Victoria Beckham Had to Fly Her Wedding Dress Across the Atlantic 4 Times for Fittings Before It Was Perfect

When Victoria Beckham said “I do” to David Beckham on July 4, 1999, the former Spice Girl walked down the aisle in a champagne-colored ball gown that fashion powerhouse Vera Wang designed just for her. Wang is known to go above and beyond to ensure that each of her creations is a perfect fit for her clients, and she adopted that same approach when making Victoria’s wedding dress. In an interview with People, which was published on October 5, 2023, the designer opened up about the process, which required multiple flights—for the dress itself—across the Atlantic and back again.

The fashion expert, who has designed wedding dresses for Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande, Jessica Simpson, and Kim Kardashian, explains that the dress, specifically the sculpted bodice, flew between New York City and London several times for fittings. “I call it the transatlantic dress,” she jokes. “That bodice flew back and forth four times on the Concorde.” According to Wang, couture corsetière Mister Pearl assembled the top, and since the corset maker only works out of London, the piece had to consistently make the trek between both cities so the designers were able to tag team. 

Wang notes that Mister Pearl creates corsets to achieve an impossibly slim waist. “He makes corsets that have to be pulled with these metal things, which is how corsets were done in the old days,” she says. “It takes about 45 minutes to lace up, and it can take your waist down to literally 18 inches, [like] Scarlett O’Hara.” While the dress worked for the bride, Wang admits that the cinching is too extreme for herself. “I could not live with that because I need to be comfortable, as I always say,” she shares. “But Victoria did.”

Not only did the wedding dress travel to and from both metropolitan cities, but Wang and Victoria also hopped on several planes for the sake of the ball gown. Wang says she flew over to London to fit the corset on Victoria, and Victoria also jetted off to New York City on two separate occasions for additional dress fittings. 

Then Victoria became pregnant with her and David's first child, Brooklyn, so the bride and groom decided to postpone their nuptials—and the dress project. “So, then we delayed the wedding for two years,” Wang recalls. “Then, we resumed, or maybe a year and a half. So, that is what I call the transatlantic wedding with Victoria and David.” Brooklyn was even part of the subsequent dress fittings. Wang says she remembers their son, who is now 24 years old, “crawling around the bed in London” while his mom tried on the ball gown.