Following news of her passing on Tuesday, the world continues to mourn the loss of Dolly Parton. The deeply beloved musician leaves an untouchable, rhinestone-dotted legacy that fans have been poring over, rehashing her greatest hits, outfits and quotes that cemented her status in pop culture history.
Her image was unmistakable. Flamingo pink sequinned catsuits collided with Western motifs and million-dollar jewels both on-stage and off, topped by a mushrooming peroxide blonde wig and a piercing bright soprano tone underpinned by that all-too-distinctive Appalachian twang.
Much was made of her looks. As I’m sure you have seen on social media by now, Dolly was frequently subjected to tedious questions about her appearance – particularly her beauty choices. “You don’t have to look like this,” Barbara Walters famously told the star in a now-viral talk show clip from 1977. No matter, the Tennessee-born star met such criticisms with her signature Southern Belle smile, unapologetically embracing the authenticity of her unforgettable beauty choices.
Dolly was quick to trademark her beauty look. While she worked with various wardrobe stylists, costumers (such as the world-renowned Bob Mackie), and specialist wigmakers (including her longtime career comrade Steve Summers), Dolly famously applied her own face makeup, drawing inspiration from the exaggerated glamour of local women in her youth, whom her mother dubbed local ‘trash,’ and reportedly even sleeping in her makeup so she was always camera-ready.
Previous interviews reveal that as a child, the singer improvised her earliest cosmetic looks using household and natural items like pokeberries and burnt matches, a philosophy of self-application that continued into her cosmetics line, Dolly Beauty.
There are many pearls of wisdom we can glean from the life and career of Dolly Parton. Below, we’ve distilled five invaluable beauty lessons delivered by the great late musician and advocate. And remember, when it comes to Dolly, more is always more.
5 Beauty lessons from Dolly Parton:
© Ron Galella Collection via GettyMega mascara, always
Dolly’s image was an endearing fusion of pixie-like girlishness and mature glamour. The high octane opulence of her voluminous platinum wigs and blushed cheeks contrasted a lengthy flutter of lashes, achieved via generous lashings of mascara. During her youth, Dolly opted affordable drugstore mascaras such as Maybelline and Almay, later creating her own alternative, Dolly-Eyes Mascara, at Dolly Beauty.
© Getty ImagesBlush blindness doesn’t exist
Recent years have witnessed a shift away from bold beauty looks in favour of ‘clean-girl’ aesthetics – something Dolly has always said to hell with. Blush blindness is often deemed the biggest beauty faux pas among Gen Z, yet Dolly made a pretty solid case for rejecting this theory entirely. Never one to step out in public without a deep flush of rosy tint, the star demonstrated how a pinched-cheek is the ultimate shortcut to mastering sweetheart Southern Belle beauty.
© Disney General Entertainment ConHaving acrylic nails is an art form in itself
For Dolly, beauty wasn’t purely aesthetic – functionality was always (if unintentionally) part of the equation. Her signature set of cherry red acrylic nails doubled up as a metronome – famously exhibited during a 1987 talk-show performance of Shortnin Bread with Patti LaBelle. Perhaps more notably, however, we have Dolly’s claws to thank for the rhythmic creation of 9 to 5, the title song of the 1980 comedy film of the same name in which she starred.
© Getty ImagesBlue eyeshadow is never passé
Dolly was bang on the money when it came to eyeshadow. The star championed electric blue lids long before they came storming back onto the beauty scene courtesy of Euphoria. Joining a glittering lineup of Hollywood veterans such as Elizabeth Taylor, Anna Karina and Cher, Dolly and her penchant for vibrant hues continue to fly the flag for maximalist makeup.
© Corbis/VCG via Getty ImagesSometimes, blondes do have more fun
As much as it pains me to admit as a lifelong brunette, sometimes – and certainly in Dolly’s case – blondes do have more fun. It’s impossible to divorce the star’s unmissable, ballooning wig from her whimsical image. Throughout her career she successfully staved off dumb blonde jokes, famously stating: “I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb – and I’m not blonde either.” Regardless of her natural roots, she continued to reach for the peroxide ‘dos, reclaiming the supposedly ‘inauthentic’ look as entirely her own, via both her aesthetic choices and discography.
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