Jo Elvin
As seen in:
MSN Ireland,
MSN UK,
Yahoo Life,
Daily Mail,
Daily Mail Femail,
Irish Daily Mail,
Love Lives,
Scottish Daily Mail,
The Independent (UK),
The Sun
and
Editor. Writer. Broadcaster. Consultant. Former editor of You and Glamour magazines. joelvin.substack.com Instagram @jo_elvin
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Jo Elvin
Some incredible things I have bought
I know. I know. I have been a little SubSLACK and I really am sorry. I can’t lie, I’ve been having a blast with hefty amounts of work and play. Firstly I need everyone to know about a couple of glorious full circle moments that happened. Most people who know me are aware of my mid-life morph into a KPop fan. No one is more taken aback by this than me, but we are where we are. First up, I was lucky enough to score tickets to the BST Hyde Park gig a couple of weeks ago.
My Goodness! From Jo Elvin
Me with Will, Roisin and Chandrima. I did something last week that I vowed I would never do. For once, I decided to override my lifelong FOF: that’s Fear of Festivals Mine is the usual list of cliched aversions: the ever-present threat of being trapped in a grotty bog, a la Glasto 1997; asphyxiating in an overflowing chemical toilet cubicle; no showers for days; people. So many people. I can’t. Never been thrilled by the idea of any of it.
A hen do in midlife sounds dire – but you can still look glam
"I'd rather rub my bum with a brick." That's what my friend Donna said when I asked her what she'd wear to a hen do. I'm so sorry, she's Australian. But I get it. My memories of the hen do years of my 1990s youth are a haze of mini buses, sequinned cowboy hats, penis-shaped swizzle sticks, and, naturally, L plates and fluffy handcuffs. If memories had smells, these would be steeped in smoke, tears, tequila and not a small amount of sick.
That 'man repeller' tag? It's not really about men.
It’s been a few days of surprises. First that Amanda Wakeley’s and my little piece in The Times mag, about our YouTube show Friday Night Fashion, got a front page mention. It made me lol to be sharing real estate with Keanu. Life goal unlocked. Secondly, a friend of mine showed me this, on the Instagram account @cheerupluv First thing to say: I wrote this piece for the magazine about Amanda and me, but not the headline.
What I'm hiding behind my glasses
It’s all very well saying ‘Don’t read the comments’ but it’s just not always possible. For example, for the YouTube show I do with Amanda Wakeley, Friday Night Fashion, we are very grateful for the support and loyalty from our viewers. And so we like to reply to our mostly lovely commenters, especially if we can be helpful. Inevitably, there’s always a couple of people who want to roll by just to snark.
My Goodness! From Jo Elvin
Photo by Shaouraav Sarose Shreshtha on Unsplash It’s not the end of the world by any stretch, but every so often I do feel a bit dismayed that I will never, in my life, know the sound of silence. I must have known it at some stage, waaaaaaay back in my youth. My early teens. But right now, as I type this in my quiet house, my ears are screaming their constant little song.
My Goodness! From Jo Elvin
A few things that have made their way into my face in the last couple of weeks: Excellent onion bhaji at Jikoni restaurant, at a gorgeous lunch for the brand Pink City Prints; pieces of lamb on humous at The Guards Polo Club, Windsor; quick energy rush of choc buttons backstage at Winchester Books Festival; A recipe from Dominique Luwdwig’s No Nonsense Nutrition; Cheeky Nando’s in Leeds; smoked salmon at Salon Prive, Chelsea as a guest of Gatineau.
My Goodness! From Jo Elvin
Photo by Micah & Sammie Chaffin on Unsplash A friend, Sybille, messaged me on Instagram yesterday and said something that slightly stopped me in my tracks: ‘I love that you are not afraid of change.’ It was a very nice compliment, I could tell it came from a place of generosity and admiration. But I don’t think it’s true.
My Goodness! From Jo Elvin
This is long, sorry, but it’s a speech I gave a couple of weeks ago at a lunch hosted by the charity, Action For Children. It seemed to go down quite well - although I think some people thought I was a bit too sweary, no shocks there - so I thought I would share it here. I suppose it’s the real origin story of how I fell in love with magazines, and how it’s no exaggeration to say they did, in many senses, save me.
