A man in the Philippines has had multiple cosmetic surgeries in order to look like Superman. 

Reporter Marie Lozano of Bandila news Tweeted this picture earlier as a teaser to her upcoming story:

With the translating help of the lovely Maureen F. from our doctor advisory team, we’ve been able to suss out some of the details of this story.  We’ll continue to update as we understand more.

According to the report, Superman wannabe Herbert Chavez, 35, has been going under the knife since 1995 to achieve his heroic appearance.  So far he’s had:

Confirmed:

• Chin augmentation (for the cleft)
• Rhinoplasty (he wants Christopher Reeves’ nose)
• Silicone injections to his lips
• Thigh implants

Speculated (just look at the before and after!)

• Eye surgery
• Cheek augmentation
• Jaw augmentation

In the segment, a psychiatrist (who has not treated Chavez) suggests he has Body Dysmorphic Disorder, meaning he's obsessed with making cosmetic changes to his body.

Chavez is said to be a pageant trainer -- though we’re not sure exactly what that means.  Our best guess is beauty pageants -- he does seem to have a thing about perfect looks.  He's also obsessed with all things Superman, as further evidenced by the memorabilia in and outside of his house. 

It’s not too uncommon for plastic surgery patients to request celeb faces or features.  But asking to look like a fictional character is different story.  However there are real actors who’ve portrayed Superman, and Chavez’s look seems to be an amalgamation of a few of them. 

Extreme plastic surgery like this has always been controversial.  Based on this photo, do you think Chavez took plastic surgery too far in his attempt to look like his fictional hero?

“Does anyone still wear a hat?” This lyric from Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece musical Company, as crooned out by Elaine Stritch, rung in my head as I found out that master milliner Stephen Jones’s show Hats: An Anthology would travel across the pond from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London to the Bard Graduate Center in New York City this Fall. Though English aristocracy continues to include interesting headwear in their luxe lexicon (remember the Royal Wedding?), are hats still so much a sartorial staple in the United States that they warrant an exhibition?

The introductory tableau sets the scene for the entire exhibit: a small selection of hats that run the gamut from historical (bonnets), to stylish (a dramatic spray of black pheasant feathers), to subversive (a masculine top hat rendered in soft hot pink satin) gives us a taste of the varied and venerable examples presented. Initially what strikes the viewer is the endless possibilities of beauty, from the simple elegance of a fedora to the inexplicable tangle of delicate, colorful feathers that manages not to collapse on itself.

Supplementing these fashion tokens are bonnets, turbans, tiaras, helmets and more, pieces of headwear worn only by royalty, military officers, aristocrats or fictional characters. A replica of Darth Vader’s helmet is on display, next to an authentic Japanese samurai helmet. Mickey Mouse ears mingle with 19th C. Indian crowns. Sarah Jessica Parker’s acorn and butterfly fascinator worn to the Sex and the City premiere plays off of a sable fur hat worn by Napoleon III’s wife Empress Eugénie. A Disney tiara provides contrast to the real diamond-studded deal. The mixture of high and low culture shows how hats, and fashion generally, have come to define important sects of class and taste in the world.

The exhibition also explores the variety of mediums used to create hats, offering creations of feathers, paper, flowers and straw that defy typical expectations of craft. Adjacent to these experiments in handiwork is a mini-vignette of Jones’s atelier, illustrating the hectic process of creation amidst bolts of fabric, tools, magazines and the horrifying stare of Styrofoam heads. Instantly we are transposed from the haute fantasy of headwear into the laborious process of millinery.