Iconic country superstar Dolly Parton has been making music since the 1960s. She’s recognized by her signature look, but does she wear a wig?
Dolly Parton doesn’t always wear wigs in her daily life, but they have become a distinctive part of her style. She’s been open about her use of different wigs, which allow her to get ready quickly and complement her look, and she has an enormous collection.
Read on to learn more about Dolly’s hair evolution, her infectious personality, and what lies beneath her wigs.
Opting for Fake Tresses
Though Dolly Parton is now never seen in public without one of her many wigs, the country star didn’t always wear fake hair.
Dolly used to style her hair excessively, to the point where all the bleaching, straightening, curling, and teasing had damaged her hair dramatically. She also couldn’t get it to look the way she wanted. Dolly wanted to find an alternative and wigs provided the perfect solution.
AnOther Magazine reported that Dolly once said “my own hair is so flat and fine. I could never make it do anything – that’s why I wear wigs. I think God gave me talent cos he screwed up my hair.”
As well as giving Dolly more freedom with her look, wearing wigs means considerably less time getting ready. She told Elle, “wigs are just so handy. I’m so busy, and I have so many choices. I never have a bad hair day, and that’s a good thing”.
Whilst she began wearing wigs as an alternative to further damaging her hair, Dolly revealed that her eye-catching hairstyle came to be a conversation starter and so she decided to keep them.
Whilst Dolly thinks she looks her best when wearing wigs, even going so far as to say of herself that she’s not a “natural beauty”, she was encouraged to tone down her appearance when she started out in the industry in order to be taken seriously.
Dolly, however, stayed true to herself, resolving that she wouldn’t be separated from her style and that it was up to others to recognize the value of her work.
Underneath the Country Glamor
If you’re curious about what Dolly’s hair looks like underneath the glamor, you’ll struggle to find any photo evidence, even from early photos.
She never leaves her house without her hair and makeup done to perfection and even her business manager has never seen her without her “full-regalia”.
Nevertheless, Dolly reportedly keeps her natural hair the same color, and has done for years, and her hair falls a little below her shoulders.
Though inseparable from her wigs in public, Dolly told Elle “I don’t always wear them in my daily life, but I always still pouf up my hair. I still like to have that flashy hair”. She added that she still likes to do her best with her hair, though it’s still a struggle to get it to cooperate.
Larger-Than-Life
Like her hair, Dolly is larger-than-life and is all about staying true to herself. A large part of her public appeal is her down-to-earth persona and her ability to spread happiness through her music and lyrics.
She’s not without her insecurities, and has discussed her worry that people would be disappointed if they saw her natural look after all this time, explaining that she puts a lot of effort into maintaining her style.
However, Dolly 100% knows her worth, with and without the wigs, and insists, “I look totally artificial, but I am totally real, as a writer, as a professional, as a human being. A rhinestone shines just as good as a diamond”.
Watch Dolly Parton discuss her wigs with Jimmy Fallon in the YouTube video below.