Posted: December 2, 2011
It seems like we are always looking for new trends in beauty and fashion. And sometimes it hard to tell which tail is wagging which dog but two things have become apparent of late, at least in the field of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. Both concern the face and our interpretation of beauty. It’s funny to think that appreciation of human aesthetics can change over time the way skirt length or necktie width do, but they do.
The first is the nose. In years past, many surgeons looked upon rhinoplasty as a chance to see exactly how small they could get a nose to be. A dainty, small turned up nose was associated with feminine beauty and Aesthetic Plastic surgeons did all they could to achieve that goal, not giving much thought to the functionality, or lack of, that may arrive down the road…And arrive it did, in the form of nasal collapse and airway obstruction. So over the years there seems to be a trend at most of our Plastic Surgery meetings towards bigger noses, more structured and sturdy noses, and yes, they may be larger than years past, but now, they are certainly more durable. And now as I look in many of the fashion mags, I see that larger noses seem to be little impediment to a modeling career. In fact, they’re kind of big right now!
The other trend seems to be in the eye or above it to be precise. A fuller upper eyelid seems to be in Vogue at the present, (with the pun fully intended). Models today seem to not be as prone to the deep set eyelid crease of years past, and now it seems many do not have this distinct fold at all! What used to be the hallmark of a drinking or crying binge now passes for high fashion.
Where this all leads for us Plastic Surgeons is a bit perplexing, not wanting to be caught up in the machinery like the Star Belly Sneeches of Dr. Suess lore. We probably should just play it safe, like a good pair of mens wing-tipped shoes, just a hint of conservative but never out of style!