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 The life story of Victoria Beckham is the story of success. She
is a popular performer, happy mother and wife, an acclaimed fashion designer
and a successful businesswoman. She is world famous. Victoria Beckham nee Adams
has always dreamt of being famous, even as a little girl - she was inspired by
watching the musical Fame, and subsequently decided that she would become
famous. It was then that her parents enrolled her at Jason Theatre School. At
17 she attended Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, Surrey and studied dance and
modelling. She was also in a band called ‘Persuasion'. 99% of girls would
settle for this, but not Victoria.
In 1994, Victoria Adams joined the all-girl group the Spice
Girls, first called "Touch," with Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton,
Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm. In
1996, the group's first single, ‘Wannabe', went to Number 1 in the UK and US,
and another 29 countries. It was followed by nine further Number 1 singles from
their albums Spice, Spiceworld and Forever. Each member of the group received a
nickname from the media. Adams was named ‘Posh Spice' due to her refined
attitude, form-fitting designer outfits, such as little black dresses, and her
love of high-heeled footwear. The group was one of the most successful pop acts
of the 1990s, selling over fifty-five million records worldwide. After the
release of their third album, Forever (UK number 2), which was far less
successful than their previous two albums, the Spice Girls stopped recording,
leading Beckham to try and build a solo career.
However, Beckham has found more success as an
internationally recognized and photographed style icon. Her career in fashion
includes designing a line of jeans for Rock & Republic and later designing
her own denim brand, dVb Style. Beckham has brought out her own range of
sunglasses and fragrance, entitled Intimately Beckham, which has been released
in the UK and the US. In association with the Japanese store Samantha Thavasa
and Shiatzy Chen, she has produced a range of handbags and jewelry. In
addition, Beckham has released two best-selling books; one her autobiography,
the other a fashion guide.
Beckham's autobiography, entitled ‘Learning to Fly', was
released in 2001. "Learning to Fly" became the third best-selling non-fiction
title of 2001 and the total UK sales stand at more than 500,000 copies. When
the book was first released, it went to Number 1 in the book charts after four
weeks of release. Before the publishing of the book, Hello!, The Daily Mail and
The Mail on Sunday joined to buy the rights to preview and serialise the book
before its release. The figure paid was thought to be near £1 million.
Beckham's second book, a fashion advice guide, entitled ‘That
Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything In Between', was published in
2006. The book became another bestseller, and has sold 400,000 copies in
Britain alone since it was published in hardcover. The rights have since been
sold to the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Portugal, Lithuania, and Russia.
In addition, Victoria made a guest appearance on the catwalk
for Maria Grachvogel in 2000, marking her debut as a model at London Fashion
Week. Beckham also acted as a British ambassador for Dolce and Gabbana and was
briefly the face of Rocawear in 2003. In her television ventures, Beckham has
participated in five official documentaries and reality shows about her, some
of which include Being Victoria Beckham and The Real Beckhams. Her last
documentary to date was Victoria Beckham: Coming to America which documented
her move to the US with her family in 2007. She has since made a cameo
appearance in an episode of American TV series Ugly Betty, and been a guest
judge on Project Runway, Germany's Next Topmodel, and American Idol (season 9).
In 2009, Victoria Beckham presented her first designer
collection under her own label, VB, featuring 10 dresses which were unveiled in
a private showing at the Waldorf Hotel in Park Avenue, to a select group of
retailers and fashion editors. All 10 of her original designs showed the
designer's partiality to fitted dresses with raised waistlines and mid-calf
lengths - the same styles that she's been sporting lately to great effect.
Victoria Beckham's use of fabrics like silk, organza, and
wool was impressive, but it was her attention to detail that had spectators
reeling with admiration. Not only do her designs look tasteful, she's also
taken measures to avoid vulgar wardrobe malfunctions with such subtle details
like inner grosgrain waistbands and folded tucks along the bustline, to name a
few. Indeed, Victoria Beckham knows all about the subtle nuances of wearing a
dress - like what makes it photograph well, or how to make a corset bearable
for hours on end - and she's sharing her expertise to all and sundry, a gesture
that's not lost to fans and critics alike.
Though Victoria Beckham may be considered a style icon by
many, her fashion sense was certainly not right for Mr Blackwell, for she
topped his Worst Dressed list. Mr Blackwell, who has been publishing his list
of the best and worst dressed for the past 48 years, said that Posh manages to
wreck every outfit she wears.
Of course, Mrs Beckham understands well that there is no
such thing as bad publicity, so she makes frequent appearances at various
social events and is always available for an interview. Recently, she increasingly
engages her sons into the family business: Brooklyn, born in 1999, accompanies
her to charity events; while Romeo, born in 2002, modeled in a fashion show (Mrs
Beckham claims that the boy simply adores fashion, already knows about fabrics
and patterns, and often gives her style tips).
Beckham's marriage and career as a singer have made her the
52nd richest woman in Britain, and the 19th richest person in Britain with
husband David, with an estimated joint wealth of £112 million ($225 million
USD).
In the list of top earning celebrity couples compiled by
Forbes Magazine, the Beckhams wrapped up the top five with 46 million dollars, while
Beyonce Knowles and Jay Z have been named ‘Top-Earning Couple' with combined
earnings of 122 million dollars. Harrison Ford and his girlfriend, Calista
Flockhart, landed second place with combined earnings of 69 million dollars,
and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie came third with by earning a total of 55
million dollars, split about evenly between them both. However, this is hardly
the limit for unstoppable Victoria. Her quest for success is going on.
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