Dolly Parton’s Big Blonde Bouffant: The Country Queen’s Signature Style
Dolly Parton is one of the most iconic figures in country music and pop culture. With her big voice, big personality, and even bigger hair, Dolly has captivated fans for over 50 years. Her music career has spanned decades, with hits like “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You.” But almost just as famous as her songs is Dolly’s signature big, blonde bouffant hairstyle.
Dolly’s over-the-top, platinum blonde hair has become just as integral to her look as her sparkly outfits and red lips. Her sky-high bouffant is instantly recognizable, even in silhouette. But while Dolly has experimented with different hairstyles over the years, she’s maintained the same basic elements: lots of teasing and height, blonde color, and long length.
The Origins of Dolly’s Bouffant
Dolly started developing her bouffant style in the late 1960s, as her career was taking off. At the time, big hair was coming into fashion, with influences from the beehive styles of the 1950s and 1960s. Dolly has cited country music trailblazer and bouffant-wearer Mae Boren Axton as one of her early hair inspirations.
In the beginning, Dolly’s hair had a bit more of a beehive shape, with all the volume piled high on top. As the 1970s progressed, she began teasing the sides more to create a rounder, wider bouffant that surrounded her whole head. Her bangs also evolved, going from short and straight across to fuller, curled bangs that framed her face. Dolly has said she models her hair after the wigs she wore early in her career, shaping it into a style she felt complemented her looks.
By the late 1970s, Dolly’s bouffant defined her image, both onstage and off. It was big, it was blonde, and it was bold. As Dolly herself has famously said, “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap!” The oversized hair matched her glamorous, rhinestone-studded wardrobe and style.
Why Dolly Keeps the Bouffant
While many stars change up their hair with the times, Dolly has kept the same basic bouffant for over 50 years. Her reasons for maintaining the iconic hairstyle shed light on Dolly’s savvy self-image.
First, Dolly realizes how important her hair is to her brand. It’s as identifiable to fans as her songs and voice. She has called her hair “the best wig I’ve ever worn” and “the real me.” Even if Dolly wanted to change it, she knows her followers have come to expect that big blonde bouffant. It’s part of what makes Dolly…Dolly.
Dolly also keeps the bouffant for her husband, Carl Dean. She has said Dean loves her long, blonde hair and would be heartbroken if she cut it. The couple has been married since 1966, before Dolly’s fame. Dean prefers a more natural look, which Dolly obliges by maintaining long locks. It’s one of the ways she compromises between her glamorous image and Dean’s down-to-earth nature.
And practically, the bouffant works for Dolly’s performing and offstage style. The volume gives her petite, 5 foot frame some extra stature. The length allows her to shape and style it however she wants, from her bouncy curls to her sophisticated updos. Even in her 70s, Dolly can rock her big hair just as well as she did in her 20s.
The Work That Goes Into Dolly’s Hair
Of course, teasing and styling those platinum blonde tresses into a gravity-defying bouffant doesn’t just happen on its own. It requires a lot of work and the right products. Dolly’s hair routine takes serious time, effort, and money.
According to her longtime stylist, Dolly’s hair process starts with freshly washed and air-dried locks. To achieve that super blonde color, Dolly gets her roots touched up every week and the rest colored every other week. The coloring alone takes up to 8 hours.
Next comes teasing and backcombing the hair at the crown to build up height and volume. Stylists spray the teased hair with heavy-duty lacquer as they work to keep it in place. It takes at least an hour of teasing and smoothing to sculpt the bouffant’s shape.
More spraying, smoothing, and shaping follows, along with plenty of strong-hold hairspray. On show days, Dolly’s hair can take up to 3 hours to style. Her wigs follow a similar routine, getting washed, set, and styled just like real hair.
All that time and effort adds up. Between coloring, styling, wigs, and extensions, Dolly spends $10,000 a month on her hair. That’s over $100k a year dedicated to maintaining her platinum blonde bouffant!
Dolly’s Signature Styles and Looks
Within the bouffant framework, Dolly has rocked a variety of fun, over-the-top styles over the decades:
Her classic Country Dolly look features free-flowing curls piled high. She started wearing this bouffant style in the late 1960s and still sometimes goes back to the iconic country curls.
For a glam evening look, Dolly often wears her hair in a swept-up beehive with a curl or two framing her face. The beehive adds extra height on top.
Playful pigtail buns or braids give Dolly a youthful, girlish vibe and show off the full volume of her hair. She loves pigtails for concerts or music videos.
Sleek updos like the chignon pull Dolly’s bouffant together for a polished, retro style. Her bangs sweep to the side of her face for a vintage feel.
Partially pulled-back styles are great for keeping Dolly’s hair out of her face while still showing off the body. Slicked sides and back with big, curled bangs is one of her favorite looks.
Fun hair accessories take Dolly’s bouffant to the next level. She loves embellishing her hair with sparkling barrettes, scarves, and headbands.
Even Dolly’s wigs come in different lengths, colors, and styles. Her collection includes dozens of big blonde wigs plus bold pink, red, and black colors.
No matter what shape it takes, Dolly’s hair is instantly recognizable, thanks to its incredible height and volume. It matches her outsized personality and style.
