They're getting more
attention in the British papers than the England team. They're the WAGS,wives
and girlfriends of the World Cup players.
Newspapers report breathlessly on their outfits, shopping outings, drinking
sprees, dinner reservations and competitive habits. The women have won over a
press that remains skeptical after England's tepid 1-0 win over Paraguay on
Saturday.
"They have the stamina and spending power that showed England have a team to
take on the world -in shopping," The Daily Telegraph said Tuesday.
Joanne,David Beckham's
sister.[filephoto] |
The WAGS found themselves in
the middle of a spat Tuesday between British and German tabloids. German
newspaper Bild branded David Beckham's sister, Joanne, "fat" and said his
mother, Sandra, had the smile of a peasant.
"How dare the Germans attack Becks' birds?" The Sun splashed across its front
page, with a picture of Beckham's wife, Victoria, labeled "The Beaut," next to a
portly, lederhosen-clad German bar maid called "Das Boot."
Baden-Baden, a small German spa town in the western foothills of the Black
Forest, is more accustomed to retirees who flock there for its natural spas and
Wagner music festival. It has never quite seen anything like these ladies
before.
"We have President Clinton here and Bono, but I don't think they made as big
a stir as these girls," shop owner Monica Scholz said in the Daily Mirror. "I
hope England play well so they will stay longer."
Scholz's boutique was one of many the WAGS swept through Monday, dropping up
to 5,000 pounds (US$9,198; euro7,314) on designer sunglasses, shoes, and
clothes.
Coleen McLoughlin, Wayne Rooney's girlfriend and renowned shopaholic, spent
900 pounds (US$1,657; euro1,316) in 10 minutes on Gucci, Dior, and Dolce and
Gabbana shoes, shirts, and blouses, the papers reported.
Wayne Rooney's fiancee
Coleen McLoughlin sits in the stands in
Frankfurt.[Reuters]
|
The WAGS are staying at
the euro1,375-(US$1,728)-a night Brenners Park Hotel. Once a summer retreat for
Parisian aristocracy and boasting guests such as the Dalai Lama, Walt Disney and
a maharaja, the hotel has had to make special orders of "fake bake," a brown
tanning lotion.
"It's something very special in England," Frank Marrenbach, the director of
the hotel, said. "We don't have it in Germany."
McLoughlin and Alex Curran, Steven Gerrard's girlfriend, have even brought
their own fake tan specialists with them, according to the Sunday Times.
Behind closed doors, one upsmanship between the WAGS is reportedly rife, with
"competitive sleeping" replacing the latest designer bikini as the latest
must-do. Personal trainer Carly Zucker, Joe Cole's girlfriend, recommended a
minimum of eight hours sleep to the group to help stave off wrinkles, according
to women's magazine GRAZIA.
Out on the town, the WAGS have been living up to Britain's reputation for
hard partying.
At the Medici restaurant on Monday night, the women reportedly dished out
over euro1,000 (US$1,259) on pink champagne, cognac and large whiskey and colas.
According to The Sun, McLoughlin then led around 10 WAGS, including her
mother Collette, to the Garibaldi Bar where they danced on tables until 4 a.m.
