Dolly Parton Reveals The Real Reason She Wears Wigs

The world does not deserve the wonder that is Dolly Parton. The country music star, who grew up in the Smoky Mountains, is legendary in every way possible, whether it's her music, her charity, or her look. Parton's style is as instantly recognizable as her voice — and part of the style is her wigs, which know no bounds in terms of height or tussle. They've always sort of blended in with her appearance, but it turns out there is a very good reason that Parton wears wigs instead of rocking her own hair. In her 2020 book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, the entertainer reminisced about all of her looks over the years and wrote that it wasn't until she appeared with Porter Wagoner on his show in the late '60s that she started to settle in to her signature style — which she revealed was inspired by Frederick's of Hollywood models she had admired as a teenager growing up in poverty. Parton wrote about exactly what she wanted to achieve... "I wanted to feel like the way I thought all the movie stars in Hollywood did." And part of that, she wrote, meant wearing high heels and her hair as high as she could get it. Of course, Parton's natural hair isn't something she has to hide. In older footage, you can see that she has a lot of natural hair to work with. Parton explained in her book... "I always wore my hair all teased up. Whenever that style started, I was the first to get my hair all poofy." She added that with success came more money to spend on her style. "Then as soon as I could buy those hairpieces and wigs, I wanted them. For one thing, they were so handy. Plus, my hair would never do exactly what I wanted it to do. So the wigs became kind of my trademark." Parton even talked to Jimmy Fallon about why she wears wigs: "Well, I do wear wigs all the time because it's so handy and I'm always so busy. And so I really enjoy it, wearing the wigs.” Parton also wrote that she likes to do her own hair and makeup, even way back when she was just starting out on The Porter Wagoner Show. "We had makeup girls. They would do their basics, and then I would add on to that. I was always into makeup, but I never could stand anybody else's version of me." And Parton's version of herself has been proven to be extremely successful for decades and she shows no signs of slowing down with age. She told Oprah Winfrey that she doesn't have time to be old and isn't afraid of ending up like the Gabor sisters, the socialites who all lived well into old age, with Zsa Zsa dying at the age of 99 years old. But Parton doesn't want to look old and she isn't ashamed to admit it, either. During the Oprah interview, Parton said… "I'll look as young as my plastic surgeons will allow me and [with] all the makeup and lighting and all that. But I think more than anything, it's about what comes from inside you. It's an attitude and you gotta shine from within." While Parton might not have time to be old, she does have time to spread her good energy and her finances around. Just before the release of her book in November 2020, it was revealed that Parton had donated $1 million for COVID-19 research and essentially helped fund vaccine research. She told BBC's The One Show… "I just felt so proud to have been part of that little seed money that will hopefully grow into something great and help to heal this world." She also talked to the Today show right after she learned about the vaccine's progress. Parton's philanthropy is also part of what makes her such a pop culture icon. She's helped children's literacy efforts, H.I.V.-AIDS charities, animal rights and environmental preservation. Through her charity, her music, and her inimitable style, Dolly Parton has given her fans so much, including plenty of practical reasons to proudly throw a wig on when you can't get your hair to do what you want it to. #DollyParton #Wigs #Hair