readers' call to action. "The public wants to see all types of models represented," says Gary Dakin, vice president of client services at Ford Models. "This portrait [of the models on page 198] is an amazing step toward that." It's one step of many. Here's what you can expect to see in our pages going forward:

-A continued commitment to showing a wide range of body types -- and, of course, racial diversity -- in our pages, including fashion and beauty stories.
-A promise to give the best plus models not just work, but the same great work straight-size models get, partnering with top photographers, stylists and makeup artists. Because a generous helping of fantasy, in our view, is fabulous -- as long as it's extended to women of all sizes.
-An ongoing celebration of the so-called imperfections, from nose bumps to gap teeth smiles that make us all unique.

Enthusiastic support for any designer who manufactures chic clothes we can photograph on full-bodied models. Isn't it time for changes like these? Reality, after all, is everywhere. On Twitter, Demi Moore tweets matter-of-factly about her body: "I still have excess skin & stretch marks!" And then, "Comes with having a few kids 4 some of us!" Scott Schuman, a.k.a. the Sartorialist, has attracted a cult following by photographing real people with great style -- and quirks. Crystal Renn has written a fascinating new memoir about her transition from an anorexic straight-size model to a healthy, exuberant and very successful plus-size model. And Jeffrey Buchman, professor of advertising and marketing communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology, notes that Renn and plus-size model Johanna Dray have shown up on runways at Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano, respectively. "Art leads social change, and high fashion is art," says Buchman. "So these are not frivolous choices; they are clarion calls."

All are good signs, but perhaps most promising is your joyous and impassioned support of Lizzie Miller. Because the simplest way to move the needle on body confidence is to judge one another, and ourselves, less. Let's start that revolution right now.

Source: MSN Lifestyle/Glamour