Dolly Partons Iconic Hair Through the Years

August 07, 2024

When you think about Dolly Parton, chances are you think of one of these things: her charity work, her legendary music, and of course, her iconic style. Ever since part and came on to the music scene, people were enamored with not only her larger-than-life personality, but her unapologetically magnetic, and vivacious style. And with any of Parton’s looks, you cannot talk about it without discussing her hair.

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Now, grown-up parting was often seen with teased-up bobs and pixie cuts, but her truly iconic big bouncy hair didn’t come until she started honing in on her look in the ’70s. She wrote in her memoir Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics that her appearances on The Porter Wagoner Show really started it all.

“I wear my high heels and my hair as high as I can get it. I always wore my hair all teased up. Whenever that style started, I was the first to get my hair all poofy,” she recalled. “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.”

She added, “When I was 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.”

Ahead of Parton’s 78th birthday on Jan 19, let’s take a look back at some of her most iconic hairstyles over the years. Below check out all of her show-stopping looks:

1965: Mega Volumized Hair
This 1965 portrait of Dolly Parton proves that big hair was always destined for her, no matter the color and no matter the shape.
1976: Biggest Volumized Hair to Date
Not to mention, the biggest hairstyle she ever rocked: the bodaciously bouncy blonde hair people haven’t stopped talking about decades after.
1978: Curled Bob
Dolly Parton truly found so many ways to style her curly blonde locks, and she really turned heads when she somehow made it into a bobbed look for her Playboy cover in 1978.
1984: Iconic Blonde Curls
Dolly Parton’s arguably most iconic hair has to be her shoulder-length, huge platinum blonde curls that she rocked throughout the 80s.
1986: Straight Mullet
Seriously, Dolly Parton could even rock a straight mullet.
1989; Big & Bouncy ‘Do
Dolly Parton’s hair was made for curls, but we’ve never seen them as big as they were back in 1989. Truly, the perfect 1980s hairdo.
1989: Gorgeous Perm
Okay, but this ultra-long, perm hairdo that Dolly Parton wowed in on the Tonight Show in 1989 needs to be talked about more.
1992: Ice Queen Vibes
The curls! The length! The color! Dolly Parton truly channeled her inner ice Queen for this look she donned in 1992.
1992: Tina Turner-Core
Dolly Parton channeled Tina Turner’s iconic mullet-inspired hairdo when on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1992.
1993: Straight-Haired Wonder
Not often do we see Dolly Parton with straight hair, but this pic from 1993 shows she can totally rock it as well!
2009: Platinum Prowess
Throughout the 2000s, Dolly rocked a platinum blonde look that was as icy and as stylish as could be.
2016: Best Of Hairstyle
Back in 2016, Dolly Parton combined the best of her hairstyles into a nearly white, half updo that combined the big bounce and loose curls.
2023: Curling Updo
Now, in late 2023, she changed up that updo with more curls that gave all the mermaidcore vibes.
2023: Rainbow Highlights
The most color we ever saw in Dolly Parton’s hair that wasn’t a shade of blonde was during the 58th Academy Of Country Music Awards, when she rocked a few multicolored highlights in her hair that added touches of orange and pink to it.
2023: Big & Bouncy Updo Go-To
In recent years, Dolly Parton has stuck to one primary look of a blonde half updo that is as big and bouncy as can be, along with being as blonde and layered as can be. (And she looked oh-so stunning at the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards!)