She shot to stratospheric fame in the Nineties as one-fifth of the Spice Girls, who ruled the stage with their skimpy outfits and powerful ‘girl power’ mantra.
But Victoria Beckham, 43, has admitted she dressed a little more demurely as a teenager and didn’t wear ‘inappropriate’ stage ensembles until she joined the band.
Speaking in Vogue’s historic December issue, the fashion designer admitted her mother Jackie would ‘never’ have let her go out in some of the group’s scantier looks.
Candid: Victoria Beckham, 43, has admitted she dressed a little more demurely as a teenager and didn’t wear ‘inappropriate’ stage ensembles until she joined the Spice Girls, in an interview with Vogue
Showing off a rare dressed-down side to her style, Victoria ditched the heels as she posed at her Hertfordshire house in a pair of checked pink pyjamas.
Reflecting on her teenage dress sense, the mum-of-four mused: ‘Did I have a perm that was slightly distasteful? Yes. Did I wear strange jeans? Yes.’
Going on to discuss her revealing Spice Girls looks, she added: ‘Did I look inappropriate ever? Not until the Spice Girls. My mum would never let me go out dressed like that.’
Beckham also revealed she got her sartorial credentials from her glamorous mother Jackie, who would throw sumptuous dinner parties.
‘We weren’t allowed to attend so we’d sit on the balcony and watch,’ she recalled.
Spice Up Your Life: The fashion designer admitted her mother Jackie would ‘never’ have let her go out in some of the group’s scantier looks (seen in 1995)
Skimpy: She said: ‘Did I look inappropriate ever? Not until the Spice Girls. My mum would never let me go out dressed like that’
‘Mum had blonde hair and big shoulder pads, there was a lot of velvet, nipped-in waists and 15-denier tights. She was properly dressed for dinner.’
Since shooting to fame in the Spice Girls, Victoria has broken away from the group and established herself as a successful designer with a fashion empire.
Crediting her strong work ethic with her upbringing, she said: ‘My family brought me up telling me I could achieve absolutely anything.’
Oh dear: The designer previously admitted she and her former Spice Girls bandmates Mel C, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton looked like ‘men in drag’ with their heavily-applied makeup in the late 1990s
Candid: Reflecting on their outfits, she said: ‘There’s one that was the most hideous – we went to the American Music Awards and we looked like men in drag’. Seen in 1998
Opening up: ‘We had so much make-up on, it was unbelievable. I look back at the pictures and I’m like, “Woah!” We took the layering of make-up to a whole new level,’ she joked
Victoria, who shares Brooklyn, 18, Romeo, 15, Cruz and six-year-old Harper with husband David, said she applies the same mentality to her own brood.
‘Whenever I said I can’t do it, my dad just wouldn’t hear it. He’d say “what do you mean you can’t do it? Why? Why?” And I do that to my own children as well.’
The designer previously admitted she and her former Spice Girls bandmates Mel C, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton looked like ‘men in drag’ with their heavily-applied makeup in the late 1990s.
Chic as ever: Beckham also revealed she got her sartorial credentials from her glamorous mother Jackie, who would throw sumptuous dinner parties
Like mother, like daughter: She recalled: ‘Mum had blonde hair and big shoulder pads, there was a lot of velvet, nipped-in waists and 15-denier tights. She was properly dressed for dinner’. Pictured with Jackie
Not invited: She confessed they weren’t allowed to sit at Jackie’s parties, saying: ‘We weren’t allowed to attend so we’d sit on the balcony and watch’. Pictured with her mum in 2005
Victoria stated that she and her former bandmates looked ‘hideous’ when they attended the American Music Awards in 1998 – at which they picked up three prizes – because they had piled on so much make-up.
Asked of her favourite Spice Girls beauty look, she said: ‘When I was pregnant with Brooklyn, we did a video called Goodbye. I had really short hair. That was quite nice – natural make-up.
‘But there’s one that was the most hideous – we went to the American Music Awards and we looked like men in drag.
Transformation: Since shooting to fame in the Spice Girls, Victoria has broken away from the group and established herself as a successful designer with a fashion empire
Inspiring: Crediting her strong work ethic with her upbringing, she said: ‘My family brought me up telling me I could achieve absolutely anything’
‘We had so much make-up on, it was unbelievable. I look back at the pictures and I’m like, “Woah!” We took the layering of make-up to a whole new level.”
And Victoria admitted she ‘cringes’ when she looks back at some of her Spice Girls looks.
See the full shoot in the December issue of Vogue, on sale Friday
In a video interview with Selfridges presenter Laura Jackson, she said: ‘I used to experiment a lot when I was younger and I look back, [from] when I was in the Spice Girls, at some of those looks.
‘Do I cringe? A little. But I think it’s great to experiment and try new things.’
The former singer previously shocked fans as she revealed how producers used to turn off her mic when she used to perform in the Spice Girls.
‘They used to turn it off and just let the others sing.
‘I got the last laugh – and now my mic is well and truly on, finally,’ she told Claudia Winkleman last summer.
Victoria added that being the one who ‘loved fashion’ in the world famous band meant she could get designer dresses for free.
‘I was always the one that loved fashion and it was quite a result for me because the girls always used to get their clothes for free because they were crap and so there was a lot of budget for me to have my little Gucci dress,’ she confessed.
See the full shoot in the December issue of Vogue, on sale Friday
Strong mindset: Victoria, who shares Brooklyn (pictured), 18, Romeo, 15, Cruz and six-year-old Harper with husband David, said she applies the same mentality to her own brood
Never give up: Shee said: ‘Whenever I said I can’t do it, my dad just wouldn’t hear it. He’d say “what do you mean you can’t do it? Why? Why?” And I do that to my own children as well.’ Pictured with Harper