Dolly Parton has always been known for her flashy, fun style, but her signature look has an unexpected origin.
In a new interview with People, Parton shared that a racy catalog and some town locals sparked her interest in provocative fashion.
"I was kind of influenced by those early days, with women that I would see, like the loose women in our town, or just people that I'd see in magazines and the Frederick's of Hollywood catalog," Parton told the outlet. "I mean, that spoke to me."
The looks, she said, "seemed to be my style and seemed to fit my personality, so I just went for it."
"I was never one to care as much about what other people thought of me as I felt about what I thought of me, because I felt if I was comfortable in whatever I was wearing, then people would be comfortable around me."
She added "Even though I'm sure people might have been uncomfortable thinking they would be uncomfortable looking like I did, but if I seemed comfortable in it, they were willing to accept it. So I just kind of grew in the business kind of like that, being a little bit over the top about most things."
Her fashion choices weren’t always accepted by her family though.
In an interview with The Guardian last week, Parton revealed that her father and her grandfather, a preacher, hated her outfits.
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Parton also noted that her grandfather would physically discipline her for clothing, but Parton said, "I was willing to pay for it."
"I’m very sensitive," she continued. "I didn’t like being disciplined – it hurt my feelings so bad to be scolded or whipped or whatever. But sometimes there’s just that part of you that’s willing, if you want something bad enough, to go for it."
The 77-year-old echoed her comments to People about being partially inspired by the "loose women" in her town.
She told The Guardian her bold look was inspired by the "town tramp."
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"She was flamboyant. She had bright red lipstick, long red fingernails. She had high-heeled shoes, little floating plastic goldfish in the heels of them, short skirts, low-cut tops, and I just thought she was beautiful. When people would say, ‘She ain’t nothing but trash,’ I would always say, ‘Well, that’s what I’m gonna be when I grow up.’"
The "9 to 5" singer’s fashion is being chronicled in her new book, "Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones," out Tuesday.
The book contains 450 full-color photographs of Parton’s looks, including images from her private costume archive.
According to Parton, that archive is housed in "big warehouses" on her property.
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"I have storage bins that people think are stables," she told People. "When they come by my house, they see all these huge buildings, and they think, 'Oh, I didn't know you were into horses,' and I say, 'No, I've just been horsing around all these years and those are my clothes.'"
Parton is also releasing her first rock album, "Rockstar," next month.
It includes 30 songs, including collaborations with Paul McCartney, Debbie Harry, Steven Tyler and Ann Wilson, as well as a song dedicated to Elvis Presley, titled "I Dreamed About Elvis."
In an interview with Good Housekeeping’s Live Shopping Week with TalkShopLive, Parton explained the inspiration from the song came from frustration that Presley didn’t sing her hit "I Will Always Love You," which led to "restless" dreams about the situation.
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"I did dream about him, right after that, that’s what gave me kinda the idea to title it that. Because I was so stressed out that he didn’t record that song, and I could just picture him… and I had some restless dreams," she said.
Presley was prevented from singing the song by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who requested, according to Parton in a recent interview with BBC Radio 1, "at least half the publishing [rights]."
"This is the most important copyright in my whole publishing company, and I can't do that," Parton recalled telling Parker.
Parton said she was "heartbroken" with the outcome.
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In her TalkShopLive interview, Parton noted, "I think I dreamed more about Colonel Tom than I did Elvis.… it was about that whole situation, you know how you have stressful dreams when you’re going through [something]… because I was so hurt and disappointed because I wanted so to have him do it."
The "Jolene" singer wrote and recorded "I Dreamed of Elvis" 20 years ago with Ronnie McDowell, who had worked with Presley and sounds like the late singer, and called the tune a chance to "get to have this conversation with Elvis."
Though she has a new album on the way, Parton has no plans to hit the road.
"I don’t tour anymore, I’ve got so many business things I’m doing and my husband and I are getting older… My husband ain’t as young as I am, ya know," she said with a laugh. "And I need to kind of be with him."
Parton has been married to her husband, Carl Dean, since 1966.
The thought of putting together a tour which, according to Parton, can take six months to do "and then you gotta be out, commit to a year, six months to a year on a tour." That no longer appeals to her.
"I did that all my life, and this is my… I’ve been at it a long time. I started when I was 10 years old. So I doubt that I’ll be touring, but I may be able to do some of these songs with these artists on a TV show, special show, like on an awards show or something like that."
But no tour doesn’t mean the icon is ever going to stop working.
"I wouldn’t know what to do if I retired," Parton said. "I might take off a month instead of a week sometime, but no, I don’t plan to ever retire, unless my husband was sick or really needed me, or I was sick. That’d be the only two reasons that I’d ever quit."
She added, "Let’s hope that never happens."
