Leave it to Dolly Parton to breeze through a wardrobe malfunction without missing a beat
In honor of Dollywood’s 40th anniversary, the iconic Backwoods Barbie spoke to Southern Living for a cover story where she posed in a lineup of her signature waist-snatching looks — including one so snug she had to be stitched into it.
“I popped a zipper, and they had to sew me in,” she told journalist Rick Bragg of the styling mishap that led to the last-minute sewing job. “They may have to cut me out.”
When she arrived on set, Parton, 78, looked as gorgeous as ever in one of her many platinum-blonde wigs. “You’re so little,” Bragg recalled, to which the Grammy-winner quipped: “All but my boobs and my hair.”
Related: Dolly Parton’s Grandfather ‘Whipped’ Her Over Wardrobe Choices
Not everyone has always been a fan of Dolly Parton’s glamorous style. The country music icon, 77, recalled receiving physical and verbal punishment from her grandfather for modeling her now-famous look after the local “town tramp” while growing up in Tennessee. “I’m very sensitive, I didn’t like being disciplined,” she revealed in an interview with […]
The queen of Country music cut a glamorous figure in a denim body-con dress emblazoned with rhinestone butterflies and crystal studs all over, which also decorated the front of her acoustic guitar. Just as eye catching was the red, white and blue shadow that was swept across her lids.
In another shot, she rocked silver spangly culottes with a studded and bleached denim jacket styled solo, like a top, emphasizing her world-famous waistline.
It’s that kind of commitment to aesthetics that led some to believe the (false) rumor that she had a rib removed to achieve her record-breaking measurements. She set the record straight in a 2014 interview with Woman’s Day, saying, “[My] waist is little because nothing grows in the shade!”
Perhaps her second biggest, ahem, asset is her collection of wigs, like the fluffed and curled bottle-blonde coif the country music star wore on the cover of Southern Living. (Fun fact: Parton has previously said she has at least 365 wigs into her glam room — one for every day of the year, naturally.)
Related: Dolly Parton’s Honest Quotes About Plastic Surgery Through The Years
Dolly Parton may be one of country music’s biggest stars, but it’s not just her songs that have made headlines through the years. “People say, ‘How you stay looking so young?’” Parton told BBC Newsnight in 2019. “I say, ‘Well, good lighting, good doctors and good makeup.’” The “9 to 5” singer has been candid […]
Still, underneath the wigs, makeup and the shape-shifting wardrobe, Parton revealed that now and then she has moments where she feels like she’s playing dress-up in somebody else’s clothes.
“I think I’m a star to everybody but me,” she said. “I always wanted to be famous, but nobody could have thought of the extent it became. I’ll see a whole wall of my pictures somewhere, and I’ll wonder, ‘How did that happen?’ It’s more a joy than a surprise.”
The January/February issue of Southern Living hits newsstands on January 17, and is available on SouthernLiving.com.
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