Hollywood’s Hottest Accessory: The Big Coffee Cup

Handbags and headbands may be chic, but if you really want to be a Hollywood hottie, you need to tote a colossal cup of caffeine.

Bigger is better. And not surprisingly, it’s usually Tinseltown’s tiniest who won’t be caught dead without their venti.

From Nicole Richie to the Olsen twins to Lindsay Lohan, it seems as if every emaciated paparazzi target has ditched Atkins, South Beach and macrobiotic for the Starbucks Survival diet. And more often than not, it looks like the starlets themselves could fit inside their oversized cups.

(Click on the links to see Ashley Olsen, Reese Witherspoon, Mischa Barton, Katie Holmes and Renee Zellweger with their big cups.)

“It’s interesting how in every magazine it’s the skinniest stars that are always carrying massive coffees,” said Mara Yanoshik, a 21-year-old communications student at Pace University in New York City. "Their cups look bigger than they do."

And where do celebs most often go for their quick fix? You guessed it.

“Starbucks is the best place for star-spotting,” said Tara Williams, a 23-year-old former Starbucks barista in Los Angeles. “Celebs are always on the go, so they love their drink to go.”

Stars are also leading the way in the complicated concoction craze. Light and sweet? Way too boring for today's java junkies.

“Reese Witherspoon likes a grande almond strong soy latte, Mary-Kate Olsen has a venti sugar-free vanilla skim latte, Nicole Kidman orders a triple grande skim wet cappuccino, Renee Zellweger gets a grande extra hot vanilla latte with cinnamon and Katie Holmes has a half-caf grande soy latte,” Williams said.

So much for a cup o' joe, regular.

According to the Web site starbucksgossip.typepad.com, where employees dish the dirt on star-studded orders, Britney Spears goes “Crazy” for a venti extra caramel frappuccino, Elijah Wood prefers a quad espresso over ice in a venti cup and Ricky Martin’s “Cup of Life” is a four-shot, non-fat, sugar-free espresso venti vanilla latte.

They're not alone. Mike Meyers digs a double short breve cappuccino, Montel Williams talks up the raspberry soy white mochas and John Travolta’s “Phenomenon” is a double espresso.

Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter’s home run is a venti java chip frappuccino and once-upon-a-time rapper Vanilla Ice orders nothing other than a dry grande vanilla latte, the workers report.

While some of these orders may pack on the pounds, your typical cup of coffee speeds up metabolism and breaks down fat by freeing fatty acids that are immediately burned, according to fitwise.com. Hence, the appeal among Hollywood's hottest.

“Caffeine acts directly upon the central nervous system. It brings about an almost immediate sense of clearer thought and lessens fatigue,” added Dr. Earl Mindell, author of "The Vitamin Bible for the 21st Century."

“But these benefits may far be outweighed by side effects such as depression, anxiety, insomnia and headaches," he added.

So while drinking copious amounts of coffee might not be the healthiest habit, it's still hip to sip in the Hollywood Hills.

But it's not only the famous and fortunate who are fond of the fat cup.

“A coffee cup is certainly a fashion must-have,” Yanoshik said. “And the bigger the better. It adds a bit of bling to the outfit.”

“Everybody’s doing it,” Yanoshik added. “Most people I know have at least two or three ventis per day, but my record is seven. Seeing so many stars with their super large cups just makes it seem stylish.”

But the Melrose model of a monstrous cup doesn’t have to involve a brimful of beans.

Known for its anti-aging and fat-burning properties, it's not surprising that Hollywood is "going green" for green tea.

Gwyneth Paltrow apparently won’t leave her house in the morning without it, J-Lo had her favorite brand shipped to her in London last year and there’s no way Kim Cattrall could even contemplate “Sex in the City” without her fix.

“A lot of the slender stars are now filling their ventis with green tea,” Williams noted. “It’s almost like coffee without the calories," she said, referring to the calories in milk, sugar, etc. "And best of all, they can still sport that massive cup.”

Whether it's green tea, cappuccino, frappuccino or skinniccino, fashion mavens agree: It's the size, not the style, that matters.

“The venti embodies everything about the American lifestyle,” Yanoshik said. “Not only is it trendy, but it’s big and out there. People take notice of it.”