Entertainment News5 min(s) read
Dolly Parton became just as famous for her unmistakable appearance as she was for her music and charity work before she passed away on Tuesday, aged 80.
The country music legend spent decades embracing a deliberately glamorous style featuring huge blonde wigs, figure-hugging outfits, sparkling embellishments and towering heels.
In past interviews, Parton herself joked about being described as a fashion icon.
“I always laugh when I get called a fashion icon,” she told Vogue.
“I’m more of an eyesore! Only because I overdo it.”
Whether fans see her look as outrageous or iconic, there is no denying that Parton created one of the most recognizable celebrity styles of all time.
Her fashion journey was explored in her book Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, which looked at some of the most memorable outfits she has worn throughout her career.
For Parton, the book wasn't simply a collection of photographs of her clothes. Looking through the pages brought back memories of her life and career.
“When I turned the pages, it was like turning the pages of my life,” she admitted.
The book features some of her most extravagant looks, including outfits created by designers such as Bob Mackie, Ann Roth and Lucy Adams.
Parton also admitted that revisiting some of her old outfits made her laugh.
“I had a lot of laughs looking at those pictures, thinking, ‘Oh my Lord, was I serious about that?’” she recalled. “At the time, I felt like I really looked good in everything that I had on.”
Speaking to Vogue, Parton also revealed some of the principles that have shaped her distinctive style - including the surprising reason she eventually became so committed to wearing wigs.
Parton says she was drawn to bold fashion from a young age, even when she didn't have much money to spend on clothes.
“I was always a little bit flamboyant, even before I could afford to buy clothes,” she explained.
Once she could choose her own outfits, she gravitated towards bright colours and tight-fitting clothes, deliberately looking for styles that were different from what everyone else was wearing.
“I always [toed] the line, and sometimes I was willing to cross it in order to look how I wanted to look,” she claimed.
Parton's fashion influences weren't necessarily the people you might expect.
As a child in Tennessee, she was fascinated by a local woman whom she described as the town's “tramp.”
“I thought she was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen,” Parton claimed.
The woman had peroxide-blonde hair, red lipstick and nails, high heels and tight skirts, all things that made a lasting impression on the young Parton.
She even found creative ways to recreate glamorous beauty looks when she couldn't afford conventional products.
“I was a creative child, so I would find ways to make those things possible – using a burned matchstick for eyebrows or eyeliner, or mashed-up honeysuckle for perfume.”
Parton says keeping up with fashion trends was never particularly important to her.
“I never cared what other people did, and I never cared what other people said about what I wore,” she admitted.
She also admitted that fashion simply wasn't something she had the money or time to obsess over while growing up.
“I couldn’t afford to be fashionable, and I wasn’t smart enough to follow those trends – nor did I have the time to do it,” she explained.
“I was more interested in my music and in my work.”
Parton is also very conscious of choosing clothes that complement her shape.
“I’m short and I’m kind of curvy, so I can’t just wear things that a big, tall person would wear,” she said.
Rather than trying to follow a particular style, she focuses on emphasising the features she likes most.
“I try to accent my positive things – and try to stay away from the negative ones.”
She explained that her small waist and fuller bust influence the materials and silhouettes she chooses.
“If I have too much stuff going on up top, then it’s just too overwhelming,” she claimed.
Parton's enormous blonde wigs have become one of her defining features, but there is actually a practical reason she started wearing them.
Her first hairstylist, Colleen Owens, introduced her to hairpieces that could be added to natural hair to create extra volume.
Owens eventually introduced Parton to wigs, and the singer quickly fell in love with them.
“The wigs were wearing me – I wasn’t wearing the wig!” Parton joked.
But there was a much more practical reason she decided to stick with them.
Parton realised that repeatedly bleaching, teasing and styling her natural hair was damaging it.
“I started wearing wigs because I quickly realised that bleaching and teasing my hair every day would cause breakage and not look good,” she explained.
Wigs also gave her an easy way to change her appearance without constantly subjecting her own hair to damaging treatments.
“It was handy to have several looks that I could just choose from, and never have a bad hair day.”
And when it comes to the size of those wigs, Parton has never believed in doing things by halves.
“It was always the bigger, the better.”
