Sarah Millman Finetunes Everyday Dress in ‘Tuner’

In film, the strongest costumes are often the ones that go unnoticed. Such is the case in “Tuner,” a high-anxiety indie darling styled with Carhartt workwear, Hoka sneakers, and a handful of other pared-down silhouettes that look lifted straight off the street. “Tuner” follows the daily escapades of an intergenerational musical repair duo Niki (Leo Woodall) and Harry (Dustin Hoffman) as they fix the pianos of the hyper wealthy. Even as Niki descends into a world of crypto-chaos and crime, costume designer Sarah Millman embeds an understated relatability into each character’s look, giving Dustin Hoffman the familiarity of an old relative and Leo Woodall the everyday charm of an airport crush. 

While “Tuner” marks Daniel Roher’s first foray into narrative film, the director’s aesthetic sensibility reigns true to his documentary roots. For Millman, this meant basing each character off real-life people, including some of the actual homeowners who lended their mansions for the film’s shooting for the extras and Los Angeles piano tuner Peter White for Niki. “It was really actually relaxing a little bit into a more spontaneous way of thinking on your feet,” Millman says, “not getting stuck on how it should be and following the flow because it does yield some kind of special spark.” 

Niki

In an ongoing motif throughout the film, Niki and Harry are confused for general repairman in their piano tuner uniforms. In order for this gag to ring true, Millman needed to source an easily-duplicated outfit that left a worn working class impression. She landed on a set of vintage flight suits from the ‘80s/;90s, beating out Japanese vintage buyers from a going-out-of-business rental house sale. “[Broken down workwear] goes at such a premium,” Millman explains. “The patina is worth [a lot], which I think is so cool. Wear is valuable to people… it was certainly valuable to us.”

The inspiration for Niki came from “hunky, men of yore” like old Al Pacino and Matt Damon’s character in “Good Will Hunting”. “It was incredibly important to represent the characters as real and true to life as possible,” Millman says. “[Roher] was really allergic to anything that looked new unless it was on a character that it made sense for it to look new.” Niki is not the archetype of a guy who spends his paycheck on clothes. Fittingly, he spends the majority of the film in branded Harry Horowitz workwear and sweatshirts that could “take a breakdown quickly.” “When you are confined to literally [just] jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies, it has to be the right jeans, t-shirt, [and] hoodie. And you would be surprised at how many of each we went through to find the perfect drape,” Millman says. In Niki’s case, “the right” t-shirt was a Japanese cotton from Lost and Found in Toronto.

Yuri 

The film’s chief antagonist, Yuri (Lior Raz), was styled in the vein of a “man-child Ronaldo fan.” He is first introduced to Niki and the viewer in a black polo shirt and a Gucci belt. On account of the film’s small budget, Millman had to do “high impact” for him by putting his money in “something kind of flashy.” “He's trying to masquerade as a trustworthy guy at these homes of the ultra-rich, but it's also maybe a way of telling people that he's got access, and then from a character perspective, it's a way of telling the audience that he prioritizes acquisition,” Millman says. More than the entirety of Millman’s costume budget was sent to her in the form of a rose gold Jacob and Co. watch that was an early aughts collaboration with Cristiano Ronaldo. “We chose the flashiest [watch] that we could, kind of just laser focused on this lifestyle sort of signifier,” Millman says. 

Ruthie

For Niki’s love interest, Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), Millman wanted her wardrobe to reflect the aesthetic sensibilities of a classically trained musician while still making sense within the confines of a student’s budget. “Ruthie didn't have a lot of money, but she has access to this sort of very refined world,” Millman says. Mailman looked to Polish composer Hania Rani for real-world inspiration in the contemporary music scene.

For the film’s final scene, Millman supplemented Ruthie’s wardrobe with clothing off her own back to nail the composition. Initially, Ruthie was supposed to be styled in a plain white button-down and grey pants.  “It was meant to be a very streamlined, simple look,” Millman says. “But when I arrived on set, the location was just floor-to-ceiling windows, and it was really light-filled.” Havana Rose Liu took one look at the black cashmere sweater sitting over top of Millman's t-shirt, a piece she happened to have purchased the day before, and suggested “maybe I should be wearing that,” or so the story goes. 

Millman equates Ruthie’s pared-down style to fashion designers like Alexander McQueen and J.W. Anderson when they come out in jeans and a t-shirt at the end of a fashion show. “On the surface [the costuming] seems boring, but it's actually really chic to me,” Millman says.