The Gorgeous Transformation Of Victoria Beckham

Victoria Beckham (nee Adams) has undergone several style evolutions since she rose to fame in the 1990s as the determined and ever-chic Posh Spice. The British beauty started out as a fashionable girl-bander, became not-such-an-innocent solo artist, and later a fashion mogul — all while juggling motherhood as one of famous women in the world. So many big life changes means this star has done a lot of growing up before our eyes. 

Though Beckham may have once cared what gossip bloggers and haters had to say about her life, career, or clothes, she's learned what's really important to her over the years. "I've been doing this too long. I suppose I did [care] when I was growing up but, nowadays, there's just too much going on; too busy; too many kids to worry about," she told Harper's Bazaar in November 2024. That no-cares-given approach to life is thanks to one gorgeous and enviable transformation.

Victoria Beckham came into the world in 1974 — and fashion was a big part of her life as soon as she could stand. Beckham proved that with an adorable 2020 Instagram throwback photo that showed her around 2 years old in a stylish black and red raincoat with a matching hat and boots. 

And Beckham's family could afford to dress the future star up in cute duds. Though Beckham claimed she grew up in a working-class family, David Beckham called her out in the 2023 Netflix documentary series "Beckham." "We're very working class," she claimed, though her husband chimed in, "Be honest ... What car did your dad drive you to school in?" She then reluctantly admitted her dad drove a Rolls Royce in the 1980s, which is one of the priciest brands on the market.

But as adorable and fortunate as young Beckham was, her early life wasn't easy. Beckham found shcool tough due to relentless bullying, she told Elle in 2007. "They were literally picking things up out of the puddles and throwing them at me," she said. "People would push me around, say they were going to beat me up after school, chase me. It was miserable, my whole schooling, miserable. I tried to be friends with people, but I didn't fit in."

As Victoria Beckham got a little older, she realized her passion for the performing arts. The aspiring performer attended Jason Theatre School as a teenager and later enrolled at Laine Theatre Arts college for dancing and modeling.

But as Beckham chased her dreams, she still struggled socially. In 2017, she wrote a letter to her 18-year-old self. Published by British Vogue, it detailed her low self-esteem. "I know you are struggling right now. You are not the prettiest, or the thinnest, or the best at dancing at the Laine Theatre Arts college. You have never properly fitted in, although you are sharing your Surrey school digs with really nice girls," she wrote. 

"You have bad acne. You think the principal has put you at the back of the end-of-year show (in a humiliatingly bright purple Lycra leotard) because you are too plump to go at the front. (This may or may not be true)," she added. But things were about to change dramatically for the young adult in a way that would alter her life forever.

As the '90s rolled around, the woman then known as Victoria Adams really came into her own. In 1993, she answered an ad for wannabe (pun intended) singers and found herself in a group of four other girls we'd later come to know as the Spice Girls. The fivesome — made up of Beckham, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown, Geri Horner (nee Halliwell), and Melanie Chisholm — worked hard behind the scenes for three years before releasing their iconic debut single, "Wannabe," in July 1996. The song was a huge hit across the world, landing in the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

As the girls' popularity grew, so did their big personalities. Beckham was dubbed Posh Spice due to the then 22-year-old's fashion-forward outfits (much like Reese Witherspoon, Beckham was the '90s queen of the LBD). "I was called Posh because I liked the nice restaurants, and the nice clothes, and that was my character. I didn't smile, even in those days. There was this very strong image," she said in the "Viva Forever!" 2012 documentary. 

She later shared in "Beckham" that being around the other girls boosted her confidence following her bullying experiences. "I was always quite shy ... And I probably would still be that way if I hadn't met the girls," she said (via Hello!). "What the Spice Girls did is they brought me out of me."

Now a full-fledged pop star, Victoria Beckham was in headlines around the world in 1999 – not only for her music, but for her dating life. The singer was coupled up with Manchester United soccer star David Beckham, whom she met two years earlier, and everyone was invested in their relationship. In 2008, David Beckham revealed on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that he knew Victoria from her immense Spice Girls fame and was determined to get to know her. "I was in a hotel room with my best friend, who was my best man at my wedding. I remember turning around, before I'd even met Victoria, and said, 'I want to marry that one,'" he recalled. 

