Another day, another new aspect of your body to scrutinise and have middle-of-the-night anxiety attacks over.
Before today, I felt confident my belly button was more-or-less normal and non-descript. After all, this is simply the attachment site for your long discarded umbilical cord, not a designer handbag, right?
Being the proud-ish owner of a ’round innie,’ this apparently means I’m chilled out individual with a spiritual side according to various belly button analysis articles. Which is always nice to know.
However, my peaceful little world has been turned innie-outie upon the revelation my ‘meh’ navel is complete garbage compared to the beauteous tummy crater sported by Emily Ratajkowski:
The 26-year-old model and actress is heaven-blessed with a ‘hooded oval belly button,’ which is of high demand among those wishing to undergo umbilicoplasty – aka, belly button shaping.
Just imagining this procedure probably made your stomach pack it’s bags and head for sunnier climates, however this operation isn’t as unusual as you might think.
Umbilicoplasty is on the rise, with many people opting to change the size and shape of their umbilicus. Should you so wish, you could even pop your outtie into an innie.
Often, umbilicoplasty is sought following stomach surgeries, pregnancies or extreme weight loss, with a noted increase seen during bikini season.
In our selfie saturated society where flimsy crop tops dominate the high street, this is somewhat unsurprising.
New York based plastic surgeon, Darren Smith, told Allure:
The belly button is a very important cosmetic feature of the stomach. I am seeing an increase in patient interest in belly button aesthetics.
Those going under the knife – which I imagine in this case to be tiny and wielded by mice surgeons – will often show surgeons images of celebs with admirable abdomens.
One such muse is Emily Ratajkowski, who rose to prominence in 2013 after appearing in Robin Thicke’s controversial Blurred Lines music vid.
Other popular tummies belonging to Jessica Simpson, Karolina Kurkova and Erin Heartherton are said to be highly sought after.
According to Allure, the holy grail of belly buttons is considered to be – much like Emily’s – a hooded innie complete with a narrow vertical shape. This apparently gives the impression of a longer torso and leaner abs.
Smith told Allure:
Belly buttons that are ‘too large’ can be made smaller by removing extra belly button skin and tightening the bordering abdominal skin around the belly button.
Belly buttons that are ‘too small’ are a little more difficult to deal with but can potentially be improved by removing some of the surrounding abdominal skin and gently stretching the belly button tissue to reach the enlarged border caused by removing the abdominal skin.
I’m not entirely sure what constitutes a belly button as being ‘too large’ or ‘too small,’ but if you’re beginning to panic about your own, then please don’t.
In a world where people are opting for surgically enhanced ear lobes and implanted back dimples, we really need to begin to love our own uniqueness.
In terms of opting for this procedure, I must admit I’m definitely ‘outtie’ every time…
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.