Cheryl Shops

In praise of Posh
So, I have a confession to make: I love Victoria Beckham. Back when my college roommates and I dressed up as the Spice Girls for Halloween, I got to be Posh Spice (after all, she had the best outfit). I loved that Posh never sang solos, and that she always looked a little awkward doing the dance moves. I was bummed when the Spice Girls broke up but secretly happy when Posh surpassed all the other girls in stardom. Okay, so she became a huge star by marrying an even bigger one, David Beckham, but what I found truly fascinating was how she managed to remain in the spotlight all these years. Posh and Becks are ginormous celebrities in Europe but not so much here in the States, and now that he's playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy, you'd think the couple (and their three sons) would move here and enjoy, for once, a relatively paparazzi-free existence. But no. Their drawn-out move to the U.S. has been marked by a Bennifer-level publicity blitz, culminating in tonight's Victoria Beckham: Coming to America special on NBC.

Slightly ashamed of my lowbrow taste in TV, I decided to put the show on in the background as I typed up this week's sales, but it ended up being so entertaining, I had to put down my laptop and just watch it. The hour-long special was originally intended to be a reality series about Victoria navigating her family's move to L.A.; I would like to know what idiot made the decision to condense it down, because it was an hour of pure joy. Victoria rolls with a makeup artist, a hair stylist, and the new addition, a chipper American personal assistant; she also appears to have at least two security guards and to travel in a two-Escalade motorcade at all times. She always wears high heels (even the sneakers she wore to throw a pitch at the Dodgers game were wedges) and she never smiles--in public. But--and this is the best part--she totally realizes how ridiculous her life is, and she has an incredibly dry sense of humor about it all (and if you had packs of paparazzi following you wherever you go, you'd have to). Case in point: She meets with an obviously shocked Perez Hilton and pokes fun at herself, saying that she can't be photographed eating or laughing. We then see her everywhere from a Beverly Hills luncheon with overly face-lifted housewives to the DMV, where she hilariously asks for photo approval on her ID photo and asks to whom she should make out her signature. I was even surprised by her gracious manners--although I suppose she's called Posh for a reason. She's even good with kids. She's so much fun, you can see why Katie Holmes clings to her so.

I totally have a renewed appreciation for Posh. I can only wish that for everyone's sake, NBC reruns the special. Well, and for mine--I want to watch it again! Until then, I have the new issue of W, which has pages upon pages of sexy, sexy photos of P&B. Of course, considering the publicity blitz, it's not like we won't hear about them soon...