My Goodness! From Jo Elvin
I’ve had a hectic few, my friends, but while it means I’ve been a bit slow to post, it does mean my world has become filled with recommendations that I want to pass onto you. Here’s just some of the genuinely life-enhancing discoveries of my recent times. There are some affiliate links just FYI. x A few weeks ago I was invited to a really lovely day hosted by Trinny Woodall and her Trinny London brand. They were launching their ‘I Didn’t Know I Could Do This’ ad campaign.
My Goodness! From Jo Elvin
Here’s me, above, with Nicholas Coleridge, who gave me my job at Glamour. I couldn’t find a photo of us from back in the fledgling days of Glamour, so here’s one from about three years ago. When I was appointed editor of Glamour, there was a lot of what could be politely described as ‘surprise’.
I am a disgrace. This survey says so.
For the record, this arguably ‘fashion forward’ print clash happened in 2025, so a little while before I reached the cut-off point of 56. I must apologise profusely to you, the public. For I have apparently caused great offence in recent days. I realise now that I have let you down. But most of all, I have let myself down. Allow me to explain. It was some time in the middle of last week that I chanced upon a survey from the anti-ageism charity, Centre for Ageing Better.
Come visit my grudge Hall of Fame
There are two sports in life that, if they allowed them into the Olympics, I would 100% be a gold medallist. They are: 1. Shopping and 2. Holding grudges. I say this with no pride. Or shame, to be honest, it’s just who I am. You all know about the shopping, but not many of you will know about how angry I can still get when I think of the time, in 1995, when a group of four bus inspectors got on my no19 London bus, found a fare evader and kicked everyone else off on to deal with it.
The best foundation I have ever known
Not only is it Friday today, but tomorrow is both Saturday AND my birthday. When it comes to birthdays, I am not one of those people who doesn’t like a fuss. I like to enjoy my birthday. I have booked a restaurant to celebrate with some of my favourite humans. And, I am trying - really trying - to give my brain a day or two off from All Of The Shit. Just yesterday I found myself in the surreal position of anchoring a show about the Royal Family as that waste of skin, Andrew, was being arrested.
Everyone else can read this room. Why can’t Anna?
I’m not sure if my favourite story I ever heard about Anna Wintour is true, but I’ve always liked to think it is. Supposedly, at a fashion show, there was a kerfuffle because one of the editors who formed the sprawling US Vogue entourage had arrived to find they had not been assigned a seat.
Some distracting bits of joy
My friend Pauline Briscoe and me, and my enormous hand, got to settle in for a night at The Electric Cinema to watch a screening of Clueless. All to celebrate a Gatineau launch, detailed below. In the interests of trying to cleanse my mind of the current news cycle and perhaps give myself an afternoon off from collapsing with rage, I have been putting effort into seeking out joyful things. And I have found some! Here’s a list of random delights I have chanced upon in the last few days.
Yes, I'm angry. But who cares?
Right, sorry this is a bit of a stream of consciousness. I have a lot of thoughts and angsts this week, in the wake of the new dump of Epstein files. I’ve been simultaneously consuming as much information as I can about the whole nightmare - a lot of it I need to be across for the inevitable discussions on Palace Confidential. I also think we have a responsibility to hear these stories. To know what was done to these women and children, in elite circles of wealth and power.
As editor of Sugar, was I doing God's or Satan's work?
When my friend, the hilarious Genevieve Turley, posted the below on Instagram, she sent me down a rabbit hole, unlocking many memories I didn’t were still rattling around up there. Genevieve Turley on Instagram: "AD | You guessed right the frag… What I love about Genevieve’s brand of influencing is that a paid partnership gets as much love, thought and attention as all the rest of her entertaining content.
That time I invaded Brooklyn's privacy
Victoria brought Brooklyn as her date to the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in 2013 Damn that Brooklyn Beckham. I had been living my life without giving one firetruck about this whole family saga of his. But then, on Monday night, he stormed over to Instagram to spill tea so hot we might need skin grafts. Like most people I’ve spoken to, I’m not proud of how entertained and titillated I was with the whole thing. But here we are. It was Blue Monday up until 7pm. The ‘most depressing day of the year’.
