Model Candice Huffine Reveals the Key to Feeling Confident After 23 Years in the Fashion Industry
Candice Huffine made confidence look easy as the star of Luvlette's latest lingerie campaign.
After working in the fashion industry for more than two decades, the stunning model opens up exclusively to OK! about how she's been able to embrace the beautiful body she was born with, how she ignores her haters and what it was like being the face of the intimates and loungewear brand's recent launch.
"My experience shooting the Luvlette campaign was amazing! It was shot by an incredible female photographer Olivia Malone and felt very empowering, freeing and a celebration of self! I feel very honored to be chosen to front this campaign," Huffine tells us after flaunting her figure for the drool-worthy photoshoot.
Of course, self-assurance doesn't always come naturally, as the 38-year-old admits there are bad days when she isn't pleased with what she sees in the mirror.
"I’m confident in showing my body because this career has helped me become that way, but I am deeply human like every one else when it comes to being happy with how I feel or look 100 percent of the time," Huffine explains, noting, "right now I don’t recognize this shape I’m rocking as I have gone through some changes recently, but that is OK. I adapt, I embrace, I make sure the soul feels good and I welcome a new day."
The brunette beauty continues: "I know that my willingness to show my body in such a vulnerable way helps someone out there feel more comfortable in their skin and in turn makes me feel more confident in my own. We are all in this together-a constant journey in loving, nurturing and celebrating the body we thrive in. It’s work always worth doing."
But how does she do it? Well, the experienced model has been working toward ultimate confidence since first starting her career at the age of 15.
"Working in the fashion industry for 23 years has been the catalyst in achieving my inner and outer confidence. I learned early on the power of an image and that it could be greater than myself if I was able to be honest and free," Huffine expresses to OK!. "I wanted young girls to grow up differently than myself —I wanted them to love what they saw and not be on fad diets in the lunchroom and feel empowered to conquer the world instead of an ideal dress size so I found my confidence fast in this career because I wanted to make an impact. With incredible support throughout the years it has continued to grow. Today I am confident in the woman I am, the life I lead and the body I do it in — and that is what I wish for every person to find within themselves."
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For those who are interested in trying lingerie, but just can't manage to let their skin shine, Huffine suggests letting go of trying to impress others.
The former teenage beauty queen states: "I think it’s worth stopping to ask yourself why you WOULDN’T feel beautiful in lingerie. If you switch your perspective to wearing it for yourself, first and foremost, I think that mentality would assist in you feeling more confident and excited about who you are looking at in the mirror. If you are wearing something you love and looking at someone you admire (yourself), then you should be able to embrace wearing lingerie in a new and exciting way! Bonus points if you say 'you look beautiful' in the mirror."
While Huffine's resume of high fashion shoots is rather impressive, there are times being labeled a "plus-size model" can still be frustrating — mainly because stores still don't carry enough sizes for everyone to have an equal opportunity to feel stylish.
"The only thing I mind in this industry is being such an integral part of marketing and storytelling as a curvy woman, but there still not being enough places for me to get a dress for an event or a shop to walk in with a plethora of garments in my size and feel joy not dread. You can call this body whatever you see fit, all I have ever been asking for is fashion," Huffine demands.
Huffine closed out her chat with OK! with a sweet message for her fans.
"Like Oscar Wilde said, 'Be YOURSELF. Everyone else is already taken.' And in the words of me, '#letshavefunok,'" Huffine concludes.
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