Pippa Middleton Butt Lift Craze: What's Behind Plastic Surgery Fixation?

Sept. 28, 2011 -- Pippa Middleton stole the show at the royal wedding of her big sister, Kate, to Prince William.

Now she is stealing the hearts of plastic surgery patients everywhere. Or, rather, her rear end is.

The sister-in-law of Britain's apparent future king is the inspiration behind the latest trend in cosmetic surgery, called the "Pippa butt lift."

The name Pippa Middleton held marginal significance until the April 29 wedding of William and Kate, when Middleton, 27, wowed the crowd in a form-fitting bridesmaid dress by Alexander McQueen that left royal wedding watchers asking two things: could her gown have been padded and, if not, how do I get that back?

Facebook groups and blogs dedicated to Pippa's posterior soon popped up, earning Middleton the moniker, "Her Royal Hotness."

Now that plastic surgeons around the world are offering the procedure, patients are flooding in, each of them seeking the same thing: the best royal seat in the house.

"In that wedding gown, she created a stir," Miami plastic surgeon Dr. Constantino Mendieta told "Good Morning America." "People want those dimensions. She's just gorgeous."

Mendieta, author of the book "The Art of Gluteal Sculping," says 80 percent of his cosmetic work is now butt lifts, with 20 percent of those requests made specifically for achieving Middleton's rear end.

If the 1990s was the decade of the "big booty" made popular by the curves of Jennifer Lopez, Middleton's petite but shapely figure appears to be the inspiration for this decade's celebrity followers.

"She's got a nice rump that's not too big," Christina Valdez, a 28-year-old single mother from Miami, told "GMA." "Her frame just looked incredible in that dress."

Valdez was so intrigued by Middleton's look that she too became a patient of Mendieta, requesting the "Pippa butt lift."

"I was like, 'That's it. This is it, I just have to look like her,'" Valdez recalled thinking after watching Middleton stand beside Kate at the royal wedding. "If she can look petite and great and still have a nice backside to her, so can I."

Valdez says she felt confident the cosmetic benefits of the surgery would outweigh the risks that come associated with any plastic surgery procedure, including, for her own butt lift, having to gain weight because new fat is easier to shape and mold.

"I've always had a little bit of a complex with my stomach and trying to fill in the back side a little more," she said. "I would absolutely love to be able to wear a nice fitted dress and have my waistline back and a nice rump to go with it."

In a surgery that lasted two hours, Mendieta injected fat from Valdez's stomach into her backside in order to slim her waist and contour her rear into perfect Pippa fashion.

Six weeks later, despite not being able to sit for long periods of time and knowing there is a chance her rear will shrink in the months to come, Valdez said she is happy.

"I love the results," she said. "It looks beautiful, feels great and I feel sexy."

As for why she did not just turn to padding or different clothes to achieve a similar look, Valdez has a quick answer.

"At the end of the day, the clothes come off," she said. "I want it to be mine and be sexy and not have to worry about stuffing my backside."

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