Adorned with sun-baked pastels and country club florals, Apple TV’s “Palm Royale” is a visual feast of 1960s excess. But among all of the show's aesthetic calling cards, it is Karen Bartek’s expert hairstyling that makes each female character instantly recognizable within a narrow social world. For season two, Bartek returned to Palm Beach with a deeper understanding of her characters and a handful of expert wig makers on speed dial.

With credits on a multitude of Marvel titles including “WandaVision” and “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness,” Bartek is no stranger to technically demanding, character-driven hair work. On “Palm Royale,” her knack for period precision is in full display across a myriad of signature 60s styles. Arriving at those individual signatures, Bartek says, was a collaborative effort from the start. "I landed on looks for the characters after working with our showrunner and with the actors on what they felt their characters should look like," she says. "Of course, it all came together after adding the costumes and going off what they were wearing."

Using costume designer Alix Friedberg’s costumes as a starting point was especially important for Bartek’s hair ideation. For the character of Maxine (Kristen Wiig), Friedberg and Bartek collaborated to create a parody of ’60s Hollywood glamour, designed to look borrowed from fashion magazines. “Maxine comes from the South,” the costume designer says. “Her style is not as evolved as Evelyn's per se, who's been in a richer environment for a longer period of time [and] had access to travel in Europe and European designers.” At the center of Maxine’s look is her buoyant, blonde curls. Maxine rotated between six or seven wigs that were constantly being treated, brushed, and set to appear “real and fabulous but not too wiggy.” 

“I always wanted her hair to move but hold the curl, which is sometimes hard to do, but my wigs made it easier and fun to help create.” Kristen Wiig’s double role in the show—playing both Maxine and her slightly villainous twin sister—pushed the department's logistical limits. "Kristen had six different wigs and many extra hairpieces to achieve all her looks," Bartek notes. "Sometimes three looks in a single shoot day."

Custom wig makers Natasha Ladek and Rob Pickens—the latter of whom was in charge of Marjorie (Patti Lupone) and Evelyn (Allison Janney)—created the majority of the show’s wigs by measuring each actor’s head. For the episode "Maxine Unwrecks a Home," Maxine’s wig is styled into a half-up, half-down look taken from “1960s youthful fun looks” inspired by Sharon Tate and other American starlets. In contrast, Mitzi’s inspiration in season two came from Brigitte Bardot’s signature updo looks and Bartek created a new array of styles to “suit her character moving up the social ladder and living in the Delacorte home.” 

For the episode "Maxine Plays Dead," Mitzi's updo was shaped by that same well of French New Wave references. And for the season finale's wedding scene, the challenge was to match the grandeur of the moment. "Her wedding look was inspired by a combination of the fabulous veil from Alix and many '60s photos of updos. We used a great hairpiece to help with the volume." 

Not every character in Palm Royale's orbit subscribes to its high society rules. For Linda’s (Laura Dern) distinctly looser look, Bartek credits on-set hairstylist Freda Aradottir. "They discussed the character and came up with her silky look based on Jane Birkin from the '60s. She was a rebel and had her hippy style to try not to buy into the high society she was raised in.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum sits Evelyn, whose hair serves as a monument to excess. Hairstylist Jill Crosby engineered some of the season's most technically astonishing looks for the character, sometimes stacking two or three wigs on top of one another to achieve the required height and drama. "I think Evelyn wins for best hairpieces,” Bartek says, describing how the intricacy of the character’s pieces were designed to match the psychology of the character.