Even superstar Julia Roberts embraces dressed-down style, donning boot-cut jeans and a tunic top before her visit to the "Late Show with David Letterman" last week.
Liposurgeons are being forced to suck it up.
It's more than just a matter of an ugly economy - America has started to embrace plain Jane.
Last week, a new study by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery revealed that Americans are receiving 11% fewer breast augmentations, 25.3% fewer liposuctions and 19% fewer eye tucks. Even relatively affordable and obtainable Botox injections had dropped from 2.7 million in 2007 to 2.4 million last year.
Ask glossy magazine editors and they'll tell you that the celeb-obsessed these days are more into down-to-earth mommies such as Michelle Williams or Jennifer Garner, not hotties like Paris Hilton. And waning ratings for MTV's "The City" indicate that patience is running out on dopey Whitney Port's skin-deep brand of beauty.
"I've noticed a gentle reevaluation of what's important to people," says Dr. Drew Pinsky, whose latest book, "The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Seducing America," hit shelves last week.
"They're coming up with the right answer, which is that what's important is the people we really care about, and spending time with them - not getting our lips bigger or helping our droopy eyelids."
Reality TV shows such as TLC's "Toddlers & Tiaras" make beauty-obsessed pageant parents look like freaks. Taking another tack, on March 31 Oxygen will unveil "Pretty Wicked," with glamour-puss divas competing at finding their inner beauty. On this show, the prettiest girl isn't finishing first.
It's a welcome change from Tyra Banks changing her "Top Models'" walks, hair and teeth.
The Reign of Plain Jane has been reflected on the runway. At the Paris fashion shows last week, labels such as Louis Vuitton, Lanvin and Yves St. Laurent all showed oversize, almost drab coats, prime-white blouses and mannish trousers.
Can our switch from lynx to librarian be purely economic? Or is it a changing attitude toward vanity - abandoning cougar-chic for come-as-you-are?
"There's no doubt that standards of beauty change," says Pinsky, "but it's really about shifting priorities."
It's not all about money. Yes, fewer Americans can afford expensive surgeries, but the generalized stress of the economic downturn is forcing a larger reevaluation, says Pinsky. Even if people can afford a discount Botox quick fix, they're more apt to spend the money on a movie or a meal with someone they like.
"My consistent refrain on this economic crisis has been that it might give us a chance to hunker down and take a good look at ourselves and what's important," says Pinsky. "People are realizing that nothing is important as the interpersonal experience."
Sunday, March 22nd 2009, 4:00 AM
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