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ALEXANDRA SHULMAN’S NOTEBOOK: Victoria Beckham’s secret? It’s about her AND David

In 2007 a lunch was arranged to introduce me to Victoria Beckham in the hope Vogue would support the launch of her fashion brand.

She was instantly likeable and chatty, telling me stories of how ‘the boys’ – Brooklyn, then nine, Romeo, six, Cruz, three – had knocked candle wax over the lilac croc Hermes bag David had bought her for Christmas, and asking me about my own son, then aged 12.

Many world famous pop stars wanting to launch their own fashion line would have tried to impress the editor of Vogue with their fashion knowledge; Victoria realised she was more likely to strike a chord with mum chat. She’s smart that way.

And so it was that I decided to give Victoria her first Vogue cover, despite a huge number of people thinking she was nothing more than an artificially enhanced WAG. 

Well, time has proved them wrong.

In her new Netflix documentary, Victoria is filmed in numerous locations, including the couple’s tastefully renovated Cotswolds mansion and the London house designed by the queen of understated interiors, Rose Uniacke.

These homes are a long way from Beckingham Palace, where I interviewed her for that cover interview.

The seven-bedroom Hertfordshire mansion had colourful LED spots along the floor, rather like emergency lighting on an airport runway, and a sitting room whose style is best described as ‘ethnic world’ – full height Thai figurines and a centrepiece of a huge African drum topped with a birdcage. 

In her new Netflix documentary, Victoria is filmed in numerous locations, including the couple’s tastefully renovated Cotswolds mansion and the London house designed by the queen of understated interiors, Rose Uniacke

Victoria might have metamorphised from Spice Girl to WAG to fashion and beauty entrepreneur, but what hasn¿t changed is the potency of her partnership with David

Victoria might have metamorphised from Spice Girl to WAG to fashion and beauty entrepreneur, but what hasn’t changed is the potency of her partnership with David

Victoria was tottering around in Louboutin stilettos at least two sizes too big for her. ‘If they don’t have my size I just stick toilet paper in,’ she told me. ‘If that’s what it takes to have a nice shoe…’

A whole wall of the house was covered in a mural depicting the family as fairytale characters soaring above the world.

It’s a long way from the immaculate Victoria of now, who would never be seen in an ill-fitting shoe. By choosing a perfectly cut grey T-shirt for her Netflix interview, she shows she doesn’t need to look showy, but cool.

Victoria learns from the best. Sitting beside her, while she’s being filmed in her Paris studio before a big Fashion Week show, is the bespectacled, denim clad Jane How, one of fashion’s leading stylists. 

I worked with Jane at Vogue and her USP is mixing edgy clothing with rugged, bare-faced femininity.

Although her role at Beckham’s side is never made clear, it’s likely Jane would have been responsible for much of how the show looked in terms of the hair, make-up and the clothes.

Victoria might have metamorphised from Spice Girl to WAG to fashion and beauty entrepreneur, but what hasn’t changed is the potency of her partnership with David.

Right at the start of the documentary series, Victoria jokes that David thinks he¿ll be getting his big on-screen moment, but that he¿s wrong

Right at the start of the documentary series, Victoria jokes that David thinks he’ll be getting his big on-screen moment, but that he’s wrong

It would have been impossible to predict, back when they first got together with their twinned outfits and bleached hair, that they would become one of the world’s most remarkable married couples. 

Victoria has built her style empire, while David has managed to navigate a hugely lucrative career as a business mogul post his days on the pitch.

Yet, at root, nothing is as successful as the way they magnify and enhance each other while pursuing different paths.

Right at the start of the documentary series, Victoria jokes that David thinks he’ll be getting his big on-screen moment, but that he’s wrong. This is her show, not his. Well, yes, up to a point.

But in the end, it’s theirs really–- it’s all about the two of them. Always has been. And hopefully always will be.

Meghan’s on trend – white is for winners

Meghan cut a stylish figure at Paris Fashion Week last weekend in a white caped trouser suit she wore to Pierpaolo Piccioli¿s debut at Balenciaga

Meghan cut a stylish figure at Paris Fashion Week last weekend in a white caped trouser suit she wore to Pierpaolo Piccioli’s debut at Balenciaga

When Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, appeared in white at Paris Fashion Week last weekend, the choice of outfit wouldn’t have been a casual decision. 

Not that I think Meghan makes many casual decisions, but the white caped trouser suit she wore to Pierpaolo Piccioli’s debut at Balenciaga was on point for this season’s trend for white ostentation.

Later in the week, Lauren Sanchez Bezos left the Ritz Paris top-to-toe in white, while Victoria Beckham wore a white skirt suit for the premiere of her Netflix documentary. 

Even Kemi Badenoch got in on the act, choosing the colour for her leader’s speech at the Tory conference.

There’s no hovering in the background when you wear white. It suggests you are wealthy enough to have been seamlessly dropped at your destination, having avoided getting grubby on public transport. The message is clear: white is for winners.

Why social climbing is always a laugh!

After the death of Patricia Routledge last week, I sought out her star turn as the socially aspirational Hyacinth Bucket on Keeping Up Appearances

After the death of Patricia Routledge last week, I sought out her star turn as the socially aspirational Hyacinth Bucket on Keeping Up Appearances

After the death of Patricia Routledge last week, I sought out her star turn as the socially aspirational Hyacinth Bucket on Keeping Up Appearances. BBC iPlayer only has one episode, but watching it was pure heaven.

Social climbing once inspired some of the BBC’s most successful comedies – think of To The Manor Born and The Good Life.

 Now nobody dares use class as comic material. They are too frightened of being offensive. 

While we might like to think the notion of class is dead, we all know it isn’t, and it remains as rich a seam of the ridiculous as it ever was.

Parrots add touch of glitter to our gardens

When we held a party to celebrate the publication of my novel, The Parrots, in our London garden, a swarm of colourful parakeets did a flypast. 

They used to be regulars here, but after that, I scarcely saw one. But this autumn they’re back. 

I know they are regarded as predatory, exotic vermin but even so, I love to see their glitter among blackbirds and robins.

Tiaras and jimjams? Now that’s fashion

Preparing to interview jewellery expert Carol Woolton at this weekend’s Cliveden Literary Festival, she told me that, during lockdown, sales of tiaras rocketed. How brilliant! 

Think of all those wearing a tiara on their Zoom calls while in pyjama bottoms. I wish I’d had one.

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