It was a photograph that Melanie Chisholm should have been able to treasure for the rest of her life. Standing alongside three of her Spice Girl bandmates at her wedding last month to model Chris Dingwall, the woman best known as Sporty Spice looked stunning in an elegant bridal gown designed by the absent Victoria Beckham, who was on World Cup duty in the US.
But as the picture shows all too clearly, Mel wasn’t the only one dressed in white. While Emma Bunton chose a pink checked trouser suit and Melanie Brown opted for a peach-toned mini dress, Geri Halliwell broke wedding etiquette completely by wearing a white, floor-length outfit which, despite sporting pastel-coloured flowers, looked undeniably bridal.
On the day, I’m told, there were snide comments made privately about Ginger Spice’s outfit choice, a £2,000 two-piece by Australian designer Zimmermann.
And while eyebrows were raised, many shrugged it off as ‘Geri being Geri’.
But last week, the usually diplomatic Mel C addressed her friend’s wardrobe misdemeanour – revealing she had specifically asked Geri not to wear white on her big day.
Speaking on Australian radio station KIIS 1065, Mel said: ‘I did have a little chat with Geri because it is her favourite colour.
‘She wears it every day. But she had a beautiful floral dress on and it was white-white…
‘I did have a little giggle with her about that.’
From left, Mel B, bride Mel C, Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton at the wedding on July 18. Geri wore a white, floor-length, floral outfit which looked undeniably bridal
While publicly Mel appears to have taken Geri’s dress choice in her stride, those who know both women are less prepared to be magnanimous.
‘Mel has always been very tolerant of Geri,’ says one source. ‘But really, she is far, far too tolerant.
‘Mel is lovely, she’s kind and she would do anything for Geri, yet Geri couldn’t just wear a different colour for the day.
‘Geri does what Geri wants to do most of the time, but to do that to Mel feels very dismissive and bordering on the unkind. Mel is 52 and getting married for the first time, it was such a massively special day and the girls were so happy for her. It’s baffling, really.
‘But it’s very befitting of Geri. She’s a diva, the biggest one of all of the Spice Girls – and don’t forget Victoria Beckham was part of the band.
‘Victoria might not have been there but even she wanted to make it special by making Mel’s dress.’ Geri, who attended the wedding in the lakeside grounds of The Country House Cumbria in the Lake District with her former Red Bull boss husband Christian Horner, has worn white consistently for several years
It’s in stark contrast to her brash Spice Girls days when she famously wore a Union Jack mini-dress during a performance at the 1997 Brit Awards.
I’m told that while Geri is proud of her Spice Girls roots, there is also a touch of embarrassment about her wild past now she’s a married mother of two living in a sumptuous manor house in the Oxfordshire countryside. ‘It’s perhaps for this reason that Geri has swapped her once colourful wardrobe for something more muted. Geri is mortified when some elements of her Spice Girls days come back to haunt her,’ says a source.
‘The others embrace it, but Geri doesn’t always. She sees some of it as very tacky and not in keeping with the “lady of the manor” brand that she has carved out for herself these days.
‘Plus, she is embarrassed about Christian’s family who, some say, sneer at those days.’
Geri, however, insists that she was inspired to curate a more sophisticated image by the late Apple boss Steve Jobs and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who both dress simply.
‘Mel is 52 and getting married for the first time, it was such a massively special day and the girls were so happy for her. It’s baffling, really,’ says a source
Geri, who attended the wedding with former Red Bull boss husband Christian Horner, has worn white for several years now (Pictured in 2024)
On Jessie Ware’s podcast Table Manners, she explained that white is her ‘uniform’ and that it saves her a considerable amount of time getting ready each day.
She added that it gives her a sense of calm and control.
‘I went through a period when I was in my 20s, wearing black all the time,’ she said. ‘But I’ve gone through different theories. I looked at a lot of guys, and they always wear the same thing.
‘Whether it’s Steve Jobs, the Facebook guy, you know, they all wear the same thing, like a uniform. I thought, “Well, actually, how much time do you use getting ready?” That was one thing, and everything matches. It keeps things simple.’
Adding that it was ‘like wearing a school uniform as an adult’, she said it ‘looks like you’ve made an effort when you haven’t’.
More recently Geri, 54, also admitted: ‘There’s a power in covering up, I didn’t realise that, I don’t need to overshare.’
There are plenty of anecdotes about Geri’s dramatic transformation from the outrageous Watford-born wannabe to genteel country wife – a role she is said to enjoy immensely.
And nothing screams ‘lady of the manor’ more than moving into a £45million sprawling country estate with its own stables.
Their home is on the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire border, which they share with Geri’s daughter Bluebell, 20, and the couple’s son Monty, nine.
However, those who know them say they are keen to upgrade, and have been viewing other estates nearby.
Geri will certainly be hoping that any move will mark a clean break from the past two difficult years. Ex-Formula One boss Christian was caught up in a scandal over allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by a female colleague, which he denied and which his racing team Red Bull dismissed. However, it ultimately led to him quitting as CEO in July last year.
Despite her husband being cleared, the episode was embarrassing for Geri, who staunchly stood by Christian, whom she married in May 2015 in a bespoke satin gown by designer Phillipa Lepley (in white, naturally).
‘Geri is a survivor, she has always had to be,’ says a source. ‘She was brought up by a single mum and has had to fight for everything which is most admirable. But now she has poshed herself up she will do whatever she wants to do.
‘The sad thing is that even when the lovely Mel walked down the aisle, she just couldn’t do as she was asked.
‘It’s a good job it was Mel C’s wedding and not Mel B’s, because if that was the case there would have been fisticuffs.’
Mel C started dating Chris, thought to be in his 40s, in 2023 after meeting on the exclusive dating app Raya.
