Jo Wood: How to find your personal style and stick to it
Black dominates Jo Wood’s wardrobe, lifted by vintage pieces - Dave Benett
For Jo Wood, good clothes hold great memories. “Oh look at my tutu,” she exclaims as we take in a photograph from 1981, in which she is pictured with her ex-husband, the Rolling Stones star Ronnie Wood. “And my short hair. That tutu was red, the black leather T-shirt my friend Lorraine Kirke made for me. We were in New York, Ronnie was playing a little show on his own, I think…”
She has kept many of the outfits she has accumulated over a lifetime as an author, model and rock star’s wife. Jo, now 70, still has the dress her mother made for her 18th birthday (“she copied it from Marilyn Monroe”) and the lace gown she designed herself for her 1985 wedding to Wood – even though, on several occasions over the years, she vowed she would ditch it.
The wardrobe at her Northamptonshire farmhouse is half vintage, half modern, she says, literally split down the middle. “I converted a bedroom into my dressing room – one side is my vintage clothes, one is what I wear now. I’ve got open shelves, no drawers, so I can see everything. I’m really particular about tidying it, and if I use something I always put it back carefully in its plastic zip-up bag. Some things I don’t even wear, I just love looking at them.”
Her interest in fashion originally came from her mother, who worked as an Avon lady and later as a doll dressmaker, converting Victorian nighties and petticoats into outfits for toys, as well as for her daughter. Jo would eventually do the same for Ronnie – he would wear her DIY pieces with a military waistcoat or a lairy neckerchief.
Jo still owns the lace gown she designed for her 1985 wedding to Ronnie Wood - Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
“I never wanted to wear a complete designer outfit, so I would always chop and change,” she says.
At 16, Jo became a model. “It was a real eye-opener to be around fashion,” she recalls. “I learned a lot doing jobs like Jackie magazine. Biba was big then. I used to walk into their little shop in South Kensington and be in awe of everything, but I couldn’t afford it. I think that’s why I love collecting Biba now.”
(Biba was one of Britain’s most influential fashion labels of the 1960s and 1970s, famed for its glamorous yet affordable designs and its dark, romantic aesthetic that defined Swinging London.)
Ossie Clark and Saint Laurent are two other names she collects, but if she is wearing vintage she will always incorporate her own “edge”. Kaftans and maxi dresses are her preferred silhouettes today. “I wouldn’t wear a mini skirt any more, I’m too old for that,” she quips. “And I like to cover my arms, as I’m not as happy with them as I used to be.”
These days, black dominates Wood’s wardrobe. “Now I’m older, I find I’m more comfortable in black than anything else,” she admits. That said, her outfits are never boring. She tends to invest in timeless classics, bringing flair and colour with seasonal or vintage accents.
Clothes are keepsakes for Jo Wood. She has a wardrobe filled with her finds - Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
A little black jacket from the Parisian tailoring label Pallas has been worn so often that its colour no longer matches the once-coordinating trousers. Her two Hermès bags are both black – one bought in Paris in the 1990s, the other a 1950s style picked up at auction 30 years ago. “I don’t take that out much though, because I’m worried I’ll ruin it,” she laughs.
Wood’s ethos now is to buy less and buy better. “I hate buying things I’m only going to wear for five minutes,” she says. “I’d rather spend a bit more and know I can wear them in 10 years’ time. You have to look for things that are well made, in good-quality materials.”
As for handing pieces down to her daughter, Leah, or granddaughter, Maggie, there has not been much interest yet. “I’m hoping my granddaughter will come to me and say, ‘Gran, can I wear your Ossie dress?’” she says. “But right now she’s only wearing sweatpants. I really hope she changes her ways.”
Jo Wood’s style rules
Mix old and new
I always think if you wear vintage, you need to add something modern – then you’ve got your own unique look.
Break up black
With her daughter Leah, in a statement jacket from Alice Temperley - Dave Benett
I like to dress it up with belts and scarves. When I look at myself in completely black, I think, “Gosh, I should have worn something around my neck, or a coloured jacket, to make it look better.”
Bend your own rules
When I go away on holiday, I never wear black. I love prints and colour. Funny, isn’t it?
Don’t underdress
Wearing a Bardot Collection dress with a Chloébag and a scarf from Rockins - Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images
My mother used to say, “You can never overdress, Josephine.” If you wear your best dress out, you’ll never regret it.
Stay open to new labels
I love Galvan at the moment. I recently bought a beautiful satin jacket from them.
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