Victoria Beckham’s fashion evolution from pop princess to queen of runway cool

When the Spice Girls hit the big time in 1996, I was studying fashion at Central Saint Martins and I didn’t really pay them much attention.

I was busy spending my student grant on Vivienne Westwood and partying hard at the Wag Club.

Victoria Beckham is three years younger than me, and I was too much of a cool art school kid to bother with this new girl band who seemed to have a fan base of under-10s.

Of course I saw them on Top Of The Pops, but I’d never have guessed in a million years that Victoria – or Posh, as she was then known –would become the style icon that she is today.

Back in the mid-’90s, Posh’s fashion go-to look was a bodycon bandeau dress that barely covered her bottom and a pair of killer heels.

The chic bobbed hair became synonymous with her look, as did the perma pout, which she absolutely perfected.

My own style couldn’t have been more different. While she was trying to be sexy and sophisticated on stage, I was aiming for edgy and androgynous in Doc Martens and vintage men’s blazers.

I had a bleach-blonde pixie cut and worked three jobs.

More than two decades on, Posh and I have both remained dedicated followers of fashion, constantly changing our hair and our hemlines through the years, trying out the latest trends while juggling raising families and working hard.

And what a fashionable journey it has been!

When Posh met Becks in 1997, she ditched her girl-band look and the pair hit the headlines – not just because she was a Spice Girl and he could score goals, but because of their fashion choices.

With their infamous matching leather outfits they did “twinning is winning” long before it was a thing on Insta.

They weren’t afraid to wear jeans to a black-tie do, sport bandanas or show off their matching midriffs.

Their his ‘n’ hers styling has kind of defined them as a couple ever since. I for one still look forward to seeing what they will wear next.

Sealing the deal with a wedding in 1999 elevated Ms Adams and Goldenballs to power couple status overnight.

I was front row at Maria Grachvogel’s show during London Fashion Week in 2000 and out walked Posh, striding purposefully down the catwalk in tiny green hot pants and no bra.

I remember thinking: “Wow, here is a woman who wants to hit the front pages tomorrow.”

In hindsight, Posh had probably already set her sights on a career in fashion – she just didn’t know how to make the transition from celebrity to respected fashionista and was trying her luck on the runway.

By 2006 her look had started to become much more grown-up and glamorous.

Roberto Cavalli dressed her in sexy corset gowns in the style of the supermodels, and she in turn walked for him in Milan.

She was mixing in fashion circles, hanging out with designers and industry insiders, and was the face of rap mogul Damon Dash’s fashion label Rocawear, which launched in Selfridges in 2003, where she notoriously showed up, posed, didn’t say a word and walked out again. V fashion!

She also became the poster girl for the fabulous entourage of WAGs during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Victoria, Coleen, Cheryl, Abbey et al gave us just as much entertainment with their outfits as their other halves did on the pitch.

Handbags, hair extensions and hot pants were Vic’s go-to in Baden-Baden, as well as slogan vests and giant sunnies, which she wore to hide her disappointment as the boys were knocked out in the quarter-final.

Later that year Victoria started to transform herself into the VB we know today. She replaced her hair extensions with a sharp bob.

Her wardrobe changed from high-octane glam to serious FROW fashionista – crisp white shirts with pencil midis and asymmetric hemlines took over from va-va-voom frocks. VB had her fashion game face seriously on!

By the time she launched her own label in 2008, the Beckhams were living in the US and she’d morphed into the epitome of American chic.

Her neat shift dresses and giant sunnies had become her trademark look, and she modelled for Marc Jacobs with her legs sticking  out of a giant shopping bag.

This Brit was living the American dream, and was prepared to poke fun at herself with the industry big-hitters.

Victoria is a brilliant ambassador for her own label, always looking amazing in her designs.

Her complex colour palette, razor-sharp tailoring and on-point accessories have won over the initially sceptical fashion pack.

Tickets for VB’s show are like gold dust.

Her label is coveted by fashionistas from far and wide.

She even counts American Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour among her friends, which is no mean feat.

In a recent interview she said about her style journey: “I look at everything as good at the time and part of a journey that has brought me to where I am now.”

The rest, as they say is fashion history. Victoria’s transition from spray-on Spice Girl to runway royalty is complete.

These days I would give my eye teeth to dress from head to toe like VB. The only problem is I would still need to work three jobs to be able to afford it!

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