From glamorous WAG to respected fashion designer, Spice Girl to doting mother of 4... Victoria Beckham has much to celebrate on her 40th birthday today. This woman (I just wanna throw in that she's British too, from Essex to be precise!) has managed to forge a successful fashion career loved the world over by women who long for simple yet elegant clothes, which earned her the award Designer Brand of the Year 2011 at the British Fashion Awards, not to mention a whole host of accolades and awards. Furthermore, this is the women who married David Beckham... you don't get much better than that! But Victoria hasn't always had it easy - media scrutiny, unflattering paparazzi photos, allegations of David's affair etc, but has remained strong and vigilant throughout turbulent times. In regard to her sense of style, she hasn't always got it perfect! Remember the infamous matching Versace leather jumpsuits she and husband Daivd wore?Nobody could forget a fashion fail like that!
VB's style has changed rapidly, from plunging tight dresses to minimal fur rimmed coats. Hemlines have got longer, well they couldn't get much shorter, and the bold, brash colours Victoria favoured when she first moved to Los Angeles had been replaced with more subdued, neutral colours in beige, cream and black. A much more sophisticated look to go with this superwomans status as caring mother and fashion designer. Out with the trashy leopard print maxi dresses and in with the over-sized coats and skyscraper heels. Victoria can also be viewed as quite a trend setter, with her effortless airport arrivals and departures, Harper Seven under one arm, a Hermes Birkin in the other. She doesn't over-do the whole glam look either with her slightly curled brunette hair tied up or left casually down, paired with her notoriously HUGE sunglasses. And who could forget the iconic bob haircut? Oh yes, long at the front, short at the back, dyed blonde with dark highlights. This was the haircut women everywhere loathed and envied, as Beckham is always able to pull off even the most dangerous of cuts, and she certainly succeeded with this one. Even I, at the young age of 13, begged my mum to get my haircut in the style of VB (my mother defiantly refused!)
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| Airport chic! |
In terms of her career, Victoria has gone from 1/5th of the Spice Girls to fashion designer, showing at New York Fashion Week biannually. Her move into fashion was met with much criticism, I regret even from myself, as the WAG from Essex used her celebrity status and influential fashion friends to start her own womenswear company, in her own name. With the help of manager Simon Fuller and fellow designer Roland Mouret, the Victoria Beckham fashion label has grown into a worldwide hit with celebrities including Eva Longoria, Heidi Klum and Kate Winslet all donning a posh frock on the red carpet. She claims that she works through the night, regularly using Skype to communicate with her team in London and is part of every stage of the design process, yet there are always doubts over her lack of artistic and creative ability to draw and sew, leading to much press speculation and accusation.
The thing is, VB is like Marmite: You either love her or hate her, with hate verging on jealousy. Beautiful husband, beautiful children, beautiful home, beautiful clothes...she has everything a woman could possibly ask for and then some. She has remained humble and supportive of David while his footballing career took him off to Spain, America and Italy to name just some and has managed to raise a family all in the media glare of the world. So, if anything I take my fashion hat off to Posh on her 40th birthday and wish her many happy returns on her special day. I wonder what the next decade will hold for brand Beckham...
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| The famous 'Posh Crop' and Victoria at the Met Gala Ball. |
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| The changing fashion of Beckham... |
