Dolly Parton Revealed the Clothing Item Her Husband Carl Dean Loved to See Her Wearing
Dolly Parton wore thousands of eye-catching outfits during her lifetime, but there was one in particular that stood out to her husband, Carl Dean. According to Parton, she held on to a clothing item for years because Dean liked it so much. He often asked her to wear it.
Dolly Parton said her husband Carl Dean loved one of her clothing items
Parton said that she dressed more casually around the house. Still, she had home clothes that made a statement. She said that she once owned a pair of red hot pants.
“I used to have a pair of red velvet hot pants back when hot pants were in style,” she told CNN during a 2023 interview. “I mean, a thousand years ago.”
Dean loved the pants and frequently requested that Parton wear them. She said she hung on to them just for him.
“He loved those pants, and he’d often say, ‘Where’s your red velvet hot pants?’ And so I wore those for years just on request, of course.”
Dolly Parton shared what she loved about Carl Dean
Parton admitted that she and Dean were very different. Still, they fit together well, and remained married for decades. She shared what she loved about him.
“[I love] his honesty. His decency. His earthiness,” she told Playboy in 1978, per the book Dolly on Dolly. “I like the way he loves me. His understanding of me and the things I do. The way he lets me be free. And lets me be me. He don’t try to choke me and demand anything from me.”
Dean supported her career while staying resolutely out of the spotlight himself. She said that she said the relationship meant everything to her.
“He knows I ain’t goin’ nowhere. No matter who I met or what kind of an affair I might ever have, ain’t nobody in this world could take Carl’s place,” she said. “There ain’t no way in this world I’d ever lose this man.”
Her stylist spoke about dressing her
Parton’s red velvet hot pants were one of many, many items in her wardrobe. Her longtime stylist, Steve Summers, said Parton needed clothes for all of her various ventures.
“Designing for Dolly is great, because there are so many [Dollys],” he told Vogue. “I’ve got the philanthropist, the singer, the actress, the theme park owner. The canvas is always very broad.”
He added that he and his team typically made 300 custom outfits for Parton every year.
“There is an outfit in production every single day,” he said. “If she’s doing personal appearances, 10 outfits in a day is not unusual.”
In his years working with Parton, Summers said her personal style changed very little.
“She’s been very specific throughout her entire career. She wears what she likes, and what she feels comfortable in,” he said. “The great thing about working with Dolly is she doesn’t follow fashion trends at all; Her style hasn’t changed that much over the years.”
