FASCINATION with the hind-quarters of Beyonce and Kim Kardashian is fueling a booming market for undergarments that amplify the derriere.
For centuries, women have wriggled into girdles and other slimmers to minimize their rear ends but, as 26-year-old Montreal wedding planner Azar Jazestani comments, "It's not so hot to have a pancake a** these days".
Tara Rachel Benson, who favours the Booty Pop brand of underwear says the panties, which contain egg-shaped foam pads to plump up the posterior, are "part of the whole outfit".
On a recent night out to an album release party in Los Angeles, Benson put on her makeup, a tight-fitting Herve Leger dress, stiletto heels - and her Booty Pop panties.
"I look better, I feel better, and as a result, I act better," says the 25-year-old assistant to a music manager.
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On Booty Pop's late-night infomercials, which began airing in December, viewers are entreated to "forget about doing endless squats - and cosmetic surgery, who can afford that?" as models prance around in tight jeans flaunting their backsides.
In May, Bed Bath & Beyond started carrying Booty Pop in most of its 967 stores and online.
Drugstore Walgreens, which jumped on the Booty Pop bandwagon in April, is carrying the product at 1,000 of its 7,541 stores and mulling an expansion.
Earlier this month, Target started carrying Booty Pop online.
Booty Pop projects it will sell close to one million pairs of padded underwear this year.
"I want one," the famously skinny reality TV star Nicole Richie wrote this month on Twitter, after which she posted a link to a "black licorice" cotton-spandex pair, on sale for $19.95.
Through her publicist, Richie declined to comment.
Booty Pop isn't the only company seeking a boost from behind. Early next year, Maidenform Brands plans to introduce a "Jean Collection" - internally called "Project Injeanious" - containing bottom shapers.
At lingerie retailer Frederick's of Hollywood, the "Booty Boy Short" is currently the No. 2 top-selling shaping item online.
Victoria's Secret introduced the "bum booster" in January in some outlets, and a spokeswoman says it is selling well.
But the garments do have complications. Holly Homer, a 40-year-old stay-at-home mom from Dallas, recently tested a pair and called the look "ridiculous."
"If you wear anything less than a really heavy denim with it, you can see where those oval-shaped things stick out," said Homer.
She dubbed the situation "VBPL", for "Visible Booty Pop Line" - riffing off the faux pas of VPL, "visible panty line."
Read more at the Wall Street Journal.
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