Country music legend Dolly Parton, long hailed a fashion icon for her unforgettable wardrobe pieces over the years, is no stranger to enduring a malfunction — and a pro at powering through it.
Parton remembered a “beautiful dress” she wore to an awards show during the latest episode of Biscuits & Jam, a podcast featuring interviews between Southern Living Editor-in-Chief Sid Evans and some of the biggest celebrity musicians in the industry to discuss some of the life stories that have shaped them the most. Parton spoke about her most iconic fashion moments throughout her decades-long career, particularly after chronicling them in her newest book, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, telling stories about some of her favorite looks.
“I remember one time I wore this beautiful dress...it was made out of really, really thin fabric. And it didn't stretch much, and it was silver on one side and gold on the other,” Parton shared on Biscuits & Jam. “And I wore it to an awards show where I won an award…I was sitting right beside them [late country legend Kenny Rogers and then-wife Marianne Gordon, who wore a Stole to the show], and I started to get up and my dress just busted. Well I started to tear right down the middle. So I just grabbed her Stole and walked up on the stage, and was holding it when I got my award…I said, ‘I know this don't go with my dress.’ Or something like that. I said, ‘but I busted my dress.’ And like my daddy would say, ‘that's what you get trying to put 15 pounds of mud in a five pound bag,’ or something like that.
“So I've had a few little malfunctions, but for me, I can't hardly get 'em too tight,” she said. “Sometimes when I'm singing though, if they get too tight right in the waist, from where you have to sing…so I have to be kinda careful of that.”
Parton also said that her favorite wardrobe pieces “stir up memories” just as much as her timeless music. She might look at an outfit in her closet and even smell the perfume she wore at that time. Her stunning stage clothes, “just kinda take you on a journey,” she said.
Now, Parton is gearing up for another era in her career: Rockstar. The East Tennessee-born artist will release her first-ever rock album, following her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, featuring star-studded collaborations with Joan Jett, Blondie, Heart, Pat Benetar and other classic rock legends. Parton said “these women are strong in their talent. Strong in their beliefs, and sturdy in their ambition, and they just kinda know what they want, and they seem to know how to get it.” She also joined forces with goddaughter Miley Cyrus on a new rendition of Cyrus’ 2013 hit, “Wrecking Ball.” That’s one of several tracks from the 30-track album to make its debut early. Parton kicked off her Rockstar era in May with the lead single, “World on Fire.”
“And the only way I know how to express myself, 'cause I'm not political and I hate politics... So that's the only time I have ever said a word about politics in the song, but I was talking about all the politicians of the world, or that we let stuff get more in the way of just human decency, and kindness, and values, and all the stuff that we used to seem to have at least a notion about,” Parton said of her album’s lead anthem. “And now it seems like we're just driftin'. And I think I wrote it- it was not anger so much, it's just kinda fear and concern, and trying to just throw a light on it to think maybe something I might say might change a few minds and touch a few hearts. That's how I felt.”
Rockstar is set to release on Friday (November 17).