Fox

Kellie Pickler before and after photos.

When Kellie Pickler appeared on "American Idol" last week to promote her new album “Small Town Girl,” that wasn’t all she was promoting. Her recent purchase was on full display. A new curly haircut was upstaged as her outfit was obviously designed to show off her shameless, sexy, over-the-top…shoes.

The studio was stunned silent.  Eyes popped out, mouths hung agape and Tyra Banks was dying to get her hands on them. Ryan Seacrest couldn’t maintain eye contact.  His eye was drawn to the spectacle on her feet, "Have you spent your money on anything since you left us?"

"Shoes... imagine that," Pickler responded guilt-free. They were silver. They were shiny.  They were so audacious. What must her parents think? 

Later when asked of the new “shoes,” she offered the company line of “no comment.”

Quickly I became concerned if it’s possible that cliché meant she’s regretting the decision or ashamed to acknowledge it. When celebrities opt for augmentation with the hope that it will uplift their careers as well as their bust line, sometimes the adverse is true. I fear we’re dealing with the latter.

Celebrities tend to worry about how different they’ll look without considering the differences in how they’ll be perceived. A normal person can write that off as I don’t care what people think. (Of course, why have the surgery then?)  However, for those in the public eye, that shift in perception can be career limiting or even crippling.

Let’s say you found her restoration as sexy (which I didn’t), it still robs her of the innocent naivety that was arguably her best asset. (Emphasis on “was,” it’s now a distant third.) Months back, Kellie did a nice job as an innocent girl on the streets of New York for Jay Leno that was amusing and endearing. I wonder if she could now duplicate that effort. My guess is that routine won’t be routine anymore. 

She’s rumored to be working on her own sitcom about a naïve southern girl who finds out her biological father is the town’s governor. Does her new footwear limit her believability in such a role? The changes aren’t subtle. She’s practically wearing snow shoes. Could a poor orphan possibly afford such lavishes?

For somebody like Anna Nicole, one of the biggest inflators, her changes launched her career as a sex symbol. The pay scale for said career amounted to wadded dollar bills in a rubber band but that’s not the point. The point is the perception of her changes fell in line with her career aspirations (to marry a billionaire octogenarian among others). 

Which brings me to my next point: Anna was buried last week possibly as a result of self-destructive behavior. A number of altered celebrities fell into bad habits and wild times. Some seem to coincide precisely with their procedure. Tara Reid treats every night like it’s her birthday. Yet, she’s ashamed every time she gets naked around a new person due to botched jobs. Which, judging from ‘Taradise,’ was after every meal.    

That’s another consideration I’m guessing candidates for the new shoes fail to grasp.  That it will inevitably have some impact on their mental state and personality. One study has the suicide rate 73 percent higher in women with breast implants. So either the type of person who typically opts for the change can suffer from mental illnesses such as depression, or there’s some unseen guilt/stigma that can fester as a result. I’m guessing it’s more the former but possibly a little of both.

I’ve never had breast implants. Quite honestly, I’ve never had breasts. So it’s hard for me to relate. I wouldn’t mind adding some frontal scalp hairs or subtracting a chin or two but plastic surgery would almost certainly change me, possibly not for the better. I’d be giving into the notion that I’m not good enough the way I am. Or as society may see it, that I hate who I am. (Plus, one morning around my thirty-first birthday, I woke up and realized I couldn’t possibly care less what I look like. The missus was thrilled.)

The banter between Ryan and Kellie showed that she changed on the outside but she was just as oblivious on the inside. His obvious references blew right over Kellie’s head.  That’s encouraging. Her innocence, whether feigned or legit, is what endears her to fans.

The water cooler discussion she sparked was compelling and she’s the perfect exhibit for physical changes not coinciding with her interior. So overall, what does this mean for sweet, young, innocent Kellie? For starters, she’ll no longer be perceived as young. She could have passed for thirty last week. I found her hair style ahead of her time. The augmentation of her backside trumped the augmentation of the front. If you couple that with the ultra-tight dress, I was soured on the whole look. 

All-in-all, I thought she looked much better before.  I’m guessing she just might feel the same way. Or in other words, “no comment.”