Beckham's new position - fashion victim

What a wally. Yes, the world can always rely on the Beckhams to provide a class A photo opportunity, come the silly season. And there's nothing much more silly than going out for dinner wearing a poncho. What, one might not unreasonably ask, would Clint Eastwood think?

The Man With No Name might have been the source of inspiration on this particular occasion but post-Sienna Miller and the miserably droopy, bohemian looks that - quite bizarrely - awarded her icon status, it simply won't wash. Neither is head-to-toe, spaghetti-western style necessarily advisable when in Mayfair visiting the Japanese restaurant Nobu.

A kimono might have been more sensible - or how about a nice pair of samurai pants, perfect for hiding any Christmas excess in the midriff area, some might say? That, however, would have been rather too logical for this particular national treasure. Ponchos will go down in history as one of the greatest fashion faux pas of them all, right up there with kilts (unless you're Scottish and it's a kilt-wearing kind of an occasion), white socks with suits and, er, chaps. What was that? Christina Aguilera, move over - Mrs Beckham was on her husband's arm wearing a suitably ridiculous pair of those.

This, of course, is not the first time that David Beckham has drawn attention to himself in the fashion department. Here is a man who thinks nothing of stepping out, most famously, in a sarong, with his wife in matching leather catsuits and in any number of over-the-top designer black/white tie extravaganzas. Then there's the incredible, ever-changing Beckham barnet which has generated more than its fair share of column inches, so best leave that there. Still, at long last the world has a male fashion victim to laugh at, as opposed to the endless succession of blissfully unaware shopping-addicted females. And for this we salute you, sir. Or should that be hombre?