Shoulders and Sequins: the Dramatic Fashions of Nolan Miller
By Eric Grigs | March 27, 2022
If you love classic TV, you’re sure to have seen the design work of Nolan Miller—even if you aren’t someone who pays attention to names in fashion. With an eye for the dramatic, his needle and thread creations were sewn throughout Hollywood movies and TV costumes of the 1970s and 80s. His dresses made their mark across Aaron Spelling productions, including Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Hotel, and Vega$, among others.
Upon his death in 2012 at age 79, The New York Times reported that Miller commanded a $35,000 weekly wardrobe budget during television’s most famous prime-time soap Dynasty, for which he earned an Emmy in 1984.
Recently, I spoke with Adam Seirafi, who has been building a collection of Nolan Miller’s one-of-a-kind creations. Below is the condensed and edited conversation.
Eric: So you’re a fellow Texan, like Nolan was?
Adam: I live in Dallas, Texas, but grew up in a smaller town about 90 miles from here.
Eric: How did you first get into collecting Nolan Miller fashion?
Adam: I began wanting to collect the original sketches. I have always been fascinated by the beginning process of an artistic creation. A render, a blueprint, a fashion design sketch, and so on. I never had any intention to collect the actual costumes. But I kept finding the costumes instead, and I thought “Well these are pretty cool. These are collectable forms of art and they are worth way more. Maybe I should start collecting these?” It was four gowns later until I finally acquired my first design sketch.
Nolan Miller sketches from Adam Seirafi’s collection.
Eric: That's pretty amazing that you set out to collect the sketches but instead found the dresses themselves. I wouldn't have expected your collection to take shape in that way. What is it about his design aesthetic that inspires you?
Adam: I would say the first thing that draws me to his designs is they are all rooted in old Hollywood glamour. That was Nolan's biggest design interest and inspiration. He grew up wanting to be a costume designer for MGM and the big movie studios of the Golden Era of Hollywood. On the flip side I appreciate the over-the-top nature of the 1980s—so Nolan's designs are a great hybrid of those two eras: Old Hollywood glamour with an injection of the wild 1980s.
Eric: I love your description of the direct line of old Hollywood glamour to the excess of the 80s. There's such a “larger than life” quality to these fashions and instant recognizability that they belong to the decade. I feel that celebrities being placed at a removed distance from the audience or put up on a pedestal declined quickly after this time. And now what we get is the era of “Stars: They're Just Like Us” photographed in sweatpants running errands! A bit of a loss.
So, which one was the first piece you bought?
Adam: The very first piece I acquired was the white bugle beaded gown worn by Joan Collins on Dynasty and to several events.
Eric: How do you typically find them?
Adam: I found the majority of my collection via people contacting me through my older blog. Sadly Google no longer partners with Blogspot so my images do not pop up on Google image search anymore. So I recently launched a new website. I am hoping people with items will begin finding me there instead.
Eric: Do you have to do much restoration work on them?
Adam: Yes, I have done some restoration work on many of my pieces. Usually there are beads missing on the beaded gowns. I source vintage beads so they match the originals that are on the dress. Brand new beads do not match properly in most cases.
Eric: A couple of years ago you showed several pieces in an exhibit. How large is your collection currently?
Adam: I currently own 16 gowns and costumes, 10 sketches, several hats, and odds and ends.
Eric: I think you have some Liz Taylor pieces in your collection, but do you tend to limit your acquisitions to Dynasty costumes?
Adam: Elizabeth Taylor is the ultimate for me. I especially love the formal gowns Nolan designed for Elizabeth and all his designs for the ladies of Dynasty. I also love all of Nolan's designs for Tina Louise on Gilligan's Island (a “one that got away” story for me). He also designed for Eva Gabor on Green Acres and Morticia’s iconic black gown worn by Carolyn Jones for The Addams Family! Most people don’t know he did so many of those iconic TV costumes. But I appreciate any of his designs for leading ladies that are over the top and glamorous.
Eric: I was obsessed with Charlie’s Angels growing up (well, still am!) so I was introduced to his fashions and design at an early age. Were you a Dynasty fan growing up?
Adam: I was two years old when Dynasty ended, but I became a fan later in life! Thanks to technology many things from bygone eras are now accessible to much younger generations which they normally would not know about. I think my first glimpse of Dynasty was on an E: True Hollywood Story special in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
Eric: Did you ever meet Nolan Miller while he was alive?
Adam: Yes, I was lucky to meet him just three months before he passed away. Nolan was very ill at that time but his memory was sharp as a tack. He remembered the gown I showed him, who wore it, and to what function—which was from 25 plus years before. Nolan was very gracious and kind, and I think he got a kick out of some young guy from Texas having an interest in his work, since Nolan was also from Texas. Nolan invited me to come visit him at the Motion Picture Home where he spent the last period of his life—sadly, I did not get to visit him there in time.
Eric: I am so glad that you got to meet him before he left us. That’s truly special.
Do you think large, dramatic shoulders will make a comeback?
Adam: I don’t follow current fashion trends really, but I think the big Dynasty shoulder pads did make a big come back in the last 10 years or so. I still see current pieces with exaggerated shoulders. Mainstream wise, I think Lady Gaga (or her designers) brought back exaggerated shoulders in more recent years!
Help Adam locate sought-after pieces to build out his collection! Visit nolanmillercollector.com and connect with Seirafi on Instagram (@nolanmillercollector) and Facebook (Nolan Miller Collector).