Clips of David and Victoria Beckham are flooding social media this week with the release of Netflix’s “Beckham” documentary. But while Victoria’s eponymous clothing label is, today, a credible fashion fixture, and David is a dapper style icon, it wasn’t always that way.

For one thing, who can forget when they went everywhere in matching outfits? Around the turn of the millennium, you couldn’t open a newspaper in Britain without seeing Posh and Becks’ color-coordinated approach to what we now know as #couplegoals.

At a screening of cult movie “Withnail and I” in 2001, they opted for head-to-toe brown, with David in an ill-advised Matrix-style trench coat. Two years later, at the MTV Movie Awards, they went for subtle jewel-encrusted white ensembles. Then, of course, there was the couple’s 1999 nuptials, where they wed in cream before changing into purple to cut their cake with an unnecessarily large saber.

But, just weeks earlier, there had been an even more iconic coordinated fashion moment.

It was the height of Beckham-mania when the supercouple stepped out in head-to-toe leather at a Versace party in London. Victoria was about to start recording a third Spice Girls album, and David had just helped Manchester United claim English and European championships. Their first son, Brooklyn, was newly born, and the pair had recently purchased a cozy family mansion dubbed “Beckingham Palace” by the media.

In a nod to the evening’s host, the matching outfits were made by Versace. The jacket and pant combo — shiny enough to reflect the paparazzi’s flashes, and tighter than one might expect in the baggy ’90s — stole the limelight and was splashed across the papers the next day.

It’s often overlooked that the garments were wildly inappropriate for the season. It was, after all, the middle of June. Perhaps that explains why both David and Victoria chose to lower the zippers from their fastened collars, leaving the tiniest flashes of skin peeking through what effectively became keyhole necklines.

The U.K.’s obsession with the Beckhams’ fashion may have been partly fueled by tabloid sneering at the idea of nouveau riche extravagance, but the publicity served their cause. Even the most questionable outfits contributed to one of modern entertainment’s most successful brand-building exercises.

Coordinated style helped the pair transform themselves from the singular Victoria Adams and David Beckham, to the collective “Posh and Becks,” a nickname so pervasive that it was added to the Collins Concise English Dictionary. (SD-Agencies)

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【搭配】dāpèi combo a combination of different things

【不合适】bù héshì inappropriate not suitable for a particular situation or purpose

本周，随着《贝克汉姆》纪录剧集在奈飞上线，大卫•贝克汉姆和贝嫂维多利亚的视频片段充斥着社交媒体。虽然维多利亚的同名服装品牌如今已成为一个成熟的时尚品牌，大卫也被公认为潮人先锋，但起初不是这样的。

那些年，他们去哪儿都穿情侣装。

千禧年前后，翻开英国报纸就能看到辣妹和小贝色调一致的穿搭，仿佛我们现在熟知的#模范情侣。

2001年，在邪典电影《我与长指甲》的放映会上，他们从头到脚穿着棕色，大卫不明智地选择了一件黑客帝国风格的风衣。两年后的 MTV电影奖颁奖典礼上，他们身着镶嵌珠宝的白色套装，略显低调。当然，还有俩人1999年的婚礼，他们分别穿了一身奶油色礼服和裙装，后面又换成紫色调，一起用一把夸张的大军刀切蛋糕。

婚礼几周前，还有一个更难忘的情侣装高光时刻。

当时正值“贝克汉姆狂热”的高潮时期，伦敦的范思哲派对上，这对超级情侣从头到脚穿着皮衣。维多利亚即将开始录制辣妹组合第三张专辑，而大卫刚刚助力曼联夺得英超和欧洲杯冠军。他们的长子布鲁克林出生不久，两人购买了一栋舒适豪宅，被媒体称为“贝克汉姆宫”。

为了向当晚的主办方致敬，两人服装均出自范思哲之手。夹克和皮裤的组合抢尽风头：这身衣服亮得足以反射狗仔队的闪光灯，在流行宽松的90年代尤其显得紧，第二天霸占了诸多报纸版面。

人们忽略了这身打扮和季节极不相称。毕竟，当时是六月中旬正值盛夏。也许这就是为什么大卫和维多利亚都把拉链从紧扣的衣领上拉下来，从锁孔般的领口处露出一小块肌肤。

地摊小报对暴发户土豪风格的嘲笑助长了英国人对小贝夫妇穿衣经的津津乐道，而这种宣传对他们的事业大有裨益。他们最奇葩的着装也在为现代娱乐业最成功的夫妻档品牌贡献力量。

抢镜的情侣装帮助他们从维多利亚•亚当斯和大卫•贝克汉姆两个人转变为“小贝辣妹”合体，这个昵称如此为大家熟知，甚至被收录进了科林斯简明英语词典。

(Translated by Debra)