Dolly Parton at 80: Beauty Experts Share How She Redefined What Aging Looks Like
Dolly Parton is on the cusp of turning 80, and her iconic appearance still inspires look-alike contests. Parton has been wearing blonde wigs and rhinestoned jumpsuits for decades, and experts say she has helped redefine what aging looks like. Her consistent look has kept Parton relevant and influential after a lifetime in the music industry.
Dolly Parton’s look is still influential after years in the industry
Parton will celebrate her 80th birthday on Jan. 19, 2026. In her decades in the music industry, Parton has stayed true to her bold and bedazzled style. Danielle Louise, a hair and beauty expert on the Fresha app, said that Parton’s look remains iconic because, instead of trying to chase relevance, she built her own version of it. Now that she is approaching 80, Parton’s look highlights a shift in the way we view aging in modern beauty culture.
“At 80, beauty stops being about correction,” Louise tells Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “Dolly Parton is proof that when you fully own your look, it becomes timeless. Her hair, makeup, and style aren’t about age — they’re about identity.”
Louise noted that part of what makes Parton’s look so influential is its consistency.
“That consistency is incredibly powerful,” she explained. “It removes pressure. Dolly knows exactly who she is, and her beauty routine supports that rather than trying to modernize or minimize her.”
She pointed to Parton’s confidence as she ages, noting that it gives people of any age a powerful lesson. People don’t need to abandon bold looks as they age, and hair and beauty routines should serve to give a person confidence, not hide their age.
“Dolly shows that beauty doesn’t have a cut-off point,” Louise added. “When your look reflects who you are, it becomes ageless.”
Louise noted that Parton remains influential because she has “stayed visible, playful, and proud” for years.
Dolly Parton shared how she developed her iconic look
Parton has known how she wanted to look since she was a child. A woman in her hometown had a similar look to the one she’s embraced, and Parton wanted to be her.
“I really patterned my look after the town tramp in our hometown, the trollop,” Parton said on The Oprah Conversation. “The one that would kind of walk up and down the streets, get in a car, ride off for a few minutes, come back and get in another car.”
She patterned her lifelong look after the woman.
“I didn’t know anything about that part then,” Parton said. “I just knew she was beautiful. She had all this beautiful blonde hair, red lipstick and makeup, tight short skirts and high heel shoes. I just thought she was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, so I kind of patterned my look after that. I always loved the Frederick’s of Hollywood magazines. That was just kind of to me how I felt, like I wanted to look.”
She said she feels like her natural appearance would disappoint people
Very few people have seen Parton without her wigs and makeup. She said that this is extremely intentional on her behalf.
“See, that’s my gimmick,” she said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “Me without my wig would be like Liberace in overalls. The public has come to expect me to look a certain way, whether it’s in style or not.”
She sees her public self as a character, and her look reflects that.
“They don’t want to see me in faded jeans, braless, with no makeup and my hair combed straight back,” she explained. “It’d be a letdown to ’em, although I often look that way at home. That’s not the character they’ve come to know.”
