Ahh, the stories that fall in the yawning 15-year gap between these two photos. The top photo, taken yesterday at the launch of the Spice Girls musical, bespeaks many things, not just the varying paths of the women themselves but also of female celebrities in general. Truly, nothing makes the 1990s look more foreign than comparing photos of female celebrities then and now. How much glossier the Spices are now, tanner and, in the case of at least three of them, thinner. The theory that all female celebrities look alike now is borne out by Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton, who are less Ginger and Baby and more Shiny and Shiny.
Another striking element to the early photo, taken in 1997, is how inevitable all of the women's futures look in retrospect: of course Geri was going to go off and be best friends with George Michael and design tat for Next. Of course Emma was going to be a Heart FM DJ. Of course poor old Mel C was going to hack it out in daycare for the C-list, aka "West End's Chicago". Mel B always had two life paths awaiting her: go to Hollywood and marry someone hilarious, or waste away on reality TV and Channel 5 chat shows. Happily, she somehow swung the former, swanning off to Los Angeles, and having some kind of high-profile entanglement with Eddie Murphy. Living the dream!
Gazing at Victoria Beckham's face in the recent photo, veritably radiating with enthusiasm, one can only wonder how firmly Simon Fuller pressed his stubby little thumb on the back of her neck to haul her across the Atlantic and appear in this shot. I'm guessing enough to draw blood because she, of all of them, has the least to gain, reminding folks that, before she was Anna Wintour's pal, she was once a vocal supporter of the "zig a zig ahhhh".
Their photo appearance yesterday was presumably supposed to whet the public's appetite for the Spice musical. But looking at that early photo, with Mel B's curly hair, Geri's upper arms and Emma's ill-fitting dress just makes me think I miss the 90s.
