Harvey Guillén Opens Up the Red Carpet for the ‘ Big and Short ’ Bombshell

The What We Do in the Shadows star may have only recently started attracting attention for a hot run of looks (the Met Gala, VF’s Oscar party), but he’s always been a clotheshorse: ‘I’m like Ariana Grande: I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it’

Harvey Guillén always loved to get dressed up. He cannot say the same of shopping. “Going to the mall was so hard,” says the What We Do in the Shadows star. “Somebody made a meme of what it is to be a person of size going shopping with your friends. Everyone else is like, ‘I got this cute outfit, I got this cute top, I got these cute jeans.’ Meanwhile I’m like, ‘I got this cute bracelet.’ ”

Some brands and retailers have gotten better at catering to plussize customers, but the evolution remains slow-going. Fortunately for the 33-year-old queer actor, a real sartorial standout with a string of buzzy 2023 red carpet looks, he’s now courting the attention of major labels, though not all of them are able to deliver. “They love him and want to work with him, but they are working with limited sample sizes and limited resources,” says st ylist Michael Fusco. “It ’s not a challenge for people to want to work with us, it’s the execution part.”

Christian Siriano is one who’s handled the execution. In March, Guillén became the first man to don a plus-size look from the designer at the Academy Awards. The pair collaborated again on a pink tweed suit for the Met Gala, a sly “fuck you” to event inspiration (and well-documented sizeist)

Karl Lagerfeld. “Christian just knows how to make Harvey look great and elongate his lines,” adds Fusco. “It’s just magic.”

Even without Siriano on speed dial, Guillén is prepared for his increasingly public life thanks to a not-insignificant collection of clothing — his L.A. home boasts two full walk-in closets and four racks for overflow. A few of those looks will no doubt be sported on the Orange County native’s nearendless promotional circuit for

Shadows (season five premieres July 13 on FX), DC feature Blue Beetle (in theaters Aug. 18) and a deep slate that includes recently announced New Line thriller

Companion, among many other projects on deck.

You’ve had a lot of major red carpet moments this year. Is there a look you’d consider a favorite? This year has just been backto-back-to-back. The Oscars started that. We made so many best-dressed lists. Christian had designed for Billy Porter before, but never has he designed for a plus-size guy — so it was nice to collaborate with him on something that was new and had never been done before. The Met Gala was great. They were obviously honoring Karl Lagerfeld, but you also have to represent yourself. So I wore pink. Karl was known for not liking pink. I like loads of things that he didn’t approve of.

How would you describe your first experience at the Met Gala?

I got to walk the carpet before I

hosted the night for E! I’d never really put on that hat before. Maybe next time I’ll just go and do the carpet and enjoy the event. It was really cool to watch everyone come in, but it was also very exhausting to be out there in an outfit, all night, talking to people.

Working in even the most basic tuxedo can be exhausting.

Yeah! You’re just wearing Louis Vuittons, and these shoes are meant for being walked on and taking pictures — not running up the hill for hours and hours on end. I can’t even imagine it wearing heels. There’s no way I could do that for eight hours.

I’ve seen you at a couple of events wearing semi-sheer tops. Even with fashion’s easing of older gender norms, that takes confidence. Were you always so adventurous, or is this a recent development?

I’ve always been one to take risks; I just never had the opportunity to do so. It’s already hard to be confident in your own body, especially in this industry. So, if you’re going to do something, then do it full out. And then there are the people who comment, like, “Oh my God, you’re so confident in that.” Yeah, I want to feel my best in what I’m wearing. Why wouldn’t I wear a sheer top? People are just like, “Wow …” They usually assume that people who are a plus size want to cover up, not show off any skin or curves. I do the opposite. I want to show my curves. I want to show a little peekaboo. The sheer is fun.

What is your everyday style?

For the day, a T-shirt and jeans will be just fine. Obviously, you’re not going to wear a Christian Siriano gown to pick up bread.

But I like to play with old stuff. My place in L.A. has four racks of clothes on top of two walk-in closets that are already full. I’ve collected so many pieces over the years that I’ve probably only ever worn once. I can’t bring myself to get rid of them. I have pieces I haven’t worn that are ready to go for an event. I’m like Ariana Grande: I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it. Because it’s hard to find stuff in your size! So when I find something I like, I don’t doubleguess it. In the past, I’d be like, “I’ll get it later.” Then it’s gone!

The clothes that we put off buying haunt us for years.

To this day, there are these shoes that I think about. I was in Germany and thought, “It’s fine, I’m sure I can get them online.” Nope! Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I’ll wake up in a cold sweat of regret. “No! The shoes!”

When you’re at the mall, what do you gravitate toward?

When I do a movie or something, the costume designers will call, and it’s always the same conversation: “Where do you shop for your clothes?” Which is so interesting to me because I was like, “Where do you shop for everyone’s clothes?” The difference is they

“I had been wanting to work with Christian for years,” Guillén says of Christian Siriano, who’s tailored three looks for the actor this year, including this pink ensemble for the Met Gala. “I persisted!”

“Since he’s become a badass, we tuck his pants into his boots and roll up his sleeves,” Guillén says of his character.

Harvey Guillén was photographed June 2 at PMC Studios in Los Angeles. He’s wearing a shirt by Daniel Velasco, who also designed the actor’s tux-inspired 2002 Emmys outfit featuring a sheer, blue pussy-bow shirt.

“I like playing with the idea of what’s gendernormal or gender-neutral,” says Guillén of his fondness for sheer items, like this Christian Siriano look for Vanity Fair ’s 2023 Oscar party.

“Dior is probably Harvey’s favorite in that lane of fashion houses; he collects it,” says stylist Michael Fusco, who borrowed and restyled this look first seen during Dior’s pre-fall 2023 show in Cairo. Styling by Michael Fusco