And his words ended up being prophetic. The two got engaged in 1998 and welcomed their first child, Brooklyn, in March 1999 — the same year they tied the knot. Affectionately dubbed Posh and Becks by the press, the uber popular (and uber rich!) couple had a glamorous July wedding in Ireland that BBC News claimed cost around $639,000. The Spice Girl, who was 25 at the time, wore a Vera Wang gown as a nod to her passion for fashion that would only become more prominent.

All that attention on the family had a dark side, though. The soccer star said on "Beckham" that the couple endured terrifying threats after becoming parents, largely driven by hate from soccer fans. "The moment [Brooklyn] came out, I all the sudden thought, 'How am I going to protect him?' ... I didn't want him to come into this life at a time where I was going through what I was going through. But when there [were] kidnap threats, that's when it got scary," David Beckham said (via Glamour U.K).

Victoria Beckham tried her hand at a solo career in the new millenium, as the Spice Girls went on hiatus and each member pursued projects outside the group. She released her debut single "Out of Your Mind" with Dane Bowers and True Steppers in 2000 which was certified gold in the U.K. She also released a handful of other singles, including "Not Such An Innocent Girl" and "A Mind of Its Own." Her eponymous album was released the following year, but her music career failed to reach the dizzying heights of the Spice Girls' success and fizzled quickly.

Beckham later admitted her heart was never truly in her music career. "People never believed the solo singing career, and it wasn't the real me — I was a little bit lost at the time," she told Harper's Bazaar in 2009 (via Daily Mail). But the star realized her true power was in her celebrity. "My autobiography sold amazing amounts because people are very interested in me as a celebrity and want to know details such as what I wear, how much I weigh, and what style my hair is in," she said. That became a gateway for Beckham to fully shift her focus from music to fashion.

Having turned her back on solo music and girl-pop stardom, Victoria Beckham was more focused on building her brand and taking care of her family in 2004. The mom to Brooklyn and Romeo began her ascent into fashion in Spain, having moved from the U.K. to support her husband's move to play for Real Madrid. 

"In Spain you will revel in watching him enjoy some of his best footballing days. Spain is also where you will lay the foundations for your own fashion brand," Beckham told her younger self in her Vogue letter. She teamed up with Rock & Republic to create her own jeans collection. However, things turned sour between Beckham and the clothing company and they ended their business relationship in 2006. Her personal life also suffered. "I'm not afraid to say now what a horribly difficult time it was," she said of the move, which happened around the time she fell pregnant with their third child, Cruz.

But Beckham also made important connections with big name designers in the mid-2000s, including her appointment as the face of Dolce & Gabbana in the U.K. shortly before their move. "We want to become a bit more exclusive and not make clothes for every celebrity who asks. So we have picked one person from each country to work with and the British celebrity will be Victoria," designer Stefano Gabbana told British Vogue, bolstering her credibility in the style world.

Victoria Beckham was a mom of three by 2006 and was most visible for her very public support of David Beckham at his England soccer games. Beckham was arguably the most famous WAG in the game, and photos of her (often sitting alongside fellow wives and girlfriends like British pop star Cheryl) were splashed across column inches around the world. 

The athlete admitted his wife may have gotten a little too into the culture during the 2006 World Cup, stating on "The Overlap" in 2022, "Victoria, she's the first to say now, 'What was I doing? What was I wearing? Why would I do that?'" He added, "It did [go too far]. There was more spoken about the WAGs than football at the time. Players want to focus on the tournament."

But the numerous pitch-side snaps were a great opportunity for Beckham to dial up her WAG glam a la Taylor Swift. She became more well-known in fashion circles as the world flocked to the internet and magazines to see what she was wearing. She also became a prominent fixture at fashion shows around the world, including walking the runway for Roberto Cavalli in Milan and taking in designs by Chanel in Paris.

Victoria Beckham made another big step toward becoming a fashion mogul in 2007 when she launched her own dVb line of jeans and sunglasses. She found herself with a slew of new opportunities too, as the Beckham family moved to Los Angeles after David Beckham signed with L.A. Galaxy. 

The clan were welcomed to the City of Angels in the most glamorous way, as Tom Cruise and his then-wife Katie Holmes threw them a lavish welcome party. The A-list bash was attended by the likes of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, Eva Longoria, and Bruce Willis. "It's the happiest as a family that we've ever been. I just love America," Beckham told Elle that year (via Advocate). But things really took off in 2008 when she founded her eponymous clothing line. The Victoria Beckham brand originally launched as a collection of dresses, but quickly grew into an empire.

