Dolly

Dolly Parton — Replica Early 80's Tee

There are stars, there are icons, and then there’s Dolly Parton.

Born in the mountains of East Tennessee, Dolly arrived in Nashville in 1964 with a suitcase full of songs and very specific ideas about how she wanted to look. After finding success with Porter Wagoner, she went solo and became one of country music’s greatest singer-songwriters—with “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Here You Come Again,” and eventually “9 to 5.”

And then there’s the look. The hair. The rhinestones. The nails. The heels. The makeup. Dolly took the artificial glamour she saw growing up—the woman in town everyone else called “trash”—and turned it into one of the most recognizable images in popular culture. As Dolly famously explained, “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.”

But the joke has always belonged to her. Behind the wigs and one-liners is an extraordinary songwriter, musician, businesswoman, and performer who understood exactly what people thought when they looked at her—and was usually several steps ahead of them.

That combination has also made Dolly a longtime queer icon. The exaggerated femininity certainly helps, but so does the humor, kindness, refusal to judge other people, and absolute commitment to becoming exactly the person she wanted to be.