There are many things we like about Joe Donovan here at British Attire: His infectious laugh, his incredibly cute dog Pep, the amazing music he and his band Blossoms have been consistently making for the past eleven years and the fact he lives just down the road from us in Stockport. We also really love his unique sense of style, that effortlessly traverses between international rock star and mountain man. So to kick off our new series of interviews with people whose look we like, we decided to sit down for a brew and a chat with Joe.
OK first up, talk us through what you’re wearing today Joe:
Some Nudie Glenn jeans (they’re flares), a pair of Onitsuka trainers and a vintage striped Levis T-shirt that was dead stock and I got from Spearmint Vintage in Stockport. I’m also wearing this jacket that I got from a place in the Corn Exchange in Leeds called All Blues Co. It’s like an olive green military kind of overshirt with lots of really nice designs chain-stitched on the back about Vietnam
When do you first remember becoming aware of style?
I had a piece of clothing that I used to love, it was a denim jacket and my mum had sewn on this motif of a leopard coming through some reeds onto the back of it. I can’t remember how old I was but I was young enough to not know where it was kept and so had to ask for it whenever I wanted to put it on. I loved it, I was obsessed and always asked for it but could only really wear it in the Summer so remember as soon as the weather got warmer I’d be asking my mum for it constantly.
It’s quite Rock & Roll that isn’t it?
Yeah, it was cool, the panel she’d stitched onto the back was massive, it must have had a stain or something on it, she was very much like that my mum, really good at sewing. I think that’s where my love of sewing comes from.
Did your mum teach you to sew?
Yeah, so my mum used to be a cleaner in the week and at the weekends she made curtains and stuff for some extra money. My dad worked on the market selling haberdashery so we always had all the materials needed for making curtains and tiebacks so on Sundays it’d be a real team effort where all the family would get involved in making soft furnishings. You couldn’t move in our house for pelmets and these huge curtains back then, proper Laura Ashley vibes. Half the time my mum would be making these for her clients as she could make them stuff miles cheaper than John Lewis.
How has the way you dressed changed since being in a band?
I just don’t give a f*ck now, I don’t care.
When did that transition happen?
Image was the number one thing for that band at the start, I famously didn’t want Myles in the band because of his dress sense ha hahaha, he’s sound now though! Back then we all used to wear turtle necks and black skinny jeans, we just wanted a uniform and the only reason we picked that one was because we all already owned those items so it was cheap. We were obsessed with all looking the same and staying in keeping with the vibe of the band.
So when did it change?
I remember when Tom turned up with a pair of flares and the rest of us were all thinking they look great but can we all get away with them too? Now looking back they were barely even flares compared to today, I think it was then that we realised it doesn’t matter. When you’re on stage, things that might look a bit ‘out there’ if you were walking down the street just look normal, it makes things better and it creates a desire to push things a little further. But then interestingly when you’re being overly flamboyant on stage it begins to start to seep into your everyday wear. I wear flares loads now out and about but don’t see that many other people in them.
It’s a very Seventies look isn’t it?
One hundred percent and I feel like we’ve got a uniform now, lots of suits and like you say very Seventies.
I think it looks quite French and David Bowie too.
I’ll take that! It’s become a vibe that’s very us, usually Tom and I will be the ones sitting on the tour bus flicking through Pinterest and making our own mood board of anything we think looks cool.
So now do you feel like you wear stuff because you really like it rather than thinking that’s what a band needs to look like?
Yeah, we were just a little bit more conservative before and holding back slightly, just not fully into it and being a bit scared of going too far. So over time you can see our pants getting slowly bigger and bigger and where we’d always be like ‘I want to wear that but I’m scared of what someone will say’ we just got more and more into it. I think the other thing is that maybe having had success for a number of years gives you the confidence to think ‘F*ck it now we’re here!’. You tend to let go of any criticism you might get because you just don’t care as much, especially when loads of people are really complimentary about what we wear and the music that we make.
Do you still have an onstage and off stage wardrobe or have the two converged?
Yes because I think onstage I’ll wear something like a big pair of golfing flares and a vest at the moment whereas offstage I’m very much into my jackets, I guess it’s a bit more street style.
Is there anything that you can’t wear when you’re performing onstage?
Yeah, I get really hot anyway and I hate being dead restricted and I also move quite a lot when I’m drumming so I never wear jackets, so I’d never wear a blazer or anything like that. In fact I don’t even like a long sleeved shirt, that annoys me, I always have to roll the sleeves up. Though weirdly I also used to do that at the Alma Lodge when I worked there as a waiter, I just prefer it that way.
As we’ve discussed, Blossoms have always had a really strong style aesthetic, where does this come from?
I’d say originally from myself and then Tom properly took it on. At school he always was bothered about what he wore but maybe not quite as bothered as I was or as much as he is now. Tom’s really picked up the style baton and is a bit more out there than the rest of us and really has his own vibe and signature look. He’s one of those people that has a real ‘model frame’ in that you can put anything on him and he looks mint in it.
