Small Achievable Goals's costume designer on the show's sexy mid-life style — and most iconic looks

For Nicole Manek, great costume design isn't just about technical expertise — it's about having an understanding of an actor's physicality, presence and character-building process. And when it came to creating the looks for CBC's new comedy series Small Achievable Goals, she had a wealth of experience to draw from. 

Manek's partnership with comedians and showrunners Meredith MacNeill and Jennifer Whalen began on the Baroness Von Sketch Show and has since blossomed into what she describes as "a psychic costume connection." 

This helped Manek and co-costume designer Anya Taraboulsy craft a wardrobe for Small Achievable Goals that supports the storytelling — and is also quite fabulous. Like the best on-screen fashion, the looks in Small Achievable Goals are rooted in reality but dialed up just enough to feel iconic. 

CBC Life recently caught up with Manek to discuss her approach to the new workplace comedy, plus some of the most memorable looks in the series. She also shared the real-life inspiration behind Kris and Julie's wardrobes, and the TV magic behind that (deeply relatable) hot flash–drenched blouse. 

This interview has been edited and condensed.

I'm interested in your first steps as a costume designer. Where did you find your initial wardrobe inspiration for the main characters in Small Achievable Goals?

I do try to draw from real people for inspiration, because I think it's just the most accessible way to start the conversation with actors and producers and directors. 

So for Kris, she's an influencer. But then what does that look like to be in the influencer space in mid-life, but sort of like trying to feel more youthful?

It felt Kardashian-esque to us. It felt Nicole Richie … but missing the mark. Kris would be like, "Oh, I love the way Nicole Richie dresses." But she never quite got it. She just took it to a slightly trashier place — she never got the classy part. She doesn't have the restraint of Nicole Richie. 

She's really thinking about what other people who she wants to emulate are wearing, and she's trying to mirror that. 

And what about Julie? What was your real-life inspiration for her?

Julie is sort of that grown-up Gen-Xer who bought the "right" pieces. 

She's really practical and smart, and she has good style. And she's slowly accumulated great pieces that she's kept folding into her wardrobe. I did take some inspiration from the creative director of J. Crew [Olympia Gayot]. 

She's got great style; it's preppy, but in a way that's so palatable through a rock and roll lens, which is Julie. 

Clothing plays a key role in magnifying Kris and Julie's experiences of menopause and perimenopause. I'm thinking of the hot flash–soaked, see-through blouse — how did you create this look that's so relatable to so many people?

Yeah. I mean, the wet shirt, it's TV magic, right? But it was the point of huge discussion and huge preparation for that fitting. 

We had probably 12 different shirts to try on. And we wet them all because we really didn't want to tell that story of when you have that hot flash and you're really soaked — we wanted to see it. And it was important that that shirt was just right.

It was really important to Jen [Whalen], and there was a lot of talk about the way it goes from being put together at the beginning — and this hopeful moment and this hopeful day — to the way it comes apart. 

And that rack of white outfits for Kris to wear in the photo shoot. I mean, that period-stain incident just seems like a stress dream that people are gonna start having after watching that episode. How did you decide on the hero dress?

So the idea was that someone younger — and a little clued out to the problems of menopause — picked these dresses.

We've all been in those moments where someone wants us to wear something that they think is cool, where we're like, "Oh my god, this is so terrible." So that's what we wanted to capture for Kris — that it really wasn't her style, but it was something that a younger stylist thought was her style. 

Even with these more comical looks sprinkled in, you kept Kris and Julie looking very sexy and really amazing throughout the series. That's not always the case when women over 30 are portrayed on TV — there tends to be an invisibility factor. 

Meredith [MacNeill] did really want to explore this idea that Kris dresses for the male gaze. 

[This] part of her menopause journey is that she's very horny and she really wants dates. So I think that sexiness comes from that. Kris is actually putting herself out there and trying to be sexy in her own way.

Whereas with Julie … when you just dress however you want, and you are just so cool, it just looks amazing.

I think the key to this phase of life — which I'm also in — is just really doing what you want, wearing exactly what feels comfortable to you … rejecting that idea of age-appropriateness that's just so boring and not real. ​​

A lot of women who are in a similar time of their lives will see themselves in these characters. What inspiration do you think they can pull from these looks?

I think the key to this phase of life — which I'm also in — is just really doing what you want, wearing exactly what feels comfortable to you … rejecting that idea of age-appropriateness that's just so boring and not real.

To get through this time, you should just do whatever you need to do to feel great. If that's wearing a rock tee and crappy jogging pants, do it. And if it's putting on the smallest, tightest dress from Reformation, you should do that too. 

But be prepared to take it off when you get hot. 

The new comedy series Small Achievable Goals premiered Tuesday, Feb. 25. New episodes are available to stream Tuesdays on CBC Gem and air at 9 p.m. ET (9:30 p.m. NT) on CBC-TV.