Nicole Miller

If you want a dress that flatters and reads as polished without heavy structure, they hit the mark. Miller's signature has long been the cut of the clothes — proportions, curves and necklines come first — which is why her form-flattering dresses photograph and wear so well. You're paying for fit and fabric judgement more than embellishment.

Start where the brand is strongest: a form-flattering dress. She is best known for these and for men's neckties, and her range runs from body-conscious cocktail dresses to wedding attire. A cocktail or evening dress is the most representative first buy.

Her aesthetic is sexy yet classic, historically black or boldly colored, with bright prints and patterns and the cut treated as paramount. A self-described fabric junkie, she is credited with popularising many futuristic fabrics — so expect distinctive material as much as silhouette.

She is best known for her form-flattering dresses and men's neckties. Her main concern has always been proportions, curves and necklines, and her designs are described as sexy yet classic — a balance of downtown edge and uptown polish she's spoken about herself.

The brand has grown to 20 boutiques in major US cities and is also sold in a number of high-end department stores. Miller additionally designs an extensive collection for J.C. Penney, so there are entry points across several price levels.

Nicole Miller is an American fashion designer and businesswoman, born in Fort Worth, Texas, to an engineer father and a Parisian-born mother. She earned a BFA in Apparel Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and trained in couture techniques in Paris.

The company Nicole Miller was started in 1982 by Bud Konheim together with Nicole, after Miller had worked as head designer at the dress manufacturer P.J. Walsh. Her first shop opened in 1986 on Madison Avenue, the foundation of the boutique business that followed.

Two influences run through her work. Her year at L'Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne taught her to drape fabric — an intense training she credits for her command of fabric manipulation — while her engineer father gave her the problem-solving instinct she calls the core of making clothes.

Yes. Her styles range from cocktail dresses and wedding attire to loungewear, and men's neckties are a signature alongside the dresses. She has also designed a home furnishing collection for Bed Bath & Beyond, extending the aesthetic beyond apparel.

Her cultural footprint goes past the runway: when Mattel asked her to design a Barbie doll, the result joined an ongoing exhibit, Barbie: The Fashion Experience, at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis from December 2009. It's a sign of how firmly her name sits in the American design landscape.