Ciara Miller Is the Fashion Supreme of ‘Summer House’

The last couple of years have seen a transformation in your career and in your public life. You’ve deepened your relationship to the fashion industry, and hosting red carpets. How has that experience been for you, having been introduced to most people as a nurse?

It’s kind of crazy. Last night I was at this Vanities event and people were like, oh yeah, I’m tech to something and tech to entertainment, or whatever. I was like, I’m medical to entertainment, to maybe fashion? The roadmap is not very conventional, but I feel very blessed and lucky and I feel like it’s a testament of moving to New York City and working the great pivot and going after everything that you’re interested in. I am just going with it. I’m trying my best, I’m not an expert by any means, but with practice comes perfection, so I’m just trying to do the best that I can at this point.

I’m dating a nurse — he does children’s work — and I also work in the entertainment industry. I don’t think I could do something like that. It seems like it’s way more stressful than my job, and it keeps me grounded being reminded of that.

I always say I could never work in pediatrics, because I would be in the bed with them. I would be too attached. One time I had this patient, he was 20, which is very young for the ICU, but I was in the bed with him, picking up extra shifts. He was my little baby. I was like, no, I can’t. You just get so attached. But nursing brings a totally different outlook on the entertainment industry and what I’m doing now, and I feel like it gives me a bit more humility and it keeps my feet on the ground having that background.

It must feel like you said, grounding, to have literally been in the trenches and now think, I don’t have to take this so seriously, I don’t have to get so caught up in this moment.

And these celebs also are just regular schmegular people.

Over the past few seasons, people have really seen you blossom both on the show and off. You’ve really found a voice. And recently you’ve been talking a lot about mental health. I was just watching an interview where you talked about Prozac, and taking Prozac. Where do you think — I don’t want to necessarily say it’s just confidence, that feels like it’s downplaying it. But where do you think the ease you’re finding to talk about what you’re really going through has come from of late?

I think people have this perception that, oh, if you live in the public eye, everything’s like, oh my so amazing. You’re living this glamorous life. While I have all these goals for myself, it’s kind of like I have imposter syndrome. The reality of what I thought it would feel like doesn’t feel that way, or what I thought a dream would feel like doesn’t actually feel that way. So it’s confusing.

And also I’m like, I’m living in New York City. It’s a town that will eat you up, spit you out. Not to mention I’m here by myself. I think me being able to speak about Prozac and my mental health is me on the other side. I’ve had dark days, and I’m so grateful and so thankful that I’ve tried a shit ton of things and they weren’t exactly the right fit, but now I think that this is a proper fit and I feel better, and I’m like, I feel like I want to shout it from the rooftops. It’s not a secret. If it can help someone great, and if someone’s not interested, okay, awesome too. There’s different methods that work for everyone. I say to my friends, you don’t have to be a miserable bitch, so let’s not. I’m like, make it fun. It’s kind of funny, too. It’s me figuring out who I am in my twenties and going into my thirties. Why not talk about it? It doesn’t have to be a secret.

I’ll sometimes have friends be like, are you sure you want to let everyone know you’re on Wellbutrin on your public platform? God forbid everyone gets on Wellbutrin! They can all feel the way that I feel right now.

I have to remember that I’m not actually a pharmacist or a doctor when I’m like, you need a little bit of Prozac. Maybe I can’t just tell everyone this is how to make your life better. And I’m not,0 but maybe try it.

When you came onto the show, it was an interesting time for Summer House especially…

Wasn’t it?

An interesting time for the world. Across Bravo, especially Black women, got put in positions where you had to have difficult conversations. There’s a scene early in this season where you’re talking to KJ about that experience, and there was such a different tone to the conversation. You seemed much more at ease having that conversation than in the past. Did that come from your years on TV, or do you feel like, to be colloquial, the vibes have shifted?

I think it has everything to do with talking to someone who looks like me, and having more black people on the show, and having more black experiences, where a lot of the things that we go through don’t even have to be said. Yes, you have the intricacies of each situation, but there’s a lot of the underlying tone that doesn’t have to be explained, and that is so important and so imperative to sharing a story and having these friendships that I feel like I don’t take for granted.

Being able to have that conversation with KJ in the house, where not only could he understand certain levels of it, but he could relate, and we were both raised by single mothers. It was seeing yourself in a mirror a little bit, where you’re like, wow, you have some of these thoughts growing up and you think you’re the only one with these thoughts, and it’s so nice to hear that someone else that looks like you and has lived some similar experiences also has had the same thoughts. It makes you feel a little less alone.

I think on this show, we haven’t had a ton of Black people all at once, and so I just feel like it’s such a special bond, as well, to be able to not have to rehearse or think over what you’re about to say, or put it in a certain position so that it’s consumed a certain way so that this person understands it. It’s like I can speak naturally, freely, and it’s effortless.

It’s like everyone else in the house probably takes for granted the way that they relate to each other, and all their shared experiences, and then in such an intense, intimate living environment, when you are someone who feels like an outsider, that must be greatly exacerbated when you’re also the only person that looks like you.

It definitely is. It was a strange experience. I mean, look, coming in 2020 also was such a — I feel like we will talk more in the season about the time that I came in. Even just that political climate, where that does play a factor into how we exist in this world and what’s happening and the conversations that are happening amongst friends and intercultural relationships, interracial friendships. There’s so much more ground to cover. That’s the beauty I think, of Summer House, where I feel like we get to dive into those conversations a bit more.

