I do think BC was going for a retro vibe with them. It works well, both for his personality and for the movie he was promoting.
I never heard Geheimratsecken before! Now I looked it up and it's apparently also called Ministerwinkel. I guess it's supposed to look distinguished? I don't even know if there's a special word for that specific pattern of hair loss (or hair thinning) in English. German is particular!