2004-12-15 || 9:43 a.m.

|| weep with me. ||

from the observer:

"...The girls had been invited to the nightclub by Steven Pearlman, a Park Avenue plastic surgeon. The soir�e served as a kind of self-improvement open house, where high-school-aged girls unhappy with their appearance could consult with experts in facial cosmetic surgery, diet, exercise, skin care and hair styling.

"It�s not just a nose job these days," said Dr. Pearlman, who has a Cheshire-cat grin and bears a faint resemblance to the actor James Spader. "Girls gain confidence after their surgeries and want to improve many other elements of their appearance. For example, girls with big noses often have big, frumpy hairdos. We can direct them to a stylist who can help fix that."

The evening�s multi-disciplinary approach to transformation echoed trends in reality television, where programs like Extreme Makeover and The Swan show radical transformations managed by teams of surgeons, life coaches and cosmetologists. Dr. Pearlman said that many of his young patients admire the looks of media personalities like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Aniston, but they hope the surgery will yield a look that is still somehow "their own."

Plied with grown-up-looking drinks served in martini glasses (but made only from fruit juice, of course), the teens took turns sitting with a woman named Liz, who was conducting on-the-spot computer consultations, showing prospective patients how they might look with pruned proboscises. "I feel like a fortune teller," Liz giggled as a teen with a slightly hooked nose settled in at the table.

"Do you see a good nose in my future?" the young girl asked hopefully.

In addition to glimpses of their post-op streamlined visages, there was plenty to keep aspiring homecoming queens busy. One table was manned by Alistair Greer, a hunky personal trainer from Ireland. At another station, nutritionist Natalia Rose offered tips on diet regimens designed to help teen girls shed pounds. "Personally, I eat only raw foods," Rose told one mystified mother. "What? Like a plant?" the woman asked.

All the while, Dr. Pearlman, who is the president of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, moved among his guests and some of their bewildered-looking mothers, explaining the prerequisites for surgery, which can cost, he said, between $7,000 and $10,000.

Just how young are some of Dr. Pearlman�s patients? "It depends on the individual, but I can generally start on girls at 15 and boys at 16," he said. "Though with the guys, you have to be careful that they�re not going to be doing any sports too soon after their surgery."

He said that he knows of a surgeon in Mexico who will operate on girls as young as 12, and a presentation shown at the club that night quoted a study saying that rhinoplasty on preteens does not affect nasal or facial growth.

"Ultimately, you have to assess the maturity of the patient," Dr. Pearlman explained. "She has to be emotionally grown-up."

Dr. Pearlman�s presentation continued to flash on the screen of a nearby computer, suggesting that besides rhinoplasty and chin augmentation, the repair of a cleft lip is the only other facial surgery suitable for teens.

"What�s a cleft lip?" asked one girl who was watching. "What�s rhinoplasty?" asked another, sipping a virgin cocktail."

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