It’s the kind of celebrity snap you might scroll past on your phone several times a day – a soccer star and his pop singer girlfriend hand-in-hand on an evening out. There’s a sense of summer ease; both are tanned, dressed in casual black tops and trousers, sandals on.
Except the athlete is the world-famous David Beckham, and he’s wearing a patterned sarong around his waist. In 1998 Britain, this was front page news.
“Beckham has got his Posh frock on,” declared The Sun newspaper, alongside a full-page photo of the England player and Victoria “Posh Spice” Adams, as she was known at the time, in France for the World Cup.
This wasn’t just any frock, mind you. This was a Jean Paul Gualitier wrap that challenged traditional notions of how a top male soccer player should appear, sending the British tabloids into a hysterical spin.
The sarong worn by England player David Beckham was widely mocked by Britain's scathing tabloid press. Harry Page/The Sun/News Licensing
