Why Tess' Halloween Costume Was So Body Positive

Plus size model and body positive activist Tess Holliday had a killer Halloween costume this year, which was equal parts fierce and combatting of body shaming trolls. On Oct. 31, Holliday dressed up as Miss Argentina from Beetlejuice (the receptionist of the afterlife), with her partner dressed as Beetlejuice himself. Couple's costume goals much?

For anyone familiar with Beetlejuice and all things Tim Burton, this costume is obviously quite impressive, especially since Holliday apparently had only two days to put it together (according to her Instagram post). Holliday went all-out, covering her entire body in green paint complete with fake scars on her wrists. She also wore a body-hugging red gown with a matching wig and cloak, and topped the look off with the "Miss Argentina" sash. She then used purple pigment around her eyes to achieve a "beautiful but dead look," and a bold red hue to make her lips pop. Holliday was clearly 100 percent committed to the look.

Most importantly, Holliday's costume was extremely body positive. Thanks to the mainstream's ideas of beauty and the absurd but clearly visible sizeism in beauty pageants, there are simply not enough plus size beauty queens in this world of ours. Seeing Holliday dress as a spooky and much beloved beauty queen from Beetlejuice was refreshing, to say the least.

As a self-described feminist and the person who spearheaded the hashtag #EffYourBeautyStandards, it's no surprise that Holliday would tackle a body positive Halloween costume. Plus size women and fat bodies are hugely underrepresented in the media, let alone portrayed as beautiful. But Holliday — the first model of her size to be signed to a major agency — is, IMO, one of the most perfect candidates for a costume like this.

As a model, Holliday is one of many faces that represents "beauty" in our society, but one of the only plus size faces. That she chose a costume rooted in conventional beauty standards is made all the more exciting because of this. Clearly, Holliday is body positive influencer even in the afterlife.

Of course, being a body positive human and being in the beauty industry can be incredibly tough, as Miss Argentina's "little accident" in the film might prove. Although never explicitly stated, the fact that she wears her queen sash in the afterlife always seems to suggest that her suicide wasn't totally detached from her experiences as a beauty queen. Holliday's costume is not only body posi, but it addresses the difficulty of being in an industry that has previously been quite oppressive and segregating in a light, Tim Burton-esque way.

Ultimately, Holliday is giving off a massive "eff you" to the standards that have prevented plus size beauty queens from rocking it up front and center. Hopefully next Halloween will bring even more plus size beauty queens (alive or of the undead variety) to the forefront. Quite frankly, body positivity is just as important on Halloween as it is any other day of the year.

Images: Giphy