“Surivival of the Thickest’s” Season 2 Style Is All About Leveling Up

Buteau continued, “In season one, Mavis was taking her job very seriously—which she still is—but it was like, I’m going to wear black to work. That’s what I do. Now she’s in her color bag—she feels lighter and brighter and tighter and she’s like, my clothes should reflect that.”

A life upgrade of course often correlates to a closet upgrade, too. Buteau’s real-life stylist Keia Bounds also serves as Survival of the Thickest’s costume designer and works to blend Mavis’s Brooklyn-centric style with Buteau’s glam actress-on-the-go attire. Thanks to the pair’s close collaborative relationship, a few of Buteau’s own personal pieces made it into the new season’s final shots.

“Functional avant-garde was a word we would throw out a lot in season one,” Bounds tells Bazaar of the show’s signature style codes. “The designers that we leaned into a lot more this season were Hanifa, we did some Andrea Iyamah, Brandon Blackwood always. Michelle tends to gravitate towards Brandon Blackwood a lot and she’s carried their bags every season.” Bounds also made sure to hit up the Mara Hoffman sample sale—another personal fashion favorite of Buteau’s—before the designer closed her longtime namesake label last year.

“That’s the great thing too—I’m all about wearing designers that are female-forward or queer or Black or Brown,” says Buteau. In real life, she may sport a designer piece for a trip to the playground with her six-year-old twins in tow. When she’s in Mavis mode, a special dress or skirt may come out for an occasion such as flying to Rome to win back her hunky Italian beau, or, as Buteau describes, “seal the deal with the cannoli—that’s d-ck,” she laughs.

Viewers will see Mavis in a number of higher profile scenarios this season—like styling Anderson .Paak for Afropunk Festival or accompanying a regular client to a fictionalized (but still fabulous!) Harper’s Bazaar Icon Awards. But for Buteau, seeing how Mavis dresses in her downtime is important too. The character often goes on therapeutic runs (shoutout to the 5K Bong Hit Club) with her best friends, Khalil (Tone Bell) and Marley (Tasha Smith), where they discuss the goings-on of their personal lives.

“Something that I told Keia was that we want to see bigger bodies wearing fly workout clothes. I know they’re out there and sometimes that’s half the battle because we’re embarrassed because of chafing and whatever else,” says Buteau. “I think it’s very important to see bigger bodies moving in a way that we haven’t seen before [on TV].”

For both Buteau and Bounds, maintaining a tight-knit collaborative relationship is essential for the good of the show.

“We’re always trying to get to the next idea. [Michelle] being able to download to me what’s going on in her mind because she has a vision for what the show looks like already sort of mapped out,” says Bounds. “It’s better for me to know every detail that she wants to convey to me. We work very…”

“Closely—closely would be the word,” chimes in Buteau, like clockwork. “But it’s also really nice to have a shorthand with each other because I feel like most of the TV shows I’ve worked on, people write something and then sometimes it’s just a conversation for three to five minutes or a quick text exchange or it’s just like, no, this is the person I’m trying to showcase. We haven’t seen her yet—especially with trying to make a show like ours that’s so inclusive. It’s just opening up the world and leaning into people’s pronouns and whatever stage of life they might be in and whatever that is. Being able to discuss and ideate what would a newly trans person wear out in the world? That’s the beautiful thing about Mavis also being a stylist is that she also gets to showcase all these stories along with her.”

With the show’s wardrobe being such a collaborative process, has Buteau ever tried to sneak anything off set into her personal wardrobe? Well, of course—but that just speaks to the caliber of clothing Buteau and Bounds have worked to acquire for the series.

“What do you mean? Everything? Literally motherfucking everything,” Buteau laughs when asked. “I think I took 95% of the wardrobe last season. [The plus size market is] interesting for me, because starting out in the business, whatever I could find, I would go to a carpet or event and the person interviewing me who was also plus-size would be wearing the same thing. We only had the same six dresses at Macy’s. Now, I just love that we have more choices. Designers are acting like we matter, which is fucking wonderful. Take our money. It’s just really fun having choices and I don’t want to let go of ’em!”

If anything, the sartorial world of Survival of the Thickest is meant to evoke what New York City really feels like throughout all five boroughs.

“That’s always been Michelle’s goal,” says Bounds. “To make it feel like New York all around.”