August 26, 2026 — 3:58pmFor someone who spent years rejecting the title of “feminist”, it’s a fitting contradiction that few have done more to demonstrate the power of femininity through fashion than Dolly Parton.Already, the world feels a little less fabulous following Parton’s death this week, aged 80.At the 1977 Grammys, where she was nominated for best country vocal performance.Getty ImagesWith her towering blonde wigs, bedazzled gowns (always cinched tightly at the waist) and long acrylic nails, the country music legend taught a generation of women that there’s nothing to fear in being too femme or too much. In fact, when wielded with poise, it can be our greatest weapon of defence.“She was bold, feminine, flamboyant and sometimes outrageous, but always completely Dolly,” says Jackie Frank, fashion consultant and founding editor-in-chief of marie claire Australia.Fashion stylist Jess Pecoraro agrees: “She took a look that could have easily been made into a joke and owned it with zero apology.”With Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda at the 9 to 5 film premiere in 1980. She enlisted the movie’s costume designer Ann Roth for the occasion, and would later tell People magazine it was “the first time I ever really felt like I was fashionable.”Getty ImagesGrowing up in Tennessee, Parton learnt glamour and strength can go hand-in-hand for women who are often dangerously underestimated by observing “strumpets and trollops”.“They were said to be trashy because they had blonde hair and wore nail polish and tight clothes. I thought they were beautiful,” she later said.Parton carried that lesson throughout her life, embracing styles that would otherwise be discarded as tacky, singing about her beloved “rags of many colours” and famously declaring “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap!”At the Steel Magnolias premiere in 1989, wearing a gown by longtime costume designer Tony Chase.Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images“Of course, she didn’t look cheap, she was a real beauty, inside and out. She looked equally great in tight jeans or skintight beaded gowns, all with towering heels,” says Kirstie Clements, author and former editor-in-chief of Vogue Australia.Across her career, Parton worked closely with designers like Bob Mackie, Tony Chase and Ann Roth to create custom rhinestone-encrusted looks that were inspired by Hollywood’s Golden Age and the “high-effort glamour” of people like Marilyn Monroe.Her stylist of over 30 years, Steve Summers, would often “Dolly-ise” pieces, buying them off the rack and getting them tailored to her taste: “really tight and really sparkly”.Wearing a custom Robert Behar pink chiffon gown to the 2006 Oscars.Getty ImagesAs fashion stylist Natalie Petrevski puts it: “she always knew how to dress to be seen.”For Parton, her approach to fashion was almost utilitarian: she wore what she felt good in and what got her noticed because it allowed her to do what she loved most: sing.“That’s how I thought I looked best,” she told The Guardian in 2023. “It took me probably years longer to be taken serious, but I wasn’t willing to change it, and I figured if I had the talent, it’d show up.”Parton’s style was subversive because she used fashion to create a persona she skewered in her life and work. She’s the blonde bimbo who was married to husband, Carl Dean, for nearly 60 years. The superficial ditz who wrote some of the most profound songs of all time with emotional acuity and depth.Parton knew whatever projections people put onto her were more about them than they were about her, writing the image-making playbook for female stars today like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé decades before she’d ever get credit.Some might even call it a great feminist legacy.Here are just some of her best looks.Bandanas, a staple of Parton’s wardrobe, made an appearance in her look for the 1977 American Music Awards.Getty ImagesEven the simplest of Parton’s looks have become iconic, such as the red shirt and blue jeans worn on the cover of her 1977 album Here You Come Again.Getty ImagesIn 1978, Parton appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine. She was 32, and agreed to feature under strict terms that included no nudity. In 2021, aged 75, she would recreate the iconic look in a birthday tribute for her husband.Getty ImagesFor the 1978 American Music Awards, where she would take home favourite country album for New Harvest…First Gathering, Parton swapped her signature pink for a green jumpsuit and cape adorned with bright flowers.Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesDolly Parton in 1979, when Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley proclaimed Dolly Parton Day in her honour. Here, she wears another favourite colour – yellow – in the form of a ruffled chiffon gown embroidered with butterflies.Getty ImagesIn 1984, the country singer put her own twist on the tuxedo for the premiere of Rhinestone, in which she starred opposite Sylvester Stallone.MediaPunch via Getty ImagesOprah Winfrey dressed the part for an appearance on Parton’s variety show Dolly in 1987.Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty ImagesParton donned a sequinned leather jumpsuit while performing on Saturday Night Live in 1989.Getty ImagesAll American: Parton on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1991.Getty ImagesParton donned bedazzled bell bottoms and a military-inspired jacket for her 2005 performance at the Country Music Awards alongside Elton John. “Of course, I was trying to dress [to] look like Elton John,” she told Vogue of her outfit choice.Getty ImagesAt the 2016 Country Music Awards, Parton paid homage to her iconic song, Coat of Many Colours with a sequinned blazer,Getty ImagesFrom our partners