Victoria Beckham, Vogue UK’s October cover star, wrote a letter to her younger self, entitled, “What I wish I’d known.”
Beckham recognizes that she should have learned “more about football” before recalling the moment when she first laid eyes on her husband, David.
“And yes, love at first sight does exist. It will happen to you in the Manchester United players’ lounge – although you will get a little drunk, so exact details are hazy,” writes Victoria. “While the other football players stand at the bar drinking with their mates, you will see David standing aside with his family. (He’s not even in the first team at this stage – you are the famous one.) And he has such a cute smile. You, too, are close to your family, and you will think how similar he feels to you. He’s going to ask for your number. (He still has the London-to-Manchester plane ticket on which you wrote it.)”
The former Spice Girl later addresses the insecurities that she had about her image when she was younger.
“I know you are struggling right now,” she writes. “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. 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.)”
But Victoria turns the tone of her letter in a brighter direciton when she reminisces on her bold approach to fashion as her style evolved.
“You are going to have so much fun with your clothes – PVC catsuits; chokers that say absurd things; weird spiky blonde hair. It will never occur to you that you appear ridiculous. You will turn up at awards ceremonies resembling a drag queen. But I look back at you and smile,” says Victoria. :It will add interest to your life to go from one extreme to another. I love the fact that you will feel free to express yourself.”
Read Victoria’s letter in its entirety in the October issue of Vogue UK, featuring an accompanying photo spread by Lachlan Bailey, when it hits newsstands on Sept. 8, 2016.
CREDIT: Lachlan Bailey for Vogue UK
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