Hey, I Like Your Style! Inside the “more is more” wardrobe of performer Milo Hartill
photography by @chiara_mascaro/instagram
as told to daisy henry
“I go between majorly chopped when I’m not working, to an absolute 10 when I decide to turn it on.”
We know personal style is a journey (I’m looking at you, Tumblr years) and our series Hey, I Like Your Style! dives into the fashion psyche of our favourite creatives. We’re talking the good, the bad and the 2007.
While the internet has made our fashion icons feel closer than ever before, even the most effortless of outfits came from a closet with some (well-dressed) skeletons. Clickable product tags, photo archives and lives chronicled in 30-second clips just don’t tell the full story.
For more fashion news, shoots, articles and features, head to our Fashion section.
These are the stories behind the wardrobes, exploring how we develop our own personal style. There’s a brilliance behind the way we choose to express ourselves and at FJ, we know every outfit has a story. This week, we’re catching up with performer, host and ‘fat fashion’ enthusiast, Milo Hartill.
We first noticed Milo’s style after seeing her on-stage outfits. While her style is loud and confident now (think feather headpieces, sparkles and body-con leopard leotards), it was a journey getting here. “When I was more self-conscious, I wouldn’t wear anything tight, form-fitting, or that showed any skin,” they reflect. “But now, I’m not afraid to express myself, my feelings, my politics and to feel sexy.”
Though she’s a devout believer in the power of good tailoring (“it can take a garment from a rubbish pile item to a most-worn piece”), there are a number of fashion rules Milo breaks, unflinchingly. Number one is that “fat people can’t wear tight or revealing clothes”. The second is Coco Chanel’s famous advice, to take off one thing before leaving the house. “I want to adorn myself like the peacock I am,” they say.
While her wardrobe today is likely to make anyone with a penchant for bold, statement pieces envious, Milo’s quick to acknowledge the number of brands that don’t cater to plus-size bodies. “A lot of people can’t fully embody their personal style because the clothes they like aren’t made for them,” she says.
That’s why she’s equally keen to call out the local designers who do. Alongside several vintage finds, some of her favourite and most-worn local labels include Dyspnea, Erik Yvon, Karlaidlaw, Colour Theory and Lucy Wilkins.
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Fashion Journal: Hey Milo! Tell me about yourself and what you like to wear.
Milo: Hey, FJ! I’m a performer, host, fat fashion enthusiast and all-around diva. I love to wear form-fitting, sparkly clothes, experimenting with a mix of clean-cut silhouettes and showing off my body shape in my clothing (I like to piss off conservatives, essentially). I go between majorly chopped when I’m not working, to an absolute 10 when I decide to turn it on. When I’m not serving a look, I love oversized drag merch, political T-shirts and basketball shorts. And that’s on balance.
Personal style is a journey. Have you ever felt like you needed to fit into a particular fashion box?
Absolutely (tragically). Given the sociopolitical state of the world, particularly the uptick in anti-fat bias and fatphobic rhetoric, I feel like the social pressure to “get back in the box” for fat people is getting stronger. I’ve noticed that this disdain for fat people is now leading to plus-sizes being cut from many brands’ offerings.
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I’m lucky to be a queer performer and content creator, and part of that means I’m given greater access to a lot of resources. I’ve accrued a collection of pieces I love, so my personal style isn’t going anywhere. But I think it’s important to acknowledge that a lot of people can’t fully embody their personal style because the clothes they like aren’t made for them.
This cultural shift has really solidified for me how important body positivity has been. Had it never happened, I probably wouldn’t be able to be part of the fashion and modelling world in the way I am today. But now, I see models above a size 12 being pushed back into the 2000s era of ‘fat fashion’ (think horrific large-print cursive shirts, black floral knee-length dresses, frumpy jeans, and teacher-core cardigans). For models, this can mean simply not working anymore, because there’s nothing for us to model. And frankly, we deserve better. We know the world is capable of better, because we’ve seen it.
The fashion box for fat people needs to be bigger (pardon the pun). Our bodies are not something to be ashamed of, and I implore people to support brands that are cute and actually want to dress people of all sizes.
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Take us back to your teenage years. Who or what was influencing your style at the time, and are there any looks you still think about now?
I love this question, because a lot of my personal style and fashion taste was developed by drag queens, RuPaul’s Drag Race, queer fashion designers and watching recordings of ’90s runways as a kid.
Sadly, I didn’t think a lot of it applied to me. I always loved fashion and styling looks, but thought that getting to wear pretty things wasn’t something someone my size deserved. I, unfortunately, often just had to wear what I could. I was able to explore what I liked when I lost weight at drama school, and this is when I started being able to develop that taste, and I’ve been lucky to bring it with me in a healthy body.
Some looks I think about quite often are those in the Thierry Mugler Couture Fall Winter 1998/1999 runway, Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 1997 runway, Vivienne Westwood ‘Vive La Cocotte’ collection and the iconic Symone durag train look from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13! Ashley Graham also had a huge influence on the plus-size gals in fashion, and when I was a little bit older, I loved seeing someone like Lizzo on stage.
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How has your style evolved? What does your current style allow you to do that an older version of you couldn’t?
