‘Saltburn’ Hair and Makeup Designer Sian Miller draws inspiration from Sienna Miller to High School Musical

BAFTA-nominated hair and makeup designer Sian Miller transports us to 2007 through her work in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn. No stranger to period pieces, Miller has worked on Cyrano, based on a 19th century play, as well as Elton John’s 1970’s biopic Rocketman. For her latest work, Miller looked to runway shoots, Facebook, and modern Disney Channel classics for naughties inspiration.

“When you have lived through a period of time yourself, it’s very easy with the mist of time to remember something in a certain way. Decades get condensed into an archetype”

says Miller about sourcing era-appropriate inspiration for Saltburn leads. In addition to troves of personal Facebook fodder from her team, she also took to early aughts media for vision, particularly movie stars and runway looks. Miller walked us through her inspiration for each character.

Venetia

Miller: “Emerald’s scripts are so evocative. So I had a lot of images in my mind’s eye. When I first met with Emerald, I already had ideas about Kate Moss’s grunginess paired with Venetia’s family’s old-world aristocracy. I also wanted to incorporate her character traits, including the eating disorder and the fact that she’s masking her own brittle insecurities with dress up. Georgia May Jagger was also an inspiration. We used glued bonded extensions which were very popular at that time. Venetia would have, of course, had those done, but we added regrowth at the roots because she wouldn’t be timely getting them done when she’s lying around the house. So little details like the regrown roots and chipped fingernails, as she’s probably chewing on her fingernails.”

Sian’s commitment to detail shines throughout the film. During the final act, when Felix is found and the whole world is imploding around Saltburn, Sian points out this moment where a closeup catches Venetia’s smudged makeup and broken-off hairs. “The authenticity is really what I wanted to inject into [Venetia’s] look.”

Elspeth:

“Sienna Miller, and model Laura Bailey. This sort of effortlessness sprung to mind when I read the script [for Elspeth]. This woman has everything she could possibly want but doesn’t need to try to be anyone other than who she is.” Sian also alludes to Elspeth’s past as a model, where she would have spent a great deal of time dressed up and done up. Comparatively, she now spends her time in an expansive estate, and she can just be Elspeth. “What was very important for these people that live in this fabulous environment with seemingly fabulous lives is to ground them and make them feel real as the story unfolds. So her hair and makeup is understated. No sign of hair tongs, rollers, or artifice.” Sian very much did not want this character to look like she sat at a dressing table for hours every morning to get done up, as that would not be true to Elspeth’s character, who is as stunning as she is effortless. “She looks like she’s gone into her wardrobe, picked out a fabulous gown, and just twisted her hair up and that’s all it needs to be.” The normality of opulence to this family is what Sian wanted to capture. Particularly for the matriarch, who can decide on a whim to host a lavish fancy dress party. "

Sian’s approach for crafting Elspeth’s look was just as much about practicality as it was aesthetic. The team inserted weft and backpieces within Rosamund Pike’s existing blonde bob, particularly given the quick shoot schedule for the film.

Oliver

Oliver is by far the most dynamic character of the ensemble. In a film that takes aesthetic and structural cues from stage works such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it seems fitting that his arc, and his look, are established in three acts. First we see Oliver shuffling into Oxford, hiding behind decidedly uncool glasses and a mop of unstyled hair. This look of course changes as Oliver inhabits the countryside and turns Saltburn on its head.

“Wigging [Barry] wasn’t an option so I employed the use of hair extensions. We shot in just 8 weeks so I needed quite a convertible style. So there are the stages I worked within: starting with his arrival to when he was a Felix wannabe to his final stage once he takes a flat in London.” Says Sian of the first act, “we literally straightened his hair with a sideswept fringe.” During this phase of Oliver’s transition, I couldn’t help but be reminded of another ca. 2007 film [anti]hero’s hair transition – Peter Parker in Spiderman 3. The way Oliver fearlessly moves around Saltburn is not unlike Spidey’s infamous cringy bad boy strut with the severely straightened fringe. But maybe that’s just me!

By the final act, we find Oliver in London, looking considerably more mature and pulled together. “I wanted the old film star look. Cary Grant, or Paul Newman, with the sideswept wave.”

Over the course of the film Oliver appeared to gain a more beautiful and shining complexion as he wielded more power. On the topic of skin tone, Sian commented, “at the beginning with his makeup I matched his own skin tone. I wanted to create a very youthful look. But in the end when we see him as the beautiful and urbane man that he’s become, everything about his stature and demeaner has changed. And I went for tanned skin tones. Tom Ford foundation for the face.”

Sian designed all tattoos featured in the film. On Venetia and Felix’s matching star tattoos: “those were derived from the Saltburn family crest. There’s a simple star and we played around then decided that a cluster of stars of different sizes was right. Emerald wanted them to have mirroring stars because the siblings are very close.” The Saltburn crest is a throughline for several other designs, including Felix’s “carpe diem” ink, which is done in the crest’s font. Incorporation of the crest also gets at the wrestling Venetia and Felix do between their desired self-image and circumstances of birth. They can never stray too far from posh, even with body ink. This rings true for Farleigh as well, who more than any character has curated his own style (and rocks a mop inspired by High School Musical era Corbin Bleu) but still wears a signet ring as he’s always tied to the charity from is uncle.

“With any film, as soon as we’re aware of the artifice, and as soon as you’re looking just at the hair or just at the tattoos, or clothes, you’re drawn out by the overdone-ness of it. You’ve got to see the piece as a whole.” It was a pleasure to talk with such an accomplished creative as Sian Miller about her process for Saltburn, which I am delighted is now streaming on Amazon Prime. You can also explore your favorite looks from the film on Montage.