She may be a style and beauty icon to millions but Victoria Beckham believes she is just the girl-next-door who got lucky. The former Spice Girl makes the modest assessment in her new fashion book That Extra Half An Inch - Hair, Heels and Everything In Between.

The former Spice Girl admits: "I was never the six-foot tall pin-up. I've always been the girl next door who got lucky." Now Posh says she wants to share some of the tips and secrets she has picked up over the decades since she left the girl band.Her book is described as 'the definitive guide to looking and feeling the best you can'. The mum of three wrote: "I've always been a girls' girl. And I know from experience that making the very best of yourself is something any woman can do.

"I've come a long way in the last 10 years, but this book isn't my attempt to tell you what or what not to do. It's just to share some of what I've learned." And despite having the world's top designers clamouring to dress her, the star says cash is not an issue when it comes to looking great.

She explains: "Whether you've got £20 to spend in Top Shop or £2,000 to spend at Gucci, looking good isn't about money, it's about style - and style never goes out of fashion." Victoria, 32, has dedicated her book to her beloved mum Jackie - who she credits as her style guru. She writes: "To my mum - my first fashion guru who taught me how to sew, showed me how clothes should fit and told me never to wear horizontal stripes and never to eat beetroot because it stains.

"Most importantly she taught me how to enjoy being a girl." She adds cheekily: "P.S. -Jack may have brought me up, but in actual fact I know that my real mother was always Joan Collins. But that must always remain a secret. Mum's the word..." Among Victoria's tips is a warning that girls should never wear skinny jeans and flat shoes. If you do, she says, "you end up looking like a golf club".

She also takes a dim view of trendy wedge heels - a favourite of fellow WAG Coleen McLoughlin - saying: "Some wedges look great but you can look like your feet are encased in cement."

Her book is expected to be a Christmas best-seller. Publishers Penguin describe it as "Victoria's personal guide to feeling confident and looking great every time you step out of the front door".

source:mumbaimirror