Dolly Parton changes into 10 outfits a day when she’s doing personal appearances.
Steve Summers, who has styled the ‘9 to 5’ singer, 77, for more than 30 years, added he loves the dizzying range of outfits he has to come up with for her as he has to put together ranges for her shows, acting, theme park events and philanthropic efforts.
He told Vogue: “There is an outfit in production every single day. If she’s doing personal appearances, 10 outfits in a day is not unusual.”
Steve added about how everything she is seen in is customised: “Even if she wears a dress that’s off the rack, it doesn’t look like it by the time she gets it on.
“There’s a customisation that happens no matter what she’s wearing.”
He revealed he and Dolly’s costume team make around 300 custom outfits a year for the star.
Steve said: “Designing for Dolly is great, because there are so many (Dollys.) I’ve got the philanthropist, the singer, the actress, the theme park owner. The canvas is always very broad.”
He added about how he and Dolly know exactly which outfits will work: “She’s been very specific throughout her entire career. She wears what she likes, and what she feels comfortable in.
“The great thing about working with Dolly is she doesn’t follow fashion trends at all. Her style hasn’t changed that much over the years.
“She’s always cinched at the waist, and the (outfits are) often monochromatic. “She’s a very petite woman, so it’s easy to overwhelm her – it’s easy for the clothes to wear her, and I don’t like that.
“She’s known as a fashion icon, but the clothes are relatively simple. They’re very intricate in detail, though.”
Dolly almost only ever wears 140mm heels, with Steve saying about how they are also custom-made: “The pitch on the shoe is very high, so we have the lasts custom-made for comfort.
“We design all of the shoes in-house – she has a dear friend who is a shoe manufacturer, and we have a guy here in Nashville, too.”