You could see him on a catwalk couldn’t you?
One hundred percent, I’m surprised nobody has snapped him up, like when Burberry works with musicians you could totally see Tom being a part of one of those campaigns.
Your wife Sophia also has an amazing sense of style, does she have an influence on what you wear?
Yeah massively, I copy her outfits all the time. She’s fuming with me ha haha. If we’re going out together, sometimes I’ll be chilling downstairs waiting for her to get ready and when she comes down to say ‘OK lets go’ and I see her outfit I’ll say ‘hang on a minute’ and nip upstairs to get changed and completely copy her. Then she’ll see me and say ‘you can’t do that!’ but I’ll insist that we look better together.
You’re a power couple!
Yeah, weirdly I say that that’s actually our biggest attraction to each other, is how much we love clothes. You’ve been to our house, two of our biggest rooms are wardrobes!
So to copy one of Bella Freud’s questions, could you still find someone attractive if they were wearing clothes you didn’t like?
No, I’m that fickle, look at the way I was with Myles, I didn’t want him in the band just because of how he dressed but luckily Tom said ‘we can change that’, I am weird like that, I find clothing and the way people put an outfit together very attractive traits.
Which bands past and present are the best dressed?
Oasis for the present and David Bowie has to go in there for the past.
What about a band where all the members dress consistently brilliantly, is there one?
Temples, I remember discovering them when I was younger and thinking they were the first band that made me go ‘Wow they all look cool’ and ‘where do they get those clothes from?’
Do you have a specific era or look for Bowie?
I’m not going jumpsuit (yet) but there were some pants that Tom got made and they're huge, we call them his Bowie pants. It’s that look he had with big pants and a little shirt, that’s almost a bit ‘Talented Mr Ripley’ with a small Italian knitted shirt then huge pants. Tom is also the best dressed musician I know, I really love the way he dresses. But I’d say Oasis, specifically Liam because that was when I first really got into clothes and I used to walk around thinking I was him with a feather cut and I fell in love with parkas.
When you’ve been on tour with Liam did you ever have a chat about clothes with him?
The first time we met him, he commented on Tom’s jacket. He had this fairly long, belted, vintage Levi’s denim jacket on and Liam said ‘Nice jacket man’. Tom and I were absolutely buzzing about it afterwards ‘HE SAID YOUR JACKET WAS NICE!’. Mind you I had a Burberry trench coat on and he didn’t say anything about that, it’s more I guess standard innit?
Sometimes if someone’s wearing something that’s too nice you feel like you can’t say anything or maybe he thought you were called Tom, ha haha. When not making number one albums you also love climbing and hiking, what are your go to brands for outdoor activities?
Haglofs is number one for hiking, I’m currently obsessed with vintage Haglofs too and I’ve just got one of their original Tight bags that’s amazing. Everything I’ve got for the outdoors is pretty much Haglofs, it’s just so practical and when I’m out hiking I kind of wear the opposite to what I’d wear on the streets or on stage because it has to be super functional. Like I can wear jeans that are a bit uncomfortable because they look good but out in the mountains it’s the opposite, it’s got to be comfortable and functionable so if it looks that’s a bonus. Which Haglofs does, I love their colour ways. In terms of climbing its Scarpa, I love my Scarpa shoes. I’m a bit weird with climbing in that I climb in gym gear, I know some climbers climb in jeans but I’m always in joggers or a lightweight t-shirt from someone like ON running. That’s indoor climbing, ifI’m outdoors it’s my Haglofs gear. Indoor I just treat it like the gym and that’s because I’m horribly sweaty so I’m not going to ruin any of my nice clothes.
Who is your number one style icon?
Neil Summers ha hahahaha! This is hard because one day I might put on a coat buttoned all the way up to the top like Liam and then the next day I’ll be in a three-piece suit. I don’t feel like I’ve got ‘A Style’.
I think maybe what you’re trying to say is that you are your own style icon?
Yeah maybe my ADHD is my style icon ha hahaha because I can’t pinpoint a specific look. Sometimes I’ll look in my wardrobe and think ‘What the f*ck is that? I’ll never wear this’ then literally a few days later I’ll end up wearing it for the next three weeks. Sometimes I'll throw everything out and just wear suits then I’ll change my mind and get back into denim. Like at the moment I’m into Barbour, that’s a real obsession.
That’s a big thing that we have in common and ever since I’ve known you you’ve loved Barbour. What is it about the brand that you love so much?
I wear a Barbour every day when I walk the dog and I love heritage brands. I love that typical British thing, there’s something about Barbour that’s really cool but also not remotely cool that appeals to me. It’s not trying to be cool,it’s the country gent thing. So I’d say my style inspiration is not led by one person, it’s either driven by my ADHD or comes from brands like Barbour.
