NEW YORK, US - She barely stands 5 feet tall even with her black stilettos.
But actress Nikki Blonsky - famous for her 2007 star turn in "Hairspray" and more recently as a rebel teen at fat camp in the TV drama "Huge" - made a big splash on the red carpet at New York Fashion Week on Wednesday.
The occasion was a plus-size fashion show featuring styles sold online by OneStopPlus.com, which caters to women who wear size 12 and up. A capacity crowd watched styles in colors like mauve, aqua, cream, citrus green, blue, peach and coral.
About 62 percent of American women are in the plus-size camp, experts say.
As a blitz of cameras flashed, special guest Blonsky posed on the pre-show red carpet in a black jacket with sequined tank top and tight jeans.
She was joined later by leading plus-size model Emme and actress Gabourey Sidibe, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role as an obese teenager with an abusive mother in the 2009 movie "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire".
Blonsky, 21, looked as comfortable as if she were still a teenager back in her own bedroom at home on Long Island, where she grew up belting out show tunes and dreaming of an acting career.
"I was going through so many outfits in getting ready for today," Blonsky told Reuters. "Finally, I decided to just go with black. It's my favorite color. It's sexy. It makes me feel good."
Earlier this year, she posed in a swimsuit for billboards to promote her new TV show, "Huge," which follows seven teens and the staff at a weight loss camp.
"It was amazing. I was a kid who was always afraid of going to the beach because of being in a bathing suit. And I thought,'Well, if they want me to be in a bathing suit on a billboard for the show, there's no time like the present and no place like Times Square in New York" where the billboard went up.