Every single character on HBO’s Insecure is a joy to watch, but none quite as much, for me, as Tiffany DuBois. As one article put it, Tiffany “is the friend with more of her proverbial ‘shit’ together, and thinks that the petty drama that her friends deal with on a daily basis is a little beneath her. She’s annoying and pretentious, but she keeps her crew well-rounded.” She’s also obviously very funny, thanks to comedian Amanda Seales, who plays her.
I was looking forward to meeting Seales because I’m always curious about how the world’s busiest women dress—and she is definitely busy. In addition to shooting Insecure, the 38-year-old regularly performs stand-up, is the host of NBC’s Bring the Funny, has a weekly podcast, leverages her almost one million Instagram followers to educate on causes she feels strongly about, and lectures across college campuses. Now, Seales can add “author” to her list of jobs. Her book of essays and life advice, Small Doses: Potent Truths for Everyday Use, was released in October.
For our episode, Seales wanted to talk about what she wore when she first got onstage as a comic—silver and black sequined leggings and a plain top—and how that’s become her uniform while performing. The conversation around dressing as a female comedian is endlessly compelling to me—Seales says that when she was starting out, her goal was to avoid wearing anything she felt would start a conversation about the way she looked instead of her jokes. “I decided, you know what, I’m going to make the thing I wear leggings that are fun,” she says. “The theory being I want to be able to still show my shape because I like my shape and I feel like it’s a part of my version of femininity, but yet not wear something that I feel is going to be more of a conversation about aesthetics.”
The leggings she wears—often with elaborate prints like classic rap albums and ninjas riding unicorns—have become a signature, and Seales says that people regularly ask about where she gets them. “But they don’t know that this really just started as me trying to find a way to find a middle ground. I don’t know any guys that, before they go onstage, are thinking about, Do I wear the suit? Do I wear the zip-up hoodie? This polo collar might send the wrong idea.”
When I ask Seales where she gets her leggings, she is savvy: “I’m not going to say the site because they don’t pay me any money to say it.”
Seales and I also talk about fast fashion—she came in wearing a great acid green turtleneck from Zara and a puffy wrap coat from ASOS—but about luxury purchases too, including the neon pair of YSL stilettos she brought with her to our recording, the Rolex that she bought herself, which, she admits, she probably doesn’t really need, and the first pair of Gucci shoes she purchased when she realized she had income that could be considered disposable. We also discuss her mother’s cooking, having impressive vocabularies, and the concept of real friends in today’s debatably authentic Instagram age.
Enjoy the episode!