My current relationship with my body has allowed me to explore so many more shapes and silhouettes. When I was more self-conscious, I wouldn’t wear anything tight, form-fitting, or that showed any skin. But now, I’m not afraid to express myself, my feelings, my politics and to feel sexy as fuck!
You don’t realise how much your access to your presentation affects how you feel, but knowing I was hot and then dressing in a way that reflected that has then made my relationship with my personal style that much stronger.
What role does colour play in how you get dressed?
So much! I don’t feel like I shy away from any colour. I love a monochrome, chromatic look, just as I love pinks, purples and blues. I feel like I start my looks with a colour palette and jewellery metal colour scheme, and then go from there.
As a converted Melbournian through and through, I love to do sleek black and white a lot, too. I hate to say it, but Black is the sexiest colour. Sleek black mesh, leather or pleather takes a look from hot to sexy.
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What’s a fashion rule you follow religiously and one you break constantly?
A rule I follow is the power and impact of tailoring! Getting your clothes altered to fit you nice, right and tight, can take a garment from a rubbish pile to a most-worn piece. Tailoring is awesome for fit, but also for repairing your clothes.
I love to keep clothes, and it’s important to remember that the most sustainable wardrobe is the one you already own! This has shaped my love of patchwork, and getting things fixed in a way that is ‘obvious’ can completely revive an item. Shout out to Bettie Rosé, who does my alterations and makes a lot of my costumes. Bettie is a fashion fat person for the fashion fat people.
A rule I break is that fat people can’t wear tight or revealing clothes, or to ‘take off one thing before leaving the house’. More is more and I want to adorn myself like the peacock I am.
What are some of the ‘investment pieces’ in your wardrobe, or items that have stood the test of time?
I have a lot of investment pieces by virtue of my job. I have a few pieces that I’ve bought and a few I have been so lucky to be gifted from Dyspnea, which stand the test of time every time, as well as some pieces from Lirika Matoshi. Other items that have stood the test of time include my pair of brown wide-leg track pants, which I was gifted from Après Studio and a plain black T-shirt from Sportsgirl.
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What’s your favourite secondhand find?
I found an M&Ms Nascar jacket in my size in a high-end secondhand shop in Korea on a holiday last year, and it is one of the coolest things I’ve ever owned. I also found a Kangol hat – that was a good day. Finding things that fit and are cool secondhand as a fat person is like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. I skipped back to the accommodation to tell my wife, it was awesome!
Is there something in your wardrobe you don’t wear, but can’t let go of – or a piece that holds a lot of sentimental value?
There are so many, but I’m trying to give away, lend and donate the clothes that I don’t wear anymore! The options for plus-size, fat folks are so limited – I’m like, if I can give someone a cool top or pair of overalls that I don’t wear but they will slay, then why the hell not. Sharing is caring, etc.
I have a dressing gown that was my grandmother’s, and if she were in a TV show, that would have been her character’s main costume. I’ll never throw it away because it is so her, and I love and miss her. Costume-wise, I have the most gaudy leotard you’ve ever seen from my first musical at the Opera House. It was great in the context of the show, but stand-alone, it is certainly a sight to behold.
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Who or what influences your style today?
The Nanny! Obviously, I have my gripes with some of the political stances of the actors but the fashion was on! Also, RuPaul’s Drag Race, especially the Canadian franchise!
Jean Paul Gaultier really stands the test of time for me, and I love how the brand loves and uses bodies of all shapes and sizes. That’s So Raven has always been a great touch point for me, and Raven-Symone’s red carpets were on. Jenna Ortega is great, and all of the looks for the Superfine MET Gala last year. What an honour it is to be Black!
What fashion piece are you keeping in your closet despite it being ‘out of trend’?
Everything! Fashion is so cyclical and the people who often ‘decide’ what is and isn’t trending don’t have people like me in mind, so I’m going to wear what I want, what looks and feels good, and wear it well. And if it is ‘out of trend’, who cares? I’m sure it’ll be back in the next five years. Even if people think it’s out of style, I know what looks good on me. And I bet you know what looks good on you, too.
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What pieces do you currently have on repeat?
I have a set from Colour Theory Clothing that is so adorable! But my other wardrobe staples are my basketball shorts, brown Remmie by Riley dress, flared leopard print flares from Dangerfield, my top that says “C*NT”, an awfully old and tatty green hoodie from Champion I’ve worn to death, and this iconic jumpsuit from Finesse Studios.
Who are you favourite local designers?
The list always changes but certain divas are always there! I love Erik Yvon, especially his most recent runway collection. Theres Dyspnea, which make accessible sparkles that don’t scratch; Jandruze, a costume extraordinaire who makes the cuntiest pieces ever; Jitterbug the Label; Lucy Wilkins, which make costume corsets like no other; Karlaidlaw, because it wouldn’t be right to not include the diva I was lucky enough to break the internet with; and Gary Bigeni, who makes the most fun, colourful pieces!
On a different note, there are several local designers whose work I love and would love to be able to wear – extend your sizes and I’m there. I’m talking about Toni Matičevski, Kourh, Arthur Apparel and Christopher Esber. And though some may offer custom (which is great), fat people want to see clothes modelled on fat people.
Catch Milo’s Midsumma Festival show, ‘Milo Hartill: Black, Fat and F**gy’, here.
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