Dr 90210 knows what women want despite bust

THE global recession isn't just busting the banks now it's even shrinking false breasts.

TV star and plastic surgeon Robert "Dr 90210" Rey says the economic crash has returned people to "home values", including women wanting to look more like girl-next-door Jennifer Aniston than sex siren Angelina Jolie.

"The look has shifted back to Jennifer Aniston smaller breasts, more natural," Dr Rey told Sunday News from his Beverly Hills home.

"We call it the all-American girl but it could be the all-New Zealand girl. It's just a more natural look.

"People say, `I want breasts like hers'. The big, huge double Ds, which were so common in the late '90s, are relegated to the museum now. Women want little C cups and B cups."

And the face of plastic surgery is being further changed, with big lips now out of vogue too.

"The trend has gone towards less-is-more not being all overdone, not with all poofed-up lips," Dr Rey said.

"Angelina Jolie was always what they used to want now the women are satisfied with what God gave them.

"Today they are a little more reasonable in the late '90s and early 2000s, it was over-the-top everything.

"Frugality is in. In the past, girls in high school would receive breast augmentations for graduation those days are relegated to the past now.

"Suddenly the market crashed and we are a wanting a little more traditional, cleancut look."

But while the desired breast size might be getting smaller, the ideal booty is beating deflation.

"Jennifer Lopez started the whole butt situation. Now people are looking more for that bubble butt, which is kind of very cute," Dr Rey said.

"As far as face goes, that's wide open. We've got a lot of girls requesting Cindy Crawford they want that Cindy Crawford square jaw, they want that high cheekbone you see with Gisele Bundchen. The nose will always be Nicole Kidman.

"We're seeing a lot of people bringing in pictures of Scarlett Johansson, Kirsten Dunst, Amanda Peet that kind of look. Salma Hayek is popular."

Dr Rey was simply a plastic surgeon before the E! reality show Dr 90210 with 44 million viewers in America alone made him a TV star.

Now he's branching out into the fashion industry, with a line of shapewear otherwise known as "Bridget Jones' knickers", designed to give women a streamlined look.

It might seem at odds with cosmetic surgery but Dr Rey says both are about improving self-confidence.

"When people ask me what it is that I do, I say I improve women's self-confidence that's how I see what I do.

"I've always been a woman worshipper. I just think they are goddesses walking around the earth.

"I entered my adult professional years to improve women's self-confidence and what I want to do is empower women.

"Put on my shapewear and you get a super-sexy streamlined look and only you and I know the secret."

Auckland plastic surgeon Dr John de Waal told Sunday News Kiwi women had always preferred a more natural look than Americans, so there had been no shift in trends here.

"We always use a joke about `a British handful' or `an American handful'," he said.

"Americans always want a bigger breast than most other countries. You can see that in the film stars. New Zealand women have always wanted a more natural look, whether that's because of natural reticence or because they've got their heads screwed on a bit more, I'm not sure."

American women also tended to be more open about their cosmetic surgery whereas Kiwi women usually kept it a secret, he said.

The global economic crisis had yet to hit Kiwi plastic surgeons spoken to by Sunday News, who said business before Christmas had been busy.

But Dr de Waal said he was expecting business to slow down this year. In the recession of the '90s, clients were delaying procedures for up to four years after their initial consultations, he said.

Dr 90210, Saturday, 9.30pm, E!

- © Fairfax NZ News