From Playboy cover to Glastonbury slot: Five looks from Dolly Parton’s career
By Casey Cooper-Fiske, Press Association Senior Entertainment Reporter
Throughout her career, country star Dolly Parton embraced a bold country-glam style wearing rhinestone encrusted outfits and sequined jumpsuits.
The singer, who died aged 80 after a “brief battle with cancer”, was known for outfits such as the striped jumpsuit she wore on the cover of 1974’s Jolene, the all-white outfit she donned during her Glastonbury Festival legends slot, and the green caped outfit she wore at the American Music Awards in 1978.
Here are five looks which have defined Parton’s career.
All-white Glastonbury outfit
When Dolly Parton stepped on to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2014 for its Sunday afternoon legends slot, she wore an all-white outfit featuring a diamond encrusted waistcoat designed by her long-time creative director and personal costume designer, Steve Summers.
She also wore a white long sleeve shirt and trousers which matched her waistcoat with a sparkly finish.
The set became one of the festival’s most memorable of modern times, with the singer performing some of her best known songs such as Jolene and Blue Smoke to more than 100,000 people.
Jolene album cover jumpsuit
One of Parton’s best known albums is 1974’s Jolene, which features the title track and I Will Always Love You, which was famously covered by Whitney Houston for the 1992 film The Bodyguard.
On the record’s cover, Parton is framed wearing a blue and white striped jumpsuit with a white jacket, and her signature flowing blonde beehive hairstyle.
American Music Awards 1978
As Parton took home the favourite country album award for her album New Harvest… First Gathering (1977) at the American Music Awards in 1978, she wore a striking green caped outfit.
It featured a tight light green bodysuit decorated with flowers, with the cape draping over her shoulders and a giant diamond bracelet on her right arm.
At the awards ceremony, she received her gong from her sister Stella and Bee Gees star Andy Gibb when she remarked on how similar she and her sister looked.
Dallas Cowboys half-time show outfit
In 2023, Parton performed the half-time show on Thanksgiving Day as Dallas Cowboys took on Washington Commanders in the NFL, wearing a blue and white outfit.
The Tennessee-born singer wore a blue cropped top, short white jacket featuring blue stars and white shorts with blue stars around the belt, all sparkling as the singer covered Queen’s We Are The Champions and We Will Rock You, and performed two of her best known songs in 9 To 5 and Jolene.
As she performed on stage, cheerleaders on the football field performed with pom poms wearing identical outfits to Parton.
Playboy cover
In October 1978, Parton became the first country music artist to feature on the cover of American magazine Playboy, when she reportedly told the magazine there would be no nudity as had often featured in the publication.
On the magazine’s cover she wore a black bodysuit with a white bow tie and black bunny ears on top of her recognisable bouffant, along with pink heels and bracelets.
In 2021, Parton reprised the look as a birthday surprise for her late husband Carl Dean, who she said in a post on Instagram “still thinks I’m a hot chick even after 75 years and I’m not going to talk him out of that”.