What I wore, did, ate - and messed up - on my (not) skiing trip.
Me with PR extraordinaire Jessie Wales. I’m wearing virtually her entire suitcase of clothes under my coat. I’ve had worse starts to a year. I was lucky enough to be invited to Girl Powder Retreats in Chamonix in the French Alps. Created by chalet owner Laura Marriott-Clarke, the idea is to bring together like-minded women for a few days of skiing and general enjoyment of mountain pursuits. I do not ski, but I do love the whole Alpine vibe.
My favourite new wellness finds
The chalet at Girl Powder Retreats. More below. Happy New Year! Funny how we all say that and then spend most of the first couple of weeks really slagging off the very first month of the new year, January. And I get it. I used to absolutely hate January. But I’ve trained myself to be better at it. The short, dark days don’t get me down the way they used to because I’ve found this website that proves that every day gets a little bit more sunlight now.
Come cringe with me
Right friends. There’s enough people around here at the moment who are ‘Januarying’ you. That’s a word, yes, I’ve just made an executive decision on that. And I know that you know exactly what I mean: It’s the month when motivational madness takes hold. You’ve got your disciples of Dry January, your gurus on goal-setting, your cheerleaders for sticking to resolutions, and those just as fired up about saying ‘fuck that’ to resolutions. I’ve got nothing for you there. January? Just get through it.
Things that only happen when you work on Lorraine
Picture the scene. I am crouched/squatting on the floor of a television studio, waiting to make one of my many appearances on Lorraine, the breakfast show hosted by, of course, Lorraine Kelly. A floor manager is explaining that when my name is called, I must stand up, smile down the barrel of camera no3 and also salute. For the viewers at home, a green screen effect will give the illusion that I am looking out of a ship’s porthole. Oh, and then I am handed a naval captain’s hat.
No arguments now. These are the best TV shows of all time
We’re nearly at my favourite part of Christmas - twixtmas. The limbo zone where the shopping and the wrapping and the cooking and the travelling are done and everyone just cocoons. By way of a small offering of a gift to you, I’ve done a list of some of my all-time favourite TV shows that you might soon have the time to discover. I’m not going to write a list that tells you to watch Breaking Bad or Succession, because everyone knows about those.
A love letter to Bondi
My daughter has only visited Australia a handful of times in her 20 years. But when we watched the astonishing footage of Ahmed el-Ahmad wrestling a gun from a terrorist on Bondi Beach, she turned to me and said, ‘I know this sounds weird, but I can feel how it feels to be standing in that spot.’ I knew what she meant. These events - as sickeningly common as they are these days - will always be shocking.
Please do not ask me this Christmas question
I really am into gift wrapping and I found this gorgeous inspiration on Pinterest and thecrazycraftlady.com There I was, enjoying myself at a boozy Christmas party, talking to two male friends. (And their maleness is relevant.) I can’t remember what we were talking about but I hadn’t seen them in a while and I like them and we were laughing and it was all the gossip and shitz and gigglz, when suddenly, I felt a gentle tap tap tap on my shoulder.
John Lewis says '50 is the new 30' in fashion. I've known this for years
Jo Elvin I'll admit it. As a younger woman in my 30s I really bought into the myth that turning 50 would be the moment that everything – hair, skin, life itself – would turn grey. I assumed I'd be wearing gaberdine frocks covered in fussy florals, and matching them to that week's tinted hair rinse. I thought I'd look like the oldest one off The Golden Girls . God love ‘em, they were pretty much our only visible representation of women over 50.
It's time to discuss the C word
A lot of my posts have had an angry undercurrent of late. I guess it’s an inevitable consequence of These Times We Live In, but as it’s now December, I think we have official permission to discuss the C word. Christmas. So today I’m going to take a deep breath and actively choose joy. I’d love you to join me. Amanda Wakeley and I did a little Christmas gift guide round-up on last week’s Friday Night Fashion. Here’s what some of my nearest and dearest might be finding under their tree.
