Dolly Parton Wants This ’70s Trend to Come Back in Style

Dolly Parton’s out-of-the-box style has been part of her appeal since she rose to superstardom in the ’70s. The “Jolene” singer is rarely without her rhinestones, wig, and stilettos. While her look doesn’t follow current fashion trends, she does want to see one type of look make a comeback. Parton shared her all-time favorite ’70s style and why she’ll never stop wearing it. 

Dolly Parton has always had a unique sense of style

Parton took steps to enhance her look from a young age. She didn’t like her appearance and hoped that she could change the way she looked with makeup and fashion.

“I was an ugly little ol’ young-un,” she told Vanity Fair. “I used to overhear people saying, ‘Look at that little ugly tabbyheaded young-un. She don’t even look like one of Lee and Avie Lee’s kids.’ I think I always felt inadequate.”

Parton used matchsticks and berries for makeup and tried to emulate the era’s biggest stars.

“She was always intrigued by Marilyn Monroe,” her sister Stella said. “She also liked Jayne Mansfield and Mae West. She’d sneak into a bathing suit and I’d take pictures of her. She’d like to pretend she was Rita Hayworth too.”

There’s one ’70s trend Dolly Parton wants to make a comeback

Parton’s look is uniquely her own. She doesn’t follow trends, instead choosing to wear what she likes whenever she wants. Because of this, she doesn’t have to worry about styles making a comeback. Still, there’s one ’70s look that she wants others to start wearing again: big hair and bell bottoms.

Parton explained that as ’70s fashion comes back in style, she’s most eager to see people dust off this look.

“I will always have big hair and bell bottoms,” she told InStyle. “They never did go out of style with me, because I’m not one of those people who thinks I have to follow trends. I just wear what feels comfortable for me. I’ve got clothes that I’ve been wearing for 40 years. Certain pieces, certain jeans, shirts, blouses.”

She said that she’s already seeing people embrace the style.

“I’ve always loved bell bottoms and everybody used to laugh at me, and I said, ‘Oh trust me, it will come back,’” she said. “And sure enough, it has.”

She has never listened to anyone who tells her to tone down her looks

Parton’s style has been the subject of many jokes ever since she became a public figure. It hasn’t impacted her career, but she said that those around her worried it would. Her mentor Chet Atkins once told her that she needed to tone her look down.

“Dolly, you need to tone it down,” he told Parton, per Elle. “You’re wearing too much makeup. You need to have a little more taste. People are never going to take you serious[ly] as a songwriter and singer. I know you’re great at that, but people are just going to look at you like it’s all about the body.”

Parton ignored the advice. The style is a part of her that she can’t turn off.

“I look totally artificial, but I am totally real, as a writer, as a professional, as a human being,” she said. “A rhinestone shines just as good as a diamond.”