In 2017, Beckham explained during a Q&A at Saks Fifth Avenue that she always knew clothing was her calling. "It's what I've always wanted to do ... there was a little detour because I was in a pop group, but it was the fashion that excited me," she said (via Yahoo!).

2007 was a huge year for Victoria Beckham. Not only did she get back into fashion and move across the Atlantic, but Posh Spice made her much-anticipated return to the stage. In June of 2007, the Spice Girls announced a reunion world tour to begin in December, confirming all five members would spice up our lives once again.

Despite Beckham making it clear she was always more attracted to fashion shows than the stage, she told Elle she agreed to bring back her pop star persona for her kids. "I wanted my children to see that mummy was a pop star. It was the last opportunity for them to stand in a crowd full of people screaming for the Spice Girls," she said. The star fully embraced her Posh Spice look too, changing her hair from her asymmetrical blond style back to her signature brunette bob for the tour.

During a very busy few years, Victoria and David Beckham worked hard to balance their busy careers and young family. Victoria Beckham got real about how motherhood affected her career and life in 2015, explaining that the couple had promised to never be away from their kids at the same time. "I don't really go away that much. David and I work it out so that so that we're not away at the same time, so that one of us is always there," she told The Telegraph.

Speaking to Vogue Australia in 2024, Beckham admitted she and her husband didn't spend a lot of time at social engagements while their kids were growing up because they didn't employ a team to help them. "We've never had an enormous amount of staff, if you like. We do have nannies and we do have our parents, who have been amazing. But you do feel like you're juggling," she said. 

"You're trying to be the best wife, the best mum, the best professional. We didn't have much of a social life when the children were younger, that is just that one thing too much," she noted. But the two clearly loved being parents despite the sacrifices. So much so that they welcomed their fourth child, and first daughter, Harper Beckham, in 2011.

The famous family continued working on various projects, and Victoria Beckham was so happy with their trajectory that she skipped the Spice Girls' 2019 reunion tour. "It took me a lot of courage not to go on tour with the Spice Girls again, but to be the one who says: 'You know, I'm not doing it because things feel different now than they used to,'" she told Vogue Germany (via Harper's Bazaar), admitting she was too invested in business and family. 

Three years later, she ruled herself out again on "Watch What Happens Live" when asked by a fan about the possibility of another reunion tour. "I had so much fun being in the Spice Girls. But ... with everything else I've got going on, with my fashion, and my beauty line, four children, I couldn't commit to that," she said. Fans weren't the only ones hoping to see Posh Spice back. Beckham's former bandmate Mel C told Extra in 2022, "We're always working on her ... it is our dream to get her back."

But the busy fashionista had good reason for not hitting the road. She launched her Victoria Beckham Beauty line in 2019, and the family (and Beckham's business) moved back to her native country, England. "When we moved our show from New York to London, we didn't know if we would stay," she told The Guardian. "But now I can't imagine being anywhere else ... it's nice to go home to my family at the end of the day." Three years later, she celebrated another family milestone when Brooklyn Beckham married Nicola Peltz, and looked fantastic as the mother of the groom.

Victoria Beckham celebrated a milestone birthday in April 2024 — and she did it in a heartwarmingly nostalgic way. To commemorate turning 50, she looked back on her life, posting a heartfelt message on Instagram. "I feel so incredibly blessed to have reached this milestone. Blessed, but also accomplished and deeply content. Not just of where I am as a woman, but of how far my fashion and beauty brands have come," she captioned a photo of herself. "My ambition was always to empower women and make them feel like the best version of themselves ... I believe that you can be many things. A pop star, a mother, a wife, a designer ..." she wrote.

Even though so much has changed since Victoria burst onto the scene, she's proved she's still the same girl at heart. The former pop star showed there was no celebrity glow-down here when she posted a series of Instagram photos with David Beckham for their 25th wedding anniversary in July, showing the couple in their original matching purple wedding outfits. Her husband posted the same shots to his Instagram, which inspired Kim Kardashian to comment, "ICONIC." And that's the exact word we'd use to describe Victoria Beckham's gorgeous transformation.