The celebrity feud I didn't know I needed
I hate myself for how obsessed and amused I’ve become with this very old news about the feud between Kelly Brook and Ant and Dec. In my defence, I have been quite under the weather for more than a week now - it’s only a cold, but it’s a proper bastard-ish one, and it’s definitely had the effect of making my brain want to focus on unchallenging mind candy.
Beauty products for toddlers - are we all on glue?
I wasn’t going to say anything about this beauty range for babies. There’s an actress and influencer called Shay Mitchell, who I have to admit I only became aware of in the last few days, since her new beauty range became news. Rini is a range of sheet masks aimed at children aged three and up. It features an after-sun hydrogel facial mask, a hydrating hydrogel facial mask and three everyday facial sheet masks. For around £5 each. The backlash was reliable.
'Violence against women is a man's issue.'
Bernie Bernard was hosting one of his regular school chats, - where he addresses the issue of violence against women and girls - with a Year Nine class of boys and girls. He was discussing hardcore porn, its prolific presence in the lives of younger and younger people, and its inherent sexual violence; the choking, the spitting and other acts that never used to be considered the ‘normal’ repertoire of a sexual relationship.
Does this look like a person who takes anti-depressants?
I sat back silently in a Glamour features meeting once as the discussion turned to anti-depressants. We were planning a big ‘everything you need to know’ explainer. The opinions flew freely, as I always wanted them to. But more than one person commented that they thought taking anti-depressants was ‘the easy option’, what one does when they want to mask a problem rather than get to the root of it through therapy and solve it.
Every magazine editor's version of hell
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts
Every magazine editor's version of hell
I swear I don’t remember this but I’m told that, once, when I was the editor of Glamour, I calmly strode out of the Vogue House boardroom, got in the lift, waited til the doors closed and said, quietly but firmly, ‘Cunts.’ Apparently I said this to my lift companion, Jean, the company’s marketing director. As I say, I don’t remember it. But it doesn’t not sound like me.
I got ghosted by Conde Nast
This month marks eight years since I was made redundant from Glamour. Above is the leaving card my very funny team made me before I left. Before we all left. A lot of these cards got made in a very short space of time. My head has been Franksteined onto Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s body here which I still enjoy seeing.
Why is everything judging us?
I got a message from Instagram the other day. ‘You crushed it in September!’ it screeched. ‘‘Your views are way up!’ Why Instagram, thank you very much. Turns out I’ve been getting these ‘monthly reviews’ for a while now but I only noticed the September one. I had a quick look back over the last few months and apparently I also ‘crushed it!!” in August. But July… oh dear. All Instagram has to say about July is ‘Here’s what happened in July.’ No fist-bumpy talk about crushing anything at all.
Violence against women hurts men too
I grew up in a home filled with domestic violence from my father. Even before he was alcoholic I used to cover my ears as they started the arguing. I knew it would lead to mum being injured next day. My younger brother used to creep in to my bed he was so afraid. At 11yo I began to be on the receiving end of it too. I went to my Aunt & Uncle. Both challenged him & mum. They denied everything, I was being a show off & attention seeking. I went to the police & was told it wasn’t a crime.
Violence against women hurts men too
I was not even slightly surprised to read that the terrorist who attacked the Heaton Park synagogue was already on bail for an alleged rape. Depressingly, I had been expecting to learn either that, or that he had a rap sheet for domestic abuse. At the time that he was free to commit his heinous, violent hate crime, that has left two people dead and more injured, he was already known to authorities as a violence risk.
When the Home Office wanted to deport me
This is really quite an eye-opener in terms of the process and how arbitrary it all seems. My husband is an immigrant, from Argentina. He already had settled status when I met him (is that the same as leave to remain? I’m never sure). He has worked his way up to high-paying jobs, and contributes far more than the average salary. He’s also a decent person who does chores for elderly neighbours etc.
When the Home Office wanted to deport me
I feel like putting a different slant on the usual rhetoric that gets bandied around about immigrants. I want to tell you my story of being an immigrant to this country. I had been living in Britain for eight years when I first applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain. That’s the permit that Nigel Farage has been saying he would scrap if he was to become Prime Minster.
