Paloma Elsesser Breaks Down the "Chubby-Girl Complex"

It's a story we hear every so often about models: A young woman gets picked out of the crowd by a taste maker then makes a splash in the industry. For plus size model Paloma Elsesser, she was discovered by Pat McGrath via Instagram. Elsesser, now with Muse Models, can be found on the celebrated makeup artist's timeline wearing something from the highly-coveted Pat McGrath Skin line.

Elsesser went to private school in Los Angeles before heading to New York City to study psychology. Since getting discovered by McGrathl, she's been featured in Vogue, New York magazine and I-D and a Steve Madden campaign. Elsesser revealed to Allure the confusion she faced as a plus size young woman who—like many of us growing up—thought life would be a lot smoother if she were thinner:

"...growing up in Westernized culture, we're told that if you're not this one archetypal kind of beauty then you're not worth it. And that's the reason why you don't get the boy, and that's the reason for all these things. It's so ingrained in us, so I've been trying to combat that forever. I call it the chubby-girl complex. Every time something goes wrong, it's because you're fat. But it's not true. That's what I'm learning as I'm getting older. With acceptance and understanding, with confidence and having self-worth, it's irrelevant. I'm still on that journey. The reality is that it's been hard."