David Beckham’s Early Days of Fame: 29 Unforgettable Outfits of Bedazzled Sweatpants, Silk Shirts, and Sarongs – Update

The term “metrosexual” is not quite the aphrodisiac it once was. When I stumble upon an old article with that word in the headline, I am reminded of secondary school music teachers, or the Ted Baker gift sets Boots sells at Christmas. Once described as the “biggest metrosexual in Britain” (which somehow sounds like a jibe), there was a time when David Beckham was considered a spokesman for a new kind of heterosexual man. One who put effort into the way he looked: regular haircuts, clipped nails, perhaps a bottle of Nair in his bathroom closet. Throughout the ’90s and ’00s, “Becks” was as well-known for his oiled-up appearances in Emporio Armani campaigns as he was for his athletic prowess on the football pitch.

Amidst all the sarongs and caramel highlights, the tough and affectless stereotype of the Premiership footballer began to feel all the more irrelevant. Beckham was softly spoken and fronted gay men’s magazines and dressed in coordinated leathers with Posh Spice, and yet he was still considered (gasp!) a sex symbol by straight women worldwide. In 2023, his style isn’t quite as experimental as it once was: riding close to the kind of sprezzatura that first made the Sartorialist famous. But the desire to look good feels just as important as it ever did. Beckham’s new Netflix documentary documents the sportsman plotting his outfits up to a week in advance.

Here, we roll back the clock on some of David Beckham’s most memorable outfits from his early days of fame – from the open-collared suits and rosary beads, to the bedazzled tracksuits and questionable durags, to the wipe-clean trench coats and leather Gucci suit (worn to a Versace event).