Fashion Beat Summer 04

The theme for this summer is "back to nature," so throw away your razor and let it all grow out!

The weather is warming up, and so is the latest hot new fashion trend to hit New York and Rodeo Drive. Don't worry about spending hours in front of the mirror or at the salon plucking, waxing, and shaving your body in preparation for a fifteen minute fling with the sun! Hollywood has finally discovered the secret that Paris has known for ages -- body hair is bon mode.

Rachel Leigh Cook led the way for the new trend, daring to pose au natural for an intimate portrait she commissioned to be painted for her biggest fan and love interest, a man she calls, "The Badger".

"He's completely covered with fur, and it's so sexy," Rachel told reporters. "I just wanted to look as good for him as he does for me."

With ample chest hair and a long, flowing natural mustache, allowing her body hair to grow in was difficult for Cook at first, she said. "But the Tejon was just so supportive. He really loves me for who I am, not how I look. He always makes me feel beautiful. He gave me the courage to be who I really am."

And the real Rachel is absolutely fabulous. Her hirsute look sparked a mad trend that's taking over the entertainment and fashion industry. Fur is always in fashion on the runways, and never more than this summer season. But you won't see PETA protesters spray-painting "Fur is Murder" on the back of Britney Spears' latest outfit. The pop-princess trend-setter is famous for her skin baring performances.

"I used to spend hours a day shaving my stomach," Spears confessed in an interview with Redbook. "It was like, omigod!" She saw Rachel's new look at a photo shoot and hasn't looked back since.

Omigod, indeed, Britney.

Jaunty heiress Paris Hilton is also proudly sporting unaltered body hair. "I still shave my chin, because I tend to dribble when I eat soup, but I'm totally all for the rest of the hair. Since I've been on 'the Simple Life', I've totally realized how fake so much of the way I live is, so I've, like, stopped shaving under my arms and cut back on beating the servants."

Many celebrities have been proud to let their hair grow and do what it will, including artist Tracey Chapman, but it's only been recently that mainstream fashions have caught up. Still, to Chapman, the look is a natural evolution of fashion. "Beehives in the 60's, Afros in the 70's, the Hair Bands of the 80's -- the 'She Bear' look is just a more comprehensive expression of all these influences."

Still, you don't have to put much thought into body hair to join the phenomenon. One of the best examples of the natural body hair trend is celebrity gold digger, Anna Nicole Smith, whose pencil thin mustache, goatee and astonishing arm pit hair have been boosting ratings on her E! Network television show. "Wha-at?" Smith responded to reporters. "There's hair on my lip?"

No celebrities were haired in the making of this April Fools Day spoof.