Dolly Parton Recalls Getting 'Whipped' by Grandfather for the Way She Dressed

justjared.com:

Dolly Parton is sharing the inspiration behind her fashion choices. In a new interview, the 77-year-old country music icon revealed that she based her over-the-top appearance and outfits based on the “town tramp” – a local woman in her town that wore high heels and tight skirts. Keep reading to find out more… “She was flamboyant.

She had bright red lipstick, long red fingernails,” Dolly shared with The Guardian. “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.” Dolly continued, “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.’” Dolly loved the way this woman dressed and she used to copy her styles – and her father used to physically punish her for her outfit choices. “I was willing to pay for it,” Dolly said. “I’m very sensitive, 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.” Dolly also said that growing up, all the women in her family and the women in her Tennessee town spent their lives at home and taking care of children, but Dolly knew from a young age that she “did not want for [herself].” “My mom and my aunts – I grew up with women knowing how to be good mothers, but that was just not what I felt God had in mind for me,” Dolly recalled. “Because somebody’s got to entertain those people, to write songs about them.” She continued, “I can write a song as if I had a house full of kids, I can write a song as if I’ve got a cheating husband, even though I never did.