Why the ‘Franklin’ Hair and Makeup Designer Embraced All That Is ‘Completely Absurd’

If Coco Chanel in the 20th century famously encouraged people to look in the mirror and take off at least one thing before leaving the house, it’s safe to assume that the aristocrats of late 18th-century France gazed into several mirrors and piled on more hair ribbons, more feathers, more face powder, more rouge, more jewels, more more. 

The style of the Ancien Régime under King Louis XVI was extravagance to the point of ridiculousness: Members of the nobility covered their faces with...