Lifestyle

The celebrity-obsessed have always flocked to salons and specialty stores to get haircuts, outfits, and perfumes to imitate their Hollywood idols, but the never-ending drive to look and smell like the stars may have finally hit rock bottom:

For 11,000 bucks, star-crazed fans can now have Jessica Simpson’s butt.

Dr. Brad Jacobs, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, unveiled a new nip-and-tuck procedure at a recent press conference in his Upper East Side office, claiming that it can make anyone’s behind look a lot more like his or her favorite celebrity’s. By taking fat from a patient’s upper hips, purifying it, and then injecting it into the patient’s butt, Jacobs says he can “customize the buttocks” to match Paris Hilton’s or even Eva Longoria’s.

The popular procedure, also known as a Brazilian butt lift, has been renamed by Jacobs to convey his added artistry. He calls it “Star Butts.”

“We’re getting many, many requests daily just for this procedure,” said Jacobs, who claims that he has done 300 butt operations in the last year and more than 10 times that over the last several years combined. “People are now bringing in pics of stars – not just of their chests or noses, but more of their buttocks as well,” he said.

Not everyone sees the trend as positive. Dr. Elizabeth Midlarsky, a clinical psychologist and professor at Columbia University who studies body image issues, said she finds it troubling. “One of the things you see in cities like New York these days is an emphasis more and more on being perfect at everything,” she said. “People want the best schools, the best clothes, and now the best bodies.” The obsession with body image, said Midlarsky, is not confined to teenagers. “The baby boomer generation is even more intolerant of the look of an aging body,” she said. Midlarsky said there are a number of reasons why people might want to look like their favorite celebrities. “Some people do it to please others,” she said. “There are also people who are addicted to plastic surgery. They have what’s known as body dysmorphic disorder.It’s a very small percentage of people, but they really believe they have these body defects and the only thing that makes them feel better is getting them corrected,” she said.

Jacobs, who was educated at McGill University, said the recent explosion in butt work began with “Dr. 90210,” a reality show that aired on the E! network and showcased the work of a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. Once the show took off, he began to see a flurry of new patients who wanted Jennifer Lopez’s backside. While Jessica Simpson’s rear end is now even more the rage, the number of butt jobs he’s done has continued to balloon.

Dorothy Teixeira, a model and former Playboy playmate who recently had the surgery, came all the way from West Hollywood, Calif., to show off it off at Jacobs’ press conference. She said she was hoping for a J. Lo-Beyonce blend, and she gave Jacobs several photos to work with. “I wanted a round little African-American butt,” she said, turning around to show off her backside in tight black Spandex. “I’m just happy now because I’ve got a booty.”

Pointing to Teixeira’s glossy before and after pictures, which were blown up and displayed on a waiting room wall alongside suggestive side shots of Jessica Simpson and Eva Longoria, Jacobs stressed his safety record. “There’s always a risk of bruising, infections and bleeding,” he said, “but we have not had a single episode of infection.”

Teixeira said she had no problems. “I had very little bruising on my butt,” she said. “I was in a bikini in three weeks.”

Amanda Lake, a personal trainer from the city, also had the two-and-a-half-hour procedure performed in Jacob’s office. “I wanted a Jessica Biel’s ass, so I came to Dr. Jacob,” she said. While she acknowledges the $11,000 procedure was expensive, Lake claims her clients at the gym have already noticed the difference, so she isn’t looking back. “I’m happy with the result, and it wasn’t painful at all,” she said.

Several other patients, however, have not been nearly as pleased with Jacobs’ work. In a lawsuit filed in April and still pending in Manhattan Supreme Court, three women sued the doctor for botching their breast augmentations, claiming the implants resulted in breasts that were far larger than what they had asked for.

“Those cases are meritless, and they’ll be dismissed,” said Jacobs, who made it clear that he wanted to put the lawsuit behind him. The plaintiffs in the case did not immediately return phone calls requesting comment.

Teixeira, who has come to Jacobs for a number of procedures, finds it hard to believe that he could ever do a half-ass job. “He’s the one and only doctor,” she said with a smile. “He’s the best.”

Andrew Goldberg can be contacted at asg2157@columbia.edu