Dolly Parton’s exhibition tied to her new “Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones” coffee table reader is opening on Oct. 31 at Lipscomb University.
It honors the notion that the near-octogenarian Country Music Hall of Famer’s value as an extraordinarily well-curated fashion may vastly exceed her rumored over $350 million net worth as an entertainer and humanitarian.
“It takes a lot of time and money to look this cheap, honey,” Parton famously stated in her 1995 memoir.
Upon closer preview, the “Coat of Many Colors” performer and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Famer releasing the 30-track collaborative album “Rockstar” on Nov. 17 absolutely, positively isn’t lying at all.
The one-of-a-kind, limited-time exhibition (open to the public Oct. 31-Dec. 9 in the John C. Hutcheson Gallery in Lipscomb’s Beaman Library) features 25 of Parton’s fashions throughout her career. It is a physical interpretation of a book that highlights what a press release refers to as “the makers behind the looks, the songs, the stories, and the true magic that happens behind the seams.”
Limited $25 tickets for a 45-minute tour of the fashion exhibition are on sale online only.
“We are thrilled to partner with Dolly Parton and those behind her iconic fashion to offer the community this exciting opportunity to have an up-close look at some of her favorite outfits and to learn more about these treasured looks,” said Lipscomb University President Candice McQueen.
“This unique fashion exhibition will also provide tremendous learning opportunities for our students as they discover more about the creative process and techniques and interact with the makers who have developed these fashions.”
Parton adds that this season of her life is meant to create “an indispensable guide to forging your path to beauty and confidence” by “getting to know some of the great people who have helped shape her life and look in costume and hair.”
Book and exhibit curator, plus Parton’s archivist, Rebecca Seaver and Parton’s former head seamstress, Iisha Lemming — fall 2023’s Artist-in-Residence for Lipscomb’s Department of Fashion and Design — who assisted in the development and execution of the exhibit sat in conversation with The Tennessean alongside Sissy Simmons, the Assistant Professor of Lipscomb’s Department of Fashion and Design.
Country music’s century-long existence predates that of color television and motion pictures as major American industries by 30 years. Moreover, blue-collar notions of what the art of live performance could look like as a white-collar occupation were non-existent.
Thus, there’s ample reason to believe that Parton’s most significant value to country music’s impact upon the entertainment industry is in developing the most opulent presentation of what the pinnacle of music’s iconography needed to consistently appear like, as the public’s desire to be entertained expanded throughout the 20th century.
In her most “Dollyized” form, Seaver believes Parton is one of the most visually striking performers ever, alongside Cher, Marilyn Monroe and Mae West.
Parton’s been on television since childhood and before her family even owned one, jokes Seaver.
Moreover, for the past 30 years, another Parton associate, her Creative Director Steven Summers, has been intrinsically involved in Parton’s outfitting.
That notion is where Lemming gets involved as a seamstress, ensuring that traditional cut-and-sew fashions are altered to fit her estimated five feet of height and what Lemming refers to as the “unique physical architecture” of her physical frame.
“These are [typically] gaudy, shiny and form-fitting outfits that are nipped in at the waist and colorful like butterflies,” adds Seaver.
It could take Lemming four to 400 hours to alter the garments Parton wears daily — while maintaining the ability to “breathe, perform and retain her iconic [physical] silhouette” at a constant stream of public appearances.
The silver-beaded pantsuit with leather and these thigh-high, gunmetal boots that Summers sourced and were revised into an outfit Parton wore on a magazine cover featuring silver leather shoulder pads and thigh-high silver boots is alluded to in an Instagram-ready photo station set to look like Lemming’s creative studio.
Also at the exhibition, the dress Parton wore at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, the gown worn on the cover of “Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones,” a leather outfit Parton sports on one of the cover variations of her “Rockstar” album and a pantsuit she’s worn while supporting her Imagination Library children’s book initiative — and more, are all present.
Notably, too, Parton has held onto every outfit — including the one she wore when inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1969 — in a space located at her farm estate in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Organized chronologically and by color and event (even outfits that are, yes, often recycled or redesigned), she maintains a note-perfect memory for even minor flaws on gowns she may have worn to less than five events 25 years prior.
Whether a Dollywood costume, dressy casual look, or full glam, what Seaver refers to as the “science” of making clothes fit Parton’s body in the most form-fitting and ultra-flattering manner.
“Dolly’s clothing reflects how she wants her personality to shine like a star,” continues Seaver.
“In any light, anywhere, [Dolly] loves to shine,” Lemming adds.
“She’s also a girl [at heart], and girls love pretty shiny things.”
For Simmons, Lipscomb’s partnership with all things Dolly Parton connects with her realization that Rocky Horton, Lipscomb’s Director of the School of Art and Design, knew Lemming. Ideally, Simmons wanted Parton to participate in Lipscomb’s annual Fashion Week gala in 2022. However, Lemming noted that Parton was too busy to oblige.
Instead, Mexican fashion designer Manuel Cuevas — known for his one-of-a-kind embroidered and embellished tailored suits — was highlighted.
By 2023, Parton’s “Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones” was set to be released at a time that perfectly coincided with Lipscomb’s Fashion Week events.
Simmons notes that Parton’s strong Christian values and “endless, universal love” align well with Lipscomb’s 132-year existence as a private university affiliated with the Churches of Christ.
Five Lipscomb students have also designed outfits inspired by Parton’s legacy, including a rhinestone cape and a hand-painted”coat of many colors” made of fabric specially printed in London, reinterpreting a drawing of Parton and her mother.
Dolly’s transcended every musical genre and type of person that exists in the world,” says Seaver.
“Everyone can find a part of her reflected in themselves.”
“All facets of Dolly’s career are still exploding and she’s a visual spectacle that’s still defining every industry in which she works in all facets of life,” adds Lemming.
“Most importantly, it’s all beautiful and good.”