When I arrive to the gates of a studio building in Nashville, situated next to a pool builders supply warehouse in an industrial park, there is no clue—no rhinestones, glitter, or sweet sounds of “Jolene”