WHEN DID IT BECOME HIP TO HUNCH OVER?
BY Jodu Mailander Farrell, KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

Check out the models on today's runways or the latest photo spreads in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle. Look closer at the red carpet postures of celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirsten Dunst, and Paris Hilton.

Perfect perky posture is out. The sag is in.

Shoulders are rounded, hips and head are thrust forward, the spine is curved. It's become fashionable to - insert shrug here - stand like you just don't care.

"It's that vacuous look, that `I don't have to pay attention or look interested in life' look,'' says Patti Wood, a body language expert who performs posture analysis for magazines such as Us Weekly and Cosmopolitan. "It's not cool to care.''

It may be all about the slump, but beware the hump. Today's S-shaped trendsetters could be tomorrow's fashion victims. Poor posture puts a strain on the spine and its supporting muscles and ligaments. Muscles adapt to a sloucher's round-shouldered position, resulting in chest muscles that are short and tight, and back muscles that are stretched and weak.

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