15 Things that annoy me way more than they should
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts
15 Things that annoy me way more than they should
APOLOGIES, for it has been a while. If you follow me on Instagram you will know I’ve had A Bit On. There’s a lot to be angry about at the moment. You don’t need me to list it all. I wonder if it’s why I’ve found myself enjoying focusing on the little, really stupid things that can put me in a disproportionate rage. It’s part distraction, part channelling the frustrations into places that end up making me laugh at myself just a little bit. And there’s some comfort in that.
Bare legs? For winter? Hell yes.
Why does it feel like Summer has kicked us out of its house, face-planting us onto the street as it deadbolts the door behind us? I mean, really… did Autumn need to announce itself with quite such a hard launch? I’m not ready. You? No matter what though, I’ll tell you something: this season, like many before it now, I will not be wearing tights. I will not be giving up on a bare leg with a skirt or dress, or maybe a bit of toe cleavage now and again in a cute little ballet pump.
Women need menopause help from their doctor, not their boss
Western medicine (maybe eastern too? It’s not as if it’s a feminist utopia in those parts of the world) has traditionally been run by men therefore focused on what happens to them. I saw an exhibition at the British Library last year about health and medicine and our side of things was done by midwives and “wise women” until around the 60’s. Took me years for a Sydney hospital to diagnose endometriosis when I was in my 20’s and that was only after a nurse I lived with suggested it might be this.
Women need menopause help from their doctor, not their boss
My friend Jane told me a story on the weekend that had my jaw on the floor. I don’t know Jane’s exact age, but she's 60-something. She was with her friend Bev, who’s probably around 60. They were on a bus in Crystal Palace on their way home from a gig, 11pm-ish. They were chatting away in their post-Basement Jaxx buzz, minding their own business, when a young woman - they guessed about 30 - asked them what they were doing out at this hour and… shouldn’t they be at home? I wish I was making this up.
Everything I've been putting on my face
Just treated myself to a Rimmel latte delight lip gloss on my way home from work - very nice thank you. I don’t do lipstick either, don’t think I look like the Joker in it but just makes me feel a bit weird. For budget face stuff I think L’Oréal is pretty decent, they do a huge range of everything now and Sainsbury’s regularly do brilliant offers so you can stock up without going bust! My only regular luxury skin stuff is Chantecaille Just skin tinted moisturiser in vanilla - very very nice:)
Everything I've been putting on my face
I’m in the mood for a beauty round-up so I’m very much hoping you might be too. I’ve been enjoying a lot of new (to me) discoveries, so I wanted to let you know about the things I really rate. First, the disclaimers: * Some of this is stuff that I was initially gifted but loved it so much I became a repeat customer. * There are a handful of affiliate links below. * These are the things I use when I’m doing my own face.
My lucky escape from love
I think it’s rare for any woman to say they have not experienced something similar. I sure have but I left after a year and a half but before I decided to leave he did get physical. Slowly but surely and though the last thing he did wasn’t on purpose I knew there would be a next time where it could be and I was done. It’s very hard to leave these relationships. I was lucky to be able to just go on a plane and leave the country. That’s what I did and then I broke it off after I was at said country.
My lucky escape from love
I’ve written before about what a rather unsophisticated young woman I was. But there’s a chapter that I don’t really examine much at all and it’s the one I’m going to write about today. Because it’s the one that could have so easily ruined my life. This is about my experiences of coercive controlling behaviour in my first ever proper relationship. We met a few weeks before my 18th birthday. I wasn’t interested at first. It hadn’t even occurred to me that he might be interested in me.
I thought I was doing the right thing for my daughter’s body confidence. But I was making one huge mistake.
One thing I don’t get about parenting (and this might be down to my neurodivergence) is why don’t we just talk to our kids like we don’t have an agenda?? Never mentioning bodies or appearances is just weird. Having a body and dealing with what it looks like is a huge part of being a person, let alone woman. I’m all for catching negative patterns but just pretending we’re ethereal beings who don’t realize we have bodies can’t be the right approach.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Jo
Contact Jo, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack