Dolly Parton Breaks Down 11 Looks From 1975 to Now | Life in Looks | Vogue

Hi Vogue, it's Dolly and today I'm excited to be sharing my life in looks. I have never thought of myself as being fashionable. I'll just tell you what I know about how I look and why I look that way. This is the Jolene album cover from 1974. Well actually this was a great time in my life because I was just about to have one of the biggest hits I've ever had. That was the song Jolene. Of course I did a whole album called Jolene. The designer for the outfit was Lucy Adams, a lady that sewed my clothes in Nashville. She and Ruth Kemp were the ones that kind of kept me going in those very early days. We did different poses on stools and laying in the floor and sitting and squatting and all that. So this particular little jumpsuit, because it was so movable, was actually really good and I always loved puffy sleeves. I kind of felt comfortable in this whole little outfit. Well this one of course was my first big cross over record. This is the cover from the Here You Come Again album. I might have put this together myself. It's just a shirt with a knot tied in my belly and a pair of blue jeans. But that big old puffy hair, I would imagine somebody probably said, won't you do kind of like a little Marilyn look? Marilyn Manson more like it. But anyhow, I was so hoping that this particular record, Here You Come Again, was going to be a hit because all of my fans in country, a lot of the people in the business were saying, Dolly, you're making a big mistake. You don't need to leave country music. I said, I'm not leaving country. I'll take country with me wherever I go because I am country. But I was so happy when Here You Come Again became my first million selling record. So every picture and everything to do with Oh, yay, yay. This was 1980. This was the premiere of 9 to 5. I was with Jane and Lily. And of course that was such an exciting time in my life. That was the first movie that I had ever been part of. I'd never even seen a movie made until that time. And I even memorized the whole script thinking that they just did it like a play where you had to know your lines. That's just because I'm a dumb country hick. But that's okay. I got to dress up like I was a city girl in this. And I never really thought about being fashionable. I just always wore things that fit me. But I knew that for something as big as a premiere, I thought that I needed to be fancy. And I didn't know how to do that. So Anne Roth, who designed the all the clothes for 9 to 5, I asked her to do a dress for me. And she did. I thought it was a beautiful dress. I remember feeling really pretty. And I felt like that I was well dressed and not half assed like sometimes you are. And I just remember that was probably the first time I probably had ever really felt like that I was fashionable. Well, this was the Rhinestone premiere and we were certainly dressed up nice. I'm sure that dress was also designed by the person that designed all the clothes for the movie. I remember thinking I have to look good because Stallone was hotter than Dooley at that time. I knew he'd be dressed to the nines because he really goes all out with everything he does. So I tried to look my dolly best. But although this movie was not a big hit, it was a big hit with me because I had the best time. Months before that, I'd had some health problems and I'd been out of work for a while. This was my first time back to do any major things. And so Stallone, he is such a crazy person. He is so funny and so out there that he really lifted my spirits. And I wrote some of the best songs that I've ever written for that movie. So it just depends on how you look at success. This is a picture from 1987. I had a variety show that was on for a while and Oprah Winfrey had come to do the show. I've been on her show often and I'd ask her if she'd come be on my show. And she said, well, you know, I can't sing. I said, oh, everybody can sing a little. So anyway, she was a good sport and she came on. We had a choir and everything behind us and we sang a little bit. And I remember us loving our outfits. This was designed by Tony Chase. He did all the costumes for my entire variety show. So this was one of my favorite little dresses. He was big and tall. He was always trying to put me in all these clothes, had these big old shoulders and all this stuff that were so fashionable. I said, Tony, just kind of tone it down a little. Ain't nothing big about me but my mouth and my boobs. How you think I looked? That's what I thought. This picture was from 1988. This is from a Christmas at home special I did. Oh, this is great. Well, of course, you can't go wrong with a choir. When I wear white, I always feel like I'm singing to God. But I also always love Christmas. So always dress in the season. I have all my sweaters with the bells and the holly and the Christmas trees. So every day from like Christmas Eve till New Year's, I'll wear my Christmas clothes. And by the way, I have a new Christmas album called A Holly Dolly Christmas. What else? Coming out this very season. So I'm going to be doing a lot of shows and I'll be wearing a lot of white, red and greens. And I've got clothes already prepared for that. Well, hey, this one's from 1989. This was also designed by Tony Chase. All the clothes I wore that night were designed by Tony Chase, except the little skits I did that I kind of had to wear little clothes that they had. But I was hosting the show and I was also the musical guest. And my look is not easy. I don't just go put on a shirt to do something. I have to totally tear it all down, take the hair off, take the clothes off, get it all on. And I mean, I was a nervous wreck and I was worn to a frazzle before that show was over. But I had some of the greatest costumes on that. This is me in 2005 with Elton John on the CMA show. I had recorded an album and I did this song, Imagine, the Beatles song. And he was nice enough to come sing on that song with me. And of course, I was trying to dress and look like Elton John. And he was trying to look like somebody else, I guess, at that time. He was dressing down and I was dressing up. I look kind of like little Lord, what is that, Fauntleroy, little Lord Fauntleroy, kind of freely and all that. Well, I know that I always like to wear a lot of makeup, more than probably I should wear. But I think more is more. And whoever made up that less is more is full of it. Well, this is me at the Kennedy Center for the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006. And I was very proud to be part of that because that is a very prestigious thing. I remember all these stars there and all these wonderful artists that were singing my songs and they were making a big deal over me. And I was very honored, very flattered, of course. But I remember loving this dress that Robert did. My hair looked especially good and that was Cheryl Riddle that did that hair. But this one was a very special night for me and I wanted to look special and feel special. And I did. Well, this is 2014 and I was at Glastonbury Festival. I was a little scared to go to the festival because I thought they're not going to know who I am. They're not going to like my music. And it turned out to be one of the greatest things I've ever done. And this outfit was a big success with me too. Steve Summers designed this wonderful outfit because I love to work in pants. But these pants kind of have a gauzy see-through neck, legs. And I sit on the stool a lot. I'm up and down. So it's hard for me to work in a glamorous dress. So Steve designed this outfit that had all the glamour of a dress but all the good ways that I could move about and make it still look glamorous and durable. So this was a wonderful outfit and this was a wonderful day. All those people out there, I mean, I don't know how many, a couple hundred thousand people, biggest crowd I've ever worked to. And they seemed to like me. This is 2019 at the Grammys. I had been honored for Music Cares the night before. And Molly Cyrus, who is my goddaughter and I love. I've known her since she was a tiny little baby. She was singing with me that night on one of my songs. We felt very pretty. She was dressed in, I don't know who designed hers, but mine was Steve Somers. Billy Ray and I, her dad, were friends early on. But Molly also loves my songs. And she's recorded Jolene. And that's one of her songs that she has in all her shows. So because of her, when she was young on Hannah Montana, I've kind of gathered all this whole new generation of young fans. I really credit Molly a lot for some of my younger fans and a lot of the new generation of girls that know her, that know she, knows me. It is kind of like a wonderful little connection I have with Molly and Billy Ray. They're like family to me. Okay, thank you Vogue for having me on and for allowing me to kind of lead you back through all the things in my life. Not all, but some of the highlights of them. I've had a wonderful life and I thank all of you out there for making that happen. And I thank Vogue for letting me kind of share that with you again. So Merry Christmas everybody. Go buy my album. I need the money because I need to buy some fashionable clothes.