EC Muse — COLBY MILANO

Matrescence — the becoming of a mother. The ongoing, unfinished shift in identity that every woman moves through. The overwhelming goodness of it. Unhurried.

We’d love to get to know you, can you share a little about where you are at this moment, both personally and professionally?

“The weight of this love is like a thousand wildflowers sleeping on my chest.” — Emory Hall

I came across this quote recently, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. It’s probably the most accurate description of where I am right now.

My name is Colby Milano, a Sydney-based creative, and I am enjoying the rhythms of the everyday. Motherhood has a way of doing that — of pulling you into the immediate, the sensory, the now. Personally and professionally, I am thinking more deeply, writing more, photographing without pressure. I feel more in touch with a softer side of myself than I ever have, and that feels like a gift I didn’t expect.

I’ve recently come through something life-changing that shifted my perspective in ways I’m still discovering. It’s given me a new lease on life that I am holding onto with both hands.

As you approach your first Mother’s Day, are there any generational traditions or influences you find yourself reinterpreting in your own way?

What struck me most, unexpectedly, was the unsolicited advice that arrives the moment you’re pregnant — offered so freely, so confidently, as though your experience will mirror theirs. I found it fascinating.

It also made something very clear to me: we are all expecting a shared experience from something that happens on a hormonal and cellular level, completely unique to every single body.

The absurdity of that. And the beauty of it.

That something so profound, so deeply natural, could be lived so differently by every woman who moves through it. And once I understood that, I became at ease. I know how to be Sonny’s mom. And I’m proud of that.

When I look back, I think the women in my life always knew this too. Not because anyone told them, but because they carried it. A confidence, a disposition, a way of being in motherhood that felt natural and joyful. I didn’t inherit a ritual, I inherited an atmosphere. I just didn’t realise I was carrying it too until I arrived here.

In this early stage of motherhood, how has your sense of style shifted, if at all, in response to the rhythm of your days?

Hormonally speaking, I absolutely felt the urge to throw everything in my closet out and start again. I’ve come to learn that most women share this feeling after having a baby. Aside from trying to keep up with the size of your waist and boobs for 12+ months, your identity gets absolutely rocked.

Fortunately, once the dust settles, things aren’t that dissimilar. It feels more like an appropriate evolution. A further focus on quality over quantity and a discerning approach to what you choose to occupy your space.

What I do know is that getting dressed still feels like a return to self. The self that was there before Sonny. Even now, in the middle of all this becoming — maybe especially now — that part feels important.

What are you drawn to now when getting dressed, and what feels important for your wardrobe to hold as you move through this new chapter?

What I’m drawn to now feels like two things that have always been true, but that motherhood and less time have brought clarity to.

The first is the anchoring pieces. Jeans. A good white tee. The things I reach for without thinking, wear until they’re done, and reach for again. Not a capsule wardrobe — I’m not interested in that concept. More like constants. The reliable foundation that makes getting dressed feel uncomplicated on the days when everything else is asking something of me.

And then alongside that, something a little special. I’m yearning for more character pieces. Something considered, not grand. A beautiful coat, an interesting fabric.

I think becoming a mother, moving through so much that is new and unique, has made me more interested in that.

Those two things together feel important for my wardrobe right now. The constants and the considered.