A nation mourning the departure of Geri and Gazza has been cheered up by the sight of David Beckham wearing a skirt, writes Vicky Spavin.

But while the 23-year-old Manchester United midfielder may have scored with his sartorial statement, the average British male should not try to copy the look at home.

For starters, Beckham sported a £115 Jean Paul Gaultier Louisiana wrap over his jeans in the South of France when he took fiance Posh Spice Victoria Adams out to dinner. So it came as no real surprise to find that the sight of our reporter dressed in a see-through sarong was not a hit on the streets of York.

"You look bloody awful," said George Chapman, of Slingsby.

"You're a smart-looking fellow, but you're spoiling yourself. You're no good at all in that - you would be better with a collar and tie on."

Lynn Cooper and mum, Marie Bernard, were similarly unimpressed with the sight of a man in a skirt.

"I don't like it at all," said Lynn, of York. "It's really a bit daring isn't it, wearing it see-through."

Beckham isn't the only man to have skirted the fashion issue. Gaultier is himself a big fan of the skirt, and Jonathan Ross has been known to turn up at celebrity gatherings wearing a little tartan number.

The sight of Sam in a skirt, however, did little to convince eight-year-old Alex Tong that this is reportedly going to be the summer's latest trend.

"I don't like it," he said.

"I just don't like men in skirts. I'm used to them wearing trousers."

But while the majority of responses to our man in a skirt ranged from utter disbelief to laughter, Dave Crawford gave it the thumbs up.

"I'd say yes, men in skirts is fine," he said. "And you can wear them anywhere, not just on the beach."

It was the first and last time for me.

I may be a dedicated follower of fashion but I'll not be following David Beckham's lead again.

He wears a sarong - Far East-speak for a skirt - when he goes out for a meal with fiance Posh Spice, and the world's media take his picture. I do it and the world takes nothing but the Mickey.

I left the ladies' clothing store Accessorize, in Davygate, York, feeling confident in my swish new wraparound. Stylish in grey, it felt cool and comfortable in the sun-soaked York city centre.

Admittedly, I would not ordinarily have chosen a see-through sarong, but to be honest it was either that or a slinky pink number from the clothes rack that would have probably seen me picked up by the police, or worse - or both.

So see-through it was.

On the plus side, I got a few looks from apparently intrigued female passers-by. This was promising until it occurred to me that they were simply waiting for my act, whatever it was, to begin.

I tried explaining to perplexed shoppers that I was wearing a sarong, the new fashion statement for men - as worn by a soccer ace - but they simply pointed out that I was standing in the middle of York dressed like a woman.

"If you had legs like David Beckham's..." the kinder ones said, and "If we couldn't see your hairy legs..."

Well, David Beckham's sarong set him back £115 - mine was £14.99 - AND he wore his jeans underneath.

But then again, he's welcome to it. It's sa'wrong look for me.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.