Victoria Beckham says daughter Harper, 10, was ‘disgusted’ by her Spice Girls outfits: 'Your skirts were just unacceptable'
Victoria Beckham is reflecting on her relationship with her body and fashion, sharing that some of her Spice Girls looks have been criticized by her 10-year-old daughter Harper.
The 48-year-old designer spoke to Vogue Australia about her style evolution, noting a time when she garnered the "less-is-more attitude" while living in Miami, Florida with her husband David Beckham.
"At first, I found it quite shocking and then I found it quite inspiring. The women there celebrate their bodies and their femininity," she recalled. "I realized that my midi-length pleated skirt and pussy-bow blouse were not quite appropriate for Miami. In fact, they would have probably carted me off to some sort of home if I would have gone out for the night dressed that way."
Although her daughter is growing up in the public eye and in an era of social media, Victoria isn't convinced that Harper will be influenced by the micro-mini trends that are currently seeing a resurgence.
"She's not one of these kids who are going out with a full face of make-up and a crop top. She actually said to me recently, 'Mummy, I've seen some pictures of you when you were in the Spice Girls and your skirts were just unacceptable. They were just too short,'" Victoria said. "Then David piped up and said, 'Absolutely, Harper! They really, really were.' And she was actually quite disgusted at how short my skirts were. I said, 'Are you never going to wear skirts like that?' She said, 'Absolutely not.' We'll see."
Even still, the mother of four — including three sons Brooklyn, Cruz and Romeo — is cautious about what her daughter might be exposed to when she's old enough to be online herself.
"Harper isn't on social media, so we don't have to worry about that just yet. But seeing how cruel people can be, yes it really does [concern me]," Victoria explained. "She's at that age where her body is going to start changing, but it's about making sure that we communicate a lot as a family and she surrounds herself with nice friends. But it is quite terrifying, I can't lie."
While Victoria has become comfortable in her own body, sharing that she's "decided I wanted to wear more fitted dresses. I wanted to show more skin. I wanted to celebrate the fact that I'm a woman. And I wanted to stop hiding under clothes," she recalled horrible experiences with body shaming as a result of her public life.
"I've had 'Porky Posh' on a headline, I've had 'Skeletal Posh,'" she said. "After I had Brooklyn, there was a picture on the front of a newspaper pointing to every single part of my body as to where I had to focus on losing the weight from. Imagine doing that now."
She even faced contradictory criticism on live television for looking too thin postpartum.
"I went on a TV show called Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush with Chris Evans many years ago, and I'd just had Brooklyn and lost a lot of weight after. It happened to my mum after her pregnancies. It doesn't mean you have an eating disorder. And he made me stand on scales and be weighed," she explained. "Can you imagine doing that nowadays?"
Attention remains focused on Victoria and her body in the decades since her career first began. She admittedly has maintained a fairly "disciplined" routine with food as well.
"I eat lots of healthy fat: fish, avocado, nuts, that sort of thing. I do drink alcohol, unless I have a reason not to. I'll detox from anything for three to six months where I won't drink," she said. "I'm quite extreme in anything I do, whether it's eating or working out or drinking or not drinking."
As far as the lives that her children will lead, she expressed hope that they won't feel pressured to follow in their parents' footsteps but instead feel supported in whatever they do.
"You want to offer your support and do what you can to help them. But it makes you a bit nervous because, you know … you don't ever want anybody to be anything other than kind and love what your children do," she said.
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