I tell people all the time, the pandemic lockdown season is like a historical artifact at this point. It’s such a moment in time that is so specific. And watching it back recently with someone who saw Summer House for the first time, I was like, Oh my God. It’s literally being back in that moment all over again. It’s so visceral.

Crazy, six years ago, around this month.

There’s a scene in this most recent episode where Mia’s listening to some upstairs conversation between Bailey and Ben, and she comes downstairs to gossip with you and KJ. Just in that moment, all of you seemed so comfortable, like you had this shared language with each other. It was interesting and also refreshing to see on this show.

I feel like me and Mia and KJ, we really so fast and so quickly became one, and it was a lot of talking through eye contact. We’re on the same page. It’s a lot of telepathic communication, which is just so classic, and it’s honestly been the biggest blessing in filming in season 10. feel like the internet has really picked up on that moment, and I don’t even know if I remember that moment. I feel like it was just a moment where we were all just being us, and it was caught on surveillance, but it was such an honest moment where we could find each other amongst the bullshit.

You said something really interesting this season, about how you’ve felt at times pigeonholed as just the pretty girl, or just this girl that people come in and crush on. We’ve been talking about how you’ve really blossomed — is there anything, either this season or in your life right now, that you really want people to know?

I’m really proud of season 10, in terms of my personal story. I feel like you guys are going to see a lot more unfold, in terms of my friendship with Mia, and how we are. We rely on each other, but also my relationship with my family. It’s such a great individual story, not to toot my own horn. I really grew up, from being 24 to now 30. Of course the crushing is always fun, but I feel like there’s this other side that will unfold over the season, where people will get to see me step into adulthood and make business decisions and prepare for the future.

Well, this is PAPER, and we love fashion, and I specifically love Bravo fashion. I cover all of you guys very religiously, what you wear, and I really have always admired your style in particular. I wanted to run through a few of my favorite outfits that you’ve had over the years, and talk through what you were thinking, your style inspiration, or really anything that comes to mind when you see them.

Puka Shells Are Back, Baby!

This is from last season. I loved the puka shell necklaces. I’m not sure if this is a top or a dress. And the bang too! The bang I thought was very chic, for this look.

Oh my God, thank you so much. Some of these are filmed in the middle of winter, so we have to get into the summer mindset. So this is a dress, I’m pretty sure it was by Sea. It’s like a fishnet in the midriff, and then has this cool, fun pattern on the bottom. I am one of those people who loves a puka shell necklace. It’s so cliche, but sometimes I feel like it can be so chic. And then I paired it with the other necklace. I love to stack a necklace in the summertime. I just feel like it’s very summery. Honestly, this was such a last minute outfit. It’s funny that this is on there.

I mean, the puka shells are really what I remember the most. I was like, do I need to bring out a puka shell necklace next summer?

I feel like if you layer them right, they’re so cute. I had my apartment organized not too long ago, and one of the organizers was like, do you want to throw this out? And I was like, no, no. There is a place for this.

“Siri, Play Aaliyah One in a Million”

This is from an earlier season, I believe the 2024 season. I just loved this red bandeau with the dark red lip and these huge, statement earrings. It felt very nineties, very Toni Braxton music video. “He Wasn’t Man Enough,” and all that.

Exactly! I feel like I should have been born in the eighties to really enjoy the nineties, but I was born in the middle of the nineties. A lot of my style inspo comes from the nineties. That is truly my era through and through, and I feel like this is very much a play on Aaliyah, and the baby girl earrings. I feel like the dark red lip liner is an ode to my mom, who used to line her lips in black and then go in with red. That was definitely what I was trying to capture in this look.

Words Cannot Describe How Good This Dress Is

Next one was your reunion look from two seasons ago. I loved how soft this dress was with the flowing sleeve and the high collar and very bold, statement blush.

Who knew this would be a revenge dress? This was a custom piece that I designed with my girlfriend Cassidy, and it was made by Undone by Kate. She’s local to New York. It’s hard shopping for reunion outfits, because the reunion takes place in the middle. The trunk show stuff hasn’t come out from spring, and then all the runway stuff hasn’t hit yet. It’s just this weird in-between season of finding things, and I can never find what I’m envisioning in my head. Sometimes I’m just like, let’s make it, because why not? We have the time. Our original sketches started out with beads and it was honestly chaotic, but we found a happy medium, and then we took out the beads. We added the sleeve at the last minute. I wanted something very ethereal, flowy. I knew I wanted to have an underwear moment, where it was coming off the hip. I think we accidentally draped something over my shoulder as a scarf in the final fitting, and we were like, wait, let’s make a sleeve because it’s actually so elegant. She felt it would be a nice way to balance it out.

And then, the makeup inspo. Me and my makeup artist Casey, we never do trials. I feel like we get in the chair and we create and then we end up going with the look. This time, we had to do a trial before and really nail down the makeup, because the tone of the dress was really interesting and I didn’t want to take away from it. So beautiful on its own. I wanted something that was really complimentary. This was a very creative process!

We had the Bravo Fashion Awards that year, and this reunion was the winner, because you all looked so good. And it was the year of the revenge dress at Bravo! Lindsay in that stomach cutout, Ariana’s reunion dress. Lot’s of really good reunion revenge dresses.

Tom Ford Gucci Model Stumbled Into the Chloe Archive

This next one is from the recent season — you literally look like a Tom Ford Gucci model. Especially with the Amber glasses. I just love this look.

No, literally, that’s exactly what I was going for. I also love a bit of Chloe as well. I feel like I don’t like to lock myself into a specific style. I love boho, and people hate me, because people say that wedges are out and I’m like, I fucking love wedges. I don’t care what you say, bring wedges back.