Fw: Clamor for cleavage takes plastic to new heights

[Guest guest]

From: ilena rose <ilena@...>

Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 1:14 PM

Subject: Clamor for cleavage takes plastic to new heights

> ~~~ it appears that Ivo Pitanguy's PR team may well be back on our

> newsgroup ... and getting enormous press elsewhere, such as the National

> Public Radio piece. ~~~

>

> Clamor for cleavage takes plastic to new heights

>

> By Baldwin

>

>

> SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - When Brazil's buxom supermodel Gisele

Bundchen

> bounces down the world's catwalks, she does far more than just uplift her

home

> country's national spirit.

>

> Well-endowed role models like her have put large breasts back in vogue in

> Brazil, sparking a clamor for cleavage that has put a strain on local

silicone

> supplies as women line up to have their busty dreams calved into reality.

>

> " We are seeing an enormous amount of demand for larger breasts, " said

> world-renowned Brazilian plastic surgeon Dr. Ivo Pitanguy, embraced by

> Europeans and Americans for decades.

>

> Demand for breast implants in this bikini-crazed nation has reached such

> heights that deliveries of the most-sought-after sizes of silicone, which

used

> to arrive next-day, can suffer delays of up to several weeks.

>

> As plastic surgeons furiously nip and tuck, Brazil's No. 1 silicone

implants

> producer, Rio de Janeiro-based Silimed, is cranking up production,

increasing

> output by 30 percent in 2000. And U.S. and European silicone exporters are

> moving in to soak up excess demand and grab a slice of a market now

challenging

> the United States as the world's No. 1 for plastic surgery.

>

> Breast operations in Brazil bulged 60 percent in 2000, just one

eye-catching

> statistic in a plastic surgery boom in the past 18 months. Nose jobs,

tummy

> tucks, face and bottom lifts are par for the course as a media onslaught,

> improved techniques and an economic recovery after the January 1999

devaluation

> have sent body-beautiful seekers scurrying to go under the knife.

>

> " People have begun to believe a lot more in the economic recovery, they've

been

> able to make plans for their future without the specter of inflation, "

said

> Luiz , president of Brazil's Plastic Surgery Society.

>

> While Brazil still trails the United States in total plastic surgery

numbers,

> it overtook the world's No. 1 economy last year in operations per capita,

> including cosmetic and reparative plastic surgery, the society said. As

year

> 2000 numbers roll in, forecasts a rise of about 30 percent in

plastic

> surgery, up from 300,000 operations in 1999.

>

> BEACHES OF THE BODY BEAUTIFUL

>

> Brazil's cosmetic surgery ranking is a fair claim for a developing nation

where

> nearly half the 169-million population earns the minimum wage of 151 reais

> ($77) a month, or less.

>

> But in a country where people spend a huge amount of time in string

bikinis or

> skimpy clothing and where the term " growing old gracefully " barely enters

the

> vocabulary, the list of priorities can appear topsy-turvy.

>

> Breast size is right up there on the list and surgeons point out it is not

just

> demand for implants that is on the rise but also the size of the silicone

sacks

> -- a novelty in a country where the behind always took center stage.

Brazilians

> have long coveted a full " bunda " (rear) but looked down on big breasts.

>

> " Nowadays women, and men, think bigger breasts are better, and the media

is

> doing a lot to spread this message, displaying artists who have increased

their

> breast sizes, " said , whose society groups 3,500 surgeons.

>

> The number of breast reduction operations for aesthetic reasons has

dropped in

> the past 18 months and patients' most requested brassiere size is now at

least

> two inches

>

> bigger than in past years.

>

> " We are seeing a tendency of people using bigger implants than before, "

said

> Pitanguy from his clinic in Rio de Janeiro, where beach life and the

craziness

> of Carnival have nurtured the body beautiful cult for decades.

>

> These days silicone packs of 175 cubic centimeters and upward are in hot

demand

> while 165 cubic centimeters was the average upper limit until early 1999,

> said. Still, surgeons say Brazil is well below U.S. or European

sizes.

>

> Pitanguy sees the bigger-is-better trend trickling down from the top-heavy

> BayWatch-look in the United States, but Brazil has no shortage of

home-grown

> role models who are championing the " If you've got it (or if you get it),

> flaunt it! " philosophy.

>

> EXTRA-FULL FRONTALS

>

> Ubermodel Bundchen wiped the waif look off the map with her meteoric rise

to

> fame, although some in the fashion world wonder if her 36-inch bust is all

> natural and at least one ex-Brazil Elite models agency colleague insists

it is

> not.

>

> Silicone-reinforced stars like nude model-turned kiddies' TV presenter

Xuxa and

> soap opera actress Vera Fischer, a former Miss Brazil, hang out of

> figure-hugging fashions almost daily on national television.

>

> And Brazil's Playboy magazine in past months might as well have been on

local

> plastic surgeons' payrolls after its November and December covergirls

flaunted

> their silicone implants. December covergirl Carla , 23, marked her

third

> Playboy spread, this time with an additional 1.6 inches of bust.

>

> TV dancer and presenter , whose gyrating broad behind shot her to

stardom,

> modeled the archetypal Brazilian bottom-heavy small-on-top look in her

previous

> magazine spreads. Now she is inspiring many a Brazilian to take the

plunge.

>

> " I want to have a body like hers, " said 16-year-old Bruna Brecht, a Carla

> look-alike who showed up to get a glimpse of her idol at a Playboy signing

> event in a mall last month. " I am going to get breast implants just before

my

> eighteenth birthday, " she said.

>

> As prices have become more accessible, cosmetic surgery has won over the

middle

> classes. Clinics offer interest-free credit to patients to soften the

financial

> blow and many foreigners take advantage of lower costs in Brazil. And with

> faith in medical techniques growing and cancer-related scares shrinking,

there

> is no stopping Brazilians from aspiring to a better body.

>

> " I did it for my self esteem, " said Fernandes, 28, who sells scuba

> diving equipment. " My relationship with everyone changed, the way people

look

> at me, the way my husband looks at me. And our love life took a turn for

the

> better, " added Fernandes, who moved up four brassiere sizes last March.

>

>

>

> 10:03 01-23-01

>

>