Victoria Beckham says she’d be locked by the Fashion Police for her 90s style blunders – like THAT leather biker suit
AS style icons of the Nineties, Victoria and David Beckham made as many headlines for their outlandish clothes as for her songs and his goals. They infamously turned heads wearing matching leather suits to a party in 1999 and even wore co-ordinated purple outfits on their wedding day the same year. But while the former […]
AS style icons of the Nineties, Victoria and David Beckham made as many headlines for their outlandish clothes as for her songs and his goals.
They infamously turned heads wearing matching leather suits to a party in 1999 and even wore co-ordinated purple outfits on their wedding day the same year.
But while the former Spice Girl believed the pair were on point at the time, she now admits they should have been locked up for some of their choices.
Speaking about the 1999 leather biker suits, Victoria, 47, said: “I will never, ever, ever, ever be allowed to forget that look. The irony is that we wore full-on leather Gucci to a Versace event for Donatella. Which in itself was just so wrong.”
The pop star turned fashion designer may not be a fan of some of her old outfits, but she revealed the couple’s four kids — Brooklyn, 22, Romeo, 19, Cruz, 16, and Harper, ten — think they were trendsetters.
She added: “My kids pull out all my old pictures. There’s one paparazzi shot of me going into Marks & Spencer and I’m on the phone, wearing tracksuit bottoms, some sort of trainer, and I’ve got on a big silver puffer.
“Cruz sent me that image a couple weeks ago and was like, ‘Mum you look so cool, why don’t you dress like that any more?’. There’s one of me and David walking our Rottweiler dogs, which, by the way, were called Puffy and Snoop, when we lived in Manchester.
“And my kids are like, ‘Mum, you look really cool!’. And I’m thinking, ‘if I dressed like that now I’d be locked away by the fashion police’.”
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‘I wasn’t scared to try new things’
Although she is quick to joke about their clothing choices — including David’s decision to wear a sarong at the World Cup in France in 1998 — Victoria said she tried to use some of them for inspiration when she launched her own fashion lines.
Her first designer range came out in 2008 and she now has a flagship store in London’s exclusive Mayfair. Her fashion brand is stocked in 450 shops across 50 countries.
Victoria said: “I look back and I smile because it has been a journey. I didn’t know about fashion then, and I wasn’t scared to try new things. There’s something so nice about that. Would I have the courage to wear that now, after being in the industry for 15 years? Probably not.
“There’s some bad taste there that I embrace and find inspiring now. For example, there’s nothing wrong with PVC pants if you’re going to pair them with a beautiful white tuxedo shirt.
“That’s a different interpretation of how I would have worn it in the Nineties. Back then I would have worn them with a bikini top with my boobs up by my chin. Whereas now I’d wear them with a beautiful shoe and a tuxedo blouse.”
Victoria splits her time between the family’s homes in London and the Cotswolds and their new base in Florida, where David, 46, owns football team Inter Miami.
I didn’t know about fashion then, and I wasn’t scared to try new things. There’s something so nice about that.
Victoria Beckham
She is currently in Miami with her husband and three of their children, including Romeo, who plays for Inter Miami’s reserves. Oldest son Brooklyn lives with his fiancée, actress Nicola Peltz, 26, in Los Angeles. Victoria said of her new life in Florida: “I love it down there. There’s a real energy about it.
“I’ve never been somewhere and met so many nice, kind, generous people. Harper was doing dancing lessons and she was playing tennis. Cruz was with a contemporary spray-painting artist, which is a lot of fun.
“He was in the studio a lot as well — Marc Anthony (a record executive) is his godfather. Romeo was training with the team. David was able to go to the club every single day, which he hadn’t been able to do for a year because of the lockdown.
“I surprised myself because I never spent long enough there to get to know it.”
Having the chance to spend time together as a family is clearly something Victoria relishes. And there will be an extra member soon as Nicola is expected to marry Brooklyn next year.
With 22 years of marriage under their belt, will Victoria and David be dishing out tips? Victoria said: “There’s nothing worse than someone giving advice.
‘You learn by your mistakes’
“I remember Geri Halliwell saying to me, ‘When you get a TV, you get a TV manual. But when you have a baby, there’s no manual. You just got to figure that s**t out for yourself’. That’s the truth.
“I’ve always been lucky that I’ve got a strong family unit, not just with David and the kids but with my parents and David’s parents. I feel very blessed that I have that. The kids always come first to me and David.”
While Romeo is following in his father’s footsteps on the football pitch, Cruz is carving out a career in music like his mum. Brooklyn is trying to make it as a chef, like close family pal Gordon Ramsay.
Victoria says that her three older kids have all found their own calling in life, without being pushed by their famous parents. She explained: “We offer advice. There’s a difference between offering advice and being there to support them. If you offer it and they want to take it, that’s great. Sometimes they want it and sometimes they don’t.
“And that’s OK, too. Sometimes you have to learn by your own mistakes. But we’re always there to support and we have a lot of fun in the process.”
As well as juggling motherhood with her fashion job, Victoria launched her debut beauty line in September 2019. She still manages to go to the gym at least five times a week and loves the me time her hobby provides for her.
I’ve always been lucky that I’ve got a strong family unit, not just with David and the kids but with my parents and David’s parents.
Victoria Beckham
In the interview with The Wall Street Journal newspaper, she explained: “It’s always been very important for me to get up and work out. It’s the one place where I go and no one can bother me. I can’t receive an email or WhatsApp or text. I’m literally in that gym with my playlist on for an hour.
“I work out with the trainer five or six days a week. I change my workouts slightly because it’s good to keep your body guessing.
“Right now I’m doing lots of weights and sometimes David and I work out together. It’s good not just for how you look, but for your mind.”
FINGER ON THE PULSE
Clemmie Fieldsend
POSH and Becks were like the new Charles and Diana in the Nineties.
Everywhere they went people were itching to see them together – and itching to see what they were wearing. Sure, some of the choices were questionable but at the time they were the most stylish couple and had their finger on the fashion pulse.
There’s no doubt that pieces they wore were recreated on the high street, just as happens with the A-listers of today. I definitely bought a faux leather zip-up high neck jacket after them.
But these days we are stuck with the likes of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s desperate attempts to grab attention by wearing balaclavas.
What I’d give for a Beckham revival.
They didn’t have to be “posh”, but their looks will go down in history – good or bad, it doesn’t matter.