The Palm Royale Hair and Makeup Team’s Inspiration for 1969-centric Looks
For Palm Royale makeup and hair department heads Tricia Sawyer and Karen Bartek, Slim Aarons’ 1960s photography served as the biggest inspiration for nailing the looks of a cast that includes Kristen Wiig, Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Carol Burnett, Ricky Martin and Leslie Bibb.
“Aarons really captured the essence of Palm Beach in that time period,” Sawyer tells THR. “He has several books that I referred to daily. There are also some videos online of Palm Beach society women of the period that were helpful.”
Palm Royale follows Wiig’s Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons, an outsider who strives to attain a place in Palm Beach’s high society. Almost every actor in the series, which has been renewed for a second season, references the hair or makeup of a famous actress or icon of the era, explains Bartek. Maxine sports Sharon Tate’s long, styled locks, while Bibb’s Dinah’s bob is an homage to Barbara Parkins and Jackie Onassis. Janney and her hairstylist, Jill Crosby, worked on an Esmeralda-esque aesthetic for her character, Evelyn, while hairstylist Frida Aradóttir worked with Laura Dern on her character’s hippie style.
Sawyer and Bartek scoured Pinterest and various magazines and movies from 1969 to get further inspiration for the hair and makeup looks: “We chose colors to enhance, not distract from, the world [writer-producer Abe Sylvia] created,” says Sawyer.
Bartek had wigs and hairpieces made for everyone on the cast. Sometimes three or four looks were required in a single day of shooting, and that proved challenging. “Some of the looks were definitely harder than others, such as when we started adding hairpieces to wigs. I know Jill would sometimes use two or three wigs for just one look for Allison,” she says. “Each character had a specific look, [and they] were all very different from each other, so we tried to keep the same distinguishing vibe for each of them throughout, all while staying in the fun Palm Beach look of 1969.”
Both Sawyer and Bartek cite extreme summer heat as a challenge throughout production. “The temperature sometimes reached more than 100 degrees while we were working in small tents,” says Bartek. Sawyer recalls that keeping the actors “cool, fresh-faced and sunscreened” was something the teams had to keep in mind. The show was not shot in Palm Beach (filmmakers are not authorized to film there without a permit), but in Los Angeles.
“I think the most challenging part for me was that the wonderful Kristen Wiig was in everything — every scene, first in, last out,” says Sawyer. “Josh Lucas was filming Yellowstone at the same time and had to keep his sideburns period-[appropriate] for both shows. When we had flashbacks to the ’40s, [makeup artist] Kenny Niederbaumer covered his sideburns completely. [Makeup artist] Marissa Lafayette and Kenny covered Ricky Martin’s many tattoos daily, especially for the pool scenes where he is shirtless.”
Lashes, nails and tans were kept consistent throughout the show, as well as the use of sherbet colors. KISS press-on nails were “a life-saver for our background actors,” Sawyer says.
This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.