IT'S ALL peplums, bralets and Twihards over on ElleUK.com, the website for women's monthly Elle, which has been busy in the past week teasing readers about who it might have picked as its first male solo cover star.

“He’s iconic, he’s handsome and we love him,” editors hinted, before revealing that it would be David “husband of Victoria” Beckham, who would be slathered all over its July issue as part of a slightly tenuous link to the London 2012 Olympics.

Though the choice of Beckham duly fulfilled the task of generating much advance PR for the Hearst-published magazine, the gimmick also highlighted the sad fact that, despite the best efforts of sportswear designer Stella McCartney, no British sportswoman comes close to reaching glossy-fronting status in fashionland.

And while the wordier-than-average Elle is pitched at a somewhat older demographic than titles such as Hearst stablemate Company and Condé Nast’s Glamour, isn’t Beckham a little bit, well, 2006? Some of those commenting on Elle’s website certainly seemed a lot keener on the idea of the magazine’s first solo cover star being Twilight actor Robert Pattinson (25) instead.