Franklin (2024)

I was all set to ignore Franklin (2024), the bio-series currently airing on Apple TV, because Michael Douglas? As Benjamin Franklin? And then I saw a photo of the women’s wigs.

The story is based on the real-life visit of Franklin to Paris and Versailles in the late 1770s/early 1780s and chronicles his attempts to gain the support of the French monarchy for the American Revolution. He travels with his grandson, charms the French, has affairs, etc. It’s not glorious, but it’s not bad, if you ignore how little Michael Douglas looks like Franklin, long hair notwithstanding (they couldn’t have given him a paunch?).

The costumes were designed by Olivier Bériot (The Libertine, Le roi danse, Fanfan, Bandidas, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec), and according to director Tim Van Patten:

“The whole idea was not to make this feel like a dry history piece, a proscenium piece. It was really to feel interactive. The place was a character. So, we went to great lengths, and our production designer, Dan Weil, and our costume designer, Olivier Bériot, and makeup and hair, Alessandro Bertolazzi, this is where we landed. The makeup, the powder, the rouge, the rawness of it, the ill-fitting wigs at times, all give you a window into what the world actually felt like. They did a lot of research to really establish the social classes and cue the show up to the audience so that they could have a thoroughly immersive experience” (Tim Van Patten Lived in ‘Franklin’s World for Over Two Years).

Of course Franklin and his grandson are dressed plainly in comparison to the French:

Although grandson starts hanging at the court and dresses up to match:

Some of the women’s wear is perfect, some is slightly weird:

Alessandro Bertolazzi (Queen of the Desert, Ophelia, Christopher Robin, The King, Cyrano) is responsible for the hair and wigs. According to IndieWire, he “used around 400 extensions, pieces, and switches to create the most baroque flourishes of Ancien Regime France” and “had to do extensive research on the late 1700s for period-specific techniques, materials, and wigs” (Teasing Out What Makes a Great Wig).

Most of the women are in huge, frizzy or curly styles that modern costumers call “hedgehog” but in the period was initially the “coiffure à l’enfant” and later had many different names.

However, a few background people had randomly smaller hair:

And while yes, Marie-Antoinette was a natural strawberry blonde, any shade of red was totally unfashionable in the era, so why she’s going around all fire red/wig color #130, I don’t know:

Also, there was one character who was always wearing slightly earlier, tall styles, with lots of decoration in them:

I could nitpick and point out that tall hair lady is actually appropriate (minus the face-eating) for the period when Franklin arrives in France (1776), so I’ll go ahead and do that:

For the men, they got a lot right, from the short on top/side rolls/long in back to the varieties of height in terms of the hair on top. They also got that most men were wearing wigs that looked like wigs and had an obvious line around the face:

MOST importantly, however, THERE IS A BOSTON TERRIER IN THIS SERIES. Named “Pipou.” It’s completely anachronistic — Boston terriers weren’t developed until the early 20th century in the U.S. But as a former mom to two Bostons, I squeed nonetheless.

And to prove to Trystan that I do love all critters, there is also a cat. Named Marc Antony. Who is very floofy:

Have you seen Franklin? What are you thinking about the costumes?