Rich people have problems, too, although in season two of “Your Friends & Neighbors,” the quandaries are mostly of the protagonists’ own making. Like the extravagant, overly leveraged mansions in the faux-Westchester enclave, the show’s expensive wardrobes—by returning costume designer Jacqueline Demeterio—serve as facades and armor. The designer clothing and accoutrements help Westmont Village’s ultra-wealthy residents keep up appearances, as their debts and anxieties continue to grow.

Coop Comes Full Circle in Three-Piece Suits

Cleared of murder charges at the end of season one, Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm) can finally return to the role that suits him best: a crook robbing his wealthy neighbors while masquerading as an independent financier. He heads to his nondescript Midtown office dressed in business-casual quiet luxury—before sneaking off to afternoon matinees. “He’s in between these two worlds of where we ended in season one, and he's now out on his own and back in business,” says Demeterio. “It’s still making him look like he's going to do some sort of work. We wanted to have a sports coat on him or set-dressed on the back of his chair when you see him in ‘the office.’ But he’s not obviously as suited up as he was when he worked for [his former hedge fund] Bailey Russell.”

But when an overly confident Coop burgles the manse of Westmont’s newest arrival, the charming Owen Ashe (James Marsden), he becomes beholden to the billionaire whose fortune comes from mysterious, if not illicit means. Ashe blackmails Coop into investing an inordinate amount of dodgy money for him—and back into his natty, three-piece suits by Bruno Cucinelli, Tom Ford, and custom Zegna. “He’s wining and dining and doing these lunches with all of the investors and trying to win them over. He’s back to being super put together, looking super sharp. He's more confident than ever now,” says Demeterio. “I really wanted to portray that through the fits of his suiting, the shirting, and the tie selection. I had a lot of fun putting him back into suits.”

Ashe Makes Sartorial Power Moves

Ashe introduces himself to his gossipy new neighbors by throwing himself a welcome fête that’s straight out of “The Great Gatsby”—in his $20 million, all-cash mansion. In their fateful first meeting, Coop goes in for a firm handshake in a white Canali dinner jacket and Ralph Lauren shirt and black pants. Ashe counters in a Brooks Brothers shawl-lapel jacket, accented with a Tom Ford pocket square, and Ralph Lauren Purple Label white trousers. “[Coop] is the only one in a cream jacket. That was his signature and very James Bond,” says Demeterio. “For Ashe, I chose this almost robin's egg blue and I added the satin lapel to heighten it. He needed a little sheen. He's a little shiny, you know?”

Because Ashe already made a strong first impression upon his arrival—exiting his gleaming Lamborghini in a gray, double-breasted linen-silk Zegna blazer and Brioni-belted Valentino pants in the lightest, dry-clean-only cream. His confidently “precise” and snug-fit silhouettes are distinctive to him—and from Coop’s traditional tailoring. “Everybody's pretty quiet luxury in Westmont Village and he comes in with his flashy car, so for his first look, I wanted to incorporate some color, but I didn't want him to be tacky or cheesy. He’s still super tasteful and very expensive,” says Demeterio. “I was very aware of putting James in [looks] that I would never put on Jon.”

Ashe’s ultimate power play over Coop comes in the form of his loungewear: Tom Ford boxers and a $799 Zimmerli silk robe with a leaf motif that evokes more of a predatory print. Sweating and snorting lines of cocaine in his kitchen, like Tony Montana in “Scarface,” Ashe maniacally summons Coop, mid-burglary, to his home. “It looked like leopard print because there are so many crazy moments with Ashe, but that was his craziest moment. Even James was like, ‘This is so against who I am in my own life,’” says Demeterio. “We were spraying him down for sweat. He was so good and unhinged in that scene.”

Sam Dresses For Her Return to Society

After framing Coop for murder to cover up her husband Paul’s (Jordan Gelber) suicide, Sam (Olivia Munn) begins the season finishing up her community service, while struggling to earn money as a realtor in a cutthroat town that now considers her a social pariah.

“We see her starting out a little bit quieter than we’ve seen her before,” says Demeterio, pointing to Sam’s Khaite Josette cashmere cardigan and jeans, when she unexpectedly encounters the entire neighborhood gathered at a lavish children’s birthday party—one that excluded her and her young son. “She's vulnerable. She's trying to stay under the radar.”

But Sam’s situation starts looking up when she closes on Ashe’s eye-watering all-cash home purchase in full Chloé— a black pantsuit and a regal white blouse with a scarf-tie neckline— and accessorized with her elegant Céline Camille shoulder tote. “She still has her clothes in her closet. It’s not like she doesn't have anything from her past,” says Demeterio. “I still wanted it to be a designer suit, but I didn't want it to scream anything. It was also a conservative look for her.”

After reluctantly showing up at Ashe’s welcome blowout in a slinky, sequined, and leg-baring garnet slip dress by La Fuori, Sam finds a connection with the magnetic, shadowy tycoon. “Her confidence starts to come back,” says Demeterio. Sam makes her way back into society as Ashe’s plus-one at a Seder dinner in a sultry black Lanvin halter dress under a Tom Ford cardigan and later at former pro-basketball player Nick’s (Mark Tallman) birthday bash in a Céline black-and-gold lamé tiger-print gown. “You see that arc and her whole process through her clothes,” says Demeterio.

Mel Walks Through Literal Sh*t in Quiet Luxury Loungewear

Unemployed, perimenopausal, and on the outs with teenage daughter Tori (Isabel Gravitt), Coop’s ex-wife, Mel (Amanda Peet), struggles to find her footing. “Mel was a real mess,” says Demeterio. “She was just going through relatable things to women. Obviously, her clothing is still designer, but it's her at-home luxury-wear.”

But, like her Westmount cohorts, Mel armors up for Westmont Village social occasions, like a white Zimmerman eyelet shirtdress for the Seder and a black strapless, pleat-front Oscar de la Renta gown to arrive at a détente with Sam—also Coop’s ex—at Nick’s birthday. In a moment of desperation, Mel layers a black lace-paneled Journelle cami under her oversized The Row pantsuit to cajole a Princeton admissions power-broker into dismissing her daughter’s rebellious rejection. “Mel wears a lot of classic designers, like Brunello Cuccinelli, Ralph Lauren, and Céline,” says Demeterio. “She does have her chic moments throughout, but then she has a lot of just falling apart at her house.”

Mel wanders the backyard in a cashmere cream Loro Piana trackset—a zip-up hoodie and slouchy joggers—ringing in at nearly $5,000. She suffers through hot flashes in a Leset pointelle tank and confronts her neighbors about their indiscriminately defecating mastiff in a Jennie Kayne cashmere fisherman’s sweater. “She’s not really put together, so it’s just throwing this and that on, but her house sweater is going to be Prada and her pajama pants are by The Row." For the moment she steps in dog poop, Demeterio put Mel in $750 flip-flops. “You just see her shoe squish, and that was hilarious,” Demeterio says. “This rich person in her The Row flip-flops, and then the reality that everybody steps in shit.”