Dolly’s Hair Through the Years
Dolly hasn’t strayed too far from her trademark blonde bouffant over her long career. But she has evolved her style decade by decade:
1960s: Dolly’s early beehive shape morphs into a rounder bouffant with flipped-under curls. Her bangs start short and straight across.
1970s: The height gets bigger and Dolly starts heavily teasing the sides too. Her bangs become fuller, with lots of body and curl. She also begins experimenting with wig styles.
1980s: Dolly’s hair gets even more massive in the ’80s, with bouncy curls piled high. She often pulls the sides and top back. Her bangs are full and curled.
1990s: Dolly tones down the volume a touch but still keeps big hair. Her curls are looser and sideswept. She wears slicked-back updos more often.
2000s: Dolly brings back taller bouffant styles with a retro flair. Her curls are fuller on top and she wears beehives and chignons. Her bangs are curled and prominent.
2010s: Lately Dolly has varied between sleek, smooth bouffants and teased, curled-under styles. She incorporates braids and accessories for fun accents.
2020s: At 76 years old, Dolly continues rocking big blonde wigs and bouffants in true Dolly fashion. Now she can say she’s had iconic hair for six decades strong!
Dolly’s Hair Experiments Over the Years
Though Dolly has kept her overall hairstyle consistent, she has experimented with different looks over time:
In the late 1970s, Dolly began playing around with fiery red hair. Though blonde remained her go-to, the temporary red shade showed Dolly’s fearless fashion sense.
For a time in the early 2000s, Dolly darkened her roots to a dirty blonde/light brown color while keeping the length platinum. This helped downplay the contrast between her regrowth and bleached hair.
Dolly caused a sensation when she started incorporating more visible wigs into her looks in the 1970s and 1980s. Her collection of wild wigs, like her towering red beehive, became part of her performance flair.
She has tweaked her color tone over the years, going between cool ice blonde shades to warmer golden blondes. Cooler tones complement her fair skin while warm hues make a bold statement.
In the 2010s, Dolly began playing with ombre color techniques. Her hair faded from platinum blonde at the top to strawberry blonde at the tips for a modern look.
For a time in the late 1980s, Dolly wore her real hair in a short, permed style when not performing. But she soon returned to her long, blonde wigs and extensions for a consistent image.
Dolly isn’t afraid to throw on a wildly styled pink, purple, or jet black wig when the occasion calls for it. Her wig colors are nearly as famous as her platinum blonde locks.
While Dolly has tried different tweaks and accents, her hair always returns to some variation of her bouffant style. No matter what, it’s big, it’s blonde, and it’s all Dolly!
Why Dolly Won’t Cut Her Hair Short
With all the work that goes into maintaining her long, teased tresses, has Dolly ever thought about cutting it short? While many women opt to chop off their hair as they get older, Dolly has no plans to ditch the long locks.
For Dolly, keeping her hair long is about holding onto a vital part of her look and brand. She has said she plans to never cut it short or stop wearing wigs. Dolly without her big hair just wouldn’t seem like the real Dolly!
Dolly also won’t cut it because her husband loves her long hair. Carl Dean has stood by her side for over 50 years, before all the glitz and glamour. Dolly honors Dean’s more conservative tastes by keeping her hair long and blonde for him.
Short hair also wouldn’t suit Dolly’s performing and appearance needs. Her bouffant adds height and drama that short hair couldn’t achieve. Long locks allow Dolly to sculpt her hair into any style she wants.
While short hair may be lower maintenance, Dolly sees her hair as an investment. She puts time, effort, and money into maintaining her image. At 76 years old, she has no plans to abandon the look that made her an icon.
Of course, practicality comes into play as well. Cutting off over a foot of blonde hair could send her natural grays coming in. Covering up dark regrowth would be trickier with short hair. So Dolly continues lightening and coloring every inch of her lengthy tresses.
Some fans have wondered if Dolly is afraid of seeing herself with short hair after so many decades of long hair. But Dolly seems to know herself and her brand well. She recognizes her hair is perfect just as it is. Short hair just isn’t in the cards for the queen of country glamour.
Dolly Parton’s Hair Legacy
For over 50 years, Dolly Parton’s sky-high blonde bouffant has contributed to her status as a music and pop culture legend. Her over-the-top hair reflects the larger-than-life persona that Dolly has crafted. Though she could easily pull off a simpler, more mature style, Dolly knows not to mess with success.
Dolly has compared her hair to famous portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, with an instantly recognizable look all her own. At this point, her bouffant is as identifiable as Mickey Mouse ears or Elvis’ pompadour. Even younger generations who don’t know her music recognize Dolly through her hair.
Other country stars like Reba McEntire and Dolly’s goddaughter Miley Cyrus have followed her lead with big, blonde locks of their own. But Dolly will always stand out as the true pioneer of country glamour and mountain-high hair.
In a career spanning multiple decades, image changes, and musical styles, Dolly’s bouffant has remained constant. It is the perfect representation of her mix of down-home country spirit and rhinestone-studded showmanship. Big, bold, and blonde, Dolly’s hair reflects the woman herself. She may tweak her look but will always keep the bouffant that made her an American treasure.