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19 Vintage Photos of a Young Dolly Parton

Smiling woman in a wide-brim hat and plaid shirt outdoors, hands on hips, looking to the side.

American actress, singer and songwriter Dolly Parton, circa 1975. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)Photo: Getty Images

You recognized her silhouette first: the voluminous blonde coiffure, the sharp acrylic talons, the perfectly lined coral lips. The legend that was Dolly Parton had a look that she’d maintained since her early days on cable television in the 1960s.

Parton—who has died at 80 years old, according to a statement released by her family—made her name on the country circuit as a kid, performing on local Tennessee radio and television stations. When she was 12 she met Johnny Cash at the Grande Ole Opry, and he convinced her to pursue her dreams.

Parton was, without question, an iconic recording artist, songwriter, philantrophist, raconteur. But one thing she long rejected was her status as a fashion icon. “I always laugh when I get called a fashion icon,” she told Vogue. “I’m more of an eyesore! Only because I overdo it.”

Nevertheless, her outfit archive was undeniably the stuff of country-glam legend. And, in a cultural landscape now littered with artists attempting to package their careers into neatly defined “eras,” there was something especially pleasing about her consistency.

In honor of the performer’s legendary life—and unmistakable style—revisit some pivotal moments in her early career.

  • Smiling boy with short, wavy hair wearing a striped shirt, arms crossed on a table against a dark background (black-and-white photo).
    Photo: Getty Images
    1/19

    Dolly Rebecca Parton at roughly 10 years old.

     

  • Black-and-white portrait of a smiling woman with a large retro bouffant hairstyle in a vintage vibe.
    Photo: Getty Images
    2/19

    Dolly has been frank about her use of wigs, having realized early on that they were a great way to “never have a bad hair day.”

     

  • Smiling woman with blonde curly hair wearing a floral lace dress, standing near a wooden lattice outdoors.
    Photo: Getty Images
    3/19

    Dolly loves flowers, describing them as “little rays of sunshine.” She famously adores roses—so much so that a species has been named after her. (Look up the Dolly Parton Tea Rose!)

     

  • Black-and-white photo of Dolly Parton singing beside Porter Wagoner, who plays an acoustic guitar on stage.
    Photo: Getty Images
    4/19

    Dolly and Porter Wagoner (pictured) had an interesting relationship. They were collaborators—he invited Dolly onto his show as a musical guest in 1967, where she eventually became a regular. He ended up having a large financial stake in Parton’s career as it took off, causing friction in their partnership. Dolly wrote “I Will Always Love You” about Wagoner.

     

  • Female singer with long curly blonde hair, performing on stage with an acoustic guitar and microphone.
    Photo: Getty Images
    5/19

    Dolly was seven when she first began playing on a homemade guitar. The following year, an uncle bought her a real one.

    Dolly was seven when she first began playing on a homemade guitar. The following year, an uncle bought her a real one.

     

  • Smiling blonde woman in a floral headscarf and denim jacket, surrounded by ivy leaves outdoors.
    Photo: Getty Images
    6/19

    Though Dolly was releasing music from the age of 19, her label initially pitched her as a cheesy pop singer, and her songs didn’t see much success. It wasn’t until she convinced them to let her release country music two years later that she began to chart.

     

  • Black-and-white close-up portrait of a smiling blonde woman with hoop earrings and voluminous curls in a studio setting.
    Photo: Getty Images
    7/19

    Posing for a portrait circa 1970.

     

  • Three drag queens in glamorous gowns posing together at a dim party venue.
    Photo: Getty Images
    8/19

    Hanging out with her friends and 9 to 5 co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin at the film’s premiere in 1980. Parton enlisted the film’s costume designer, Ann Roth, to make her a dress for the red carpet. “I remember feeling really pretty,” she told Vogue. “That was probably the first time that I ever felt fashionable.”

     

  • Female singer with long platinum blonde hair in a pale pink studded dress, holding a guitar on stage with a smile.
    Photo: Getty Images
    9/19

    “I’m short and I’m kind of curvy, so I can’t just wear things that a big, tall person would wear,” Dolly told Vogue in 2023. “I try to accent my positive things—and try to stay away from the negative ones.”

     

  • Smiling woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat and plaid shirt outdoors.
    Photo: Getty Images
    10/19

    At home in Sevierville, Tennessee, a young Dolly would rifle through Sears catalogues, developing “a country girl’s idea of what glamour was.”

     

  • Woman in patterned dress wearing a large crocheted shawl, arms raised in a joyful pose outdoors in an urban setting.
    Photo: Getty Images
    11/19

    Dolly sSnapping a pic at Heathrow Airport before performing at the International Festival of Country Music at Wembley in 1976.

     

  • Black-and-white photo of a smiling woman with voluminous blonde curls, wearing a sparkly black outfit, seated on a wooden bench outside.
    Photo: Getty Images
    12/19

    “I feel pretty in a heel,” Dolly once told Vogue. “I loved high heels before I even knew I was going to be short. I wear heels every day. I have them custom made.”

     

  • Woman with big blonde hair in a light blue outfit stands among large tires in front of a Hercules Tires sign.
    Photo: Getty Images
    13/19

    Posing in an ad for Hercules Tyres.

     

  • Celebrity couple on a red carpet; woman in a white gown with platinum curls and clutch, man in a black tuxedo beside her.
    Photo: Getty Images
    14/19

    Dolly with her co-star Sylvester Stallone at the premiere of their musical comedy Rhinestone in 1984.

     

  • Smiling woman with voluminous platinum blonde hair wearing a red top and blue denim jacket by a window.
    Photo: Getty Images
    15/19

    “People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know, I’m never there.”

     

  • Male singer in a light suit sings into a microphone while a woman with big, styled hair plays a guitar and reads a magazine on stage (black-and-white).
    Photo: Getty Images
    16/19

    On the Phil Donahue show promoting her latest album, New Harvest… First Gathering in 1977.

     

  • Dolly Parton wearing a light jacket with gold studs and a patterned hat, smiling at the camera.
    Photo: Getty Images
    17/19

    Dolly was a kid when she discovered her beauty muse. “There was this one woman, I thought she was beautiful and, you know, she had the peroxide hair and she had it all piled up on her head and had red fingernails and red lipstick and, you know, wore her powder. And I just thought she was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. And Mama said, ‘Oh, quit looking at her. She ain’t nothing but trash’. And I thought, ‘Ooh, that’s what I want to be when I grow up—trash.’”

     

  • Smiling woman with platinum blonde hair, wearing a brown textured coat, waving from a dark train window frame.
    Photo: Getty Images
    18/19

    On the set of her variety show, Dolly, in 1987. The show’s premiere in 1987 attracted 39 million viewers—the largest audience for any television series premiere at the time.

     

  • Black-and-white portrait of a smiling blonde woman wearing a patterned, ornate jacket or blouse, looking toward the camera.
    Photo: Getty Images
    19/19

    “After you reach a certain age, they think you’re over. Well, I will never be over. I’ll be making records if I have to sell them out of the trunk of my car. I’ve done that in my past, and I’d do it again.”

     

This article was originally published on Vogue.com. 

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Riann Phillip

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