You recognized her silhouette first: the voluminous blonde coiffure, the sharp acrylic talons, the perfectly lined coral lips. The legend that was Dolly Parton had a look that she’d maintained since her early days on cable television in the 1960s. Parton—who has died at 80 years old, according to a statement released by her family—made her name on the country circuit as a kid, performing on local Tennessee radio and television stations.
When she was 12 she met Johnny Cash at the Grande Ole Opry, and he convinced her to pursue her dreams. Parton was, without question, an iconic recording artist, songwriter, philantrophist, raconteur. But one thing she long rejected was her status 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.”
Nevertheless, her outfit archive was undeniably the stuff of country-glam legend.
And, in a cultural landscape now littered with artists attempting to package their careers into neatly defined “eras,” there was something especially pleasing about her consistency. In honor of the performer’s legendary life—and unmistakable style—revisit some pivotal moments in her early career. Dolly Rebecca Parton at roughly 10 years old. NASHVILLE – 1965: Country singer Dolly Parton poses for a portrait in 1965 in Nashville, Tennessee.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/ Dolly loves flowers,
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/ Dolly loves flowers, describing them as “little rays of sunshine.” She famously adores roses—so much so that a species has been named after her. (Look up the Dolly Parton Tea Rose!)
Country singer Dolly Parton and her collaborator Porter Wagoner perform onstage in circa 1967. Mr. Wagoner is wearing a Nudie Suit designed by Nudie Cohn of Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/ Dolly was seven when she first began playing on a homemade guitar. The following year, an uncle bought her a real one. Though Dolly was releasing music from the age of 19, her label initially pitched her as a cheesy pop singer, and her songs didn’t see much success. It wasn’t until she convinced them to let her release country music two years later that she began to chart
Country singer Dolly Parton poses for a portrait, circa 1970. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/ Jane Fonda Lily Tomlin Dolly Parton in formal dress. They were in “9 to 5”; circa 1970; New York. (Photo by Art Zelin/ UNSPECIFIED – JANUARY 01: Photo of Dolly PARTON (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns) American actress, singer and songwriter Dolly Parton, circa 1975
(Photo by Silver Screen Collection/ Dolly sSnapping
(Photo by Silver Screen Collection/ Dolly sSnapping a pic at Heathrow Airport before performing at the International Festival of Country Music at Wembley in 1976. CIRCA 1974: Country singer Dolly Parton poses for a portrait in circa 1974. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/ Posing in an ad for Hercules Tyres. Dolly with her co-star Sylvester Stallone at the premiere of their musical comedy Rhinestone in 1984
Portrait of Dolly Parton at the Holiday Inn in Chicago, Illinois, April 30, 1977. (Photo by Paul Natkin/ On the Phil Donahue show promoting her latest album, New Harvest… First Gathering in 1977. Dolly was a kid when she discovered her beauty muse. “There was this one woman, I thought she was beautiful and, you know, she had the peroxide hair and she had it all piled up on her head and had red fingernails and red lipstick and, you know, wore her powder
And I just thought she was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. And Mama said, ‘Oh, quit looking at her. She ain’t nothing but trash’. And I thought, ‘Ooh, that’s what I want to be when I grow up—trash.’”
On the set of her variety show, Dolly, in 1987. The show’s premiere in 1987 attracted 39 million viewers—the largest audience for any television series premiere at the time.
“After you reach a certain age, they think you’re over. Well, I will never be over. I’ll be making records if I have to sell them out of the trunk of my car. I’ve done that in my past, and I’d do it again.”
Source: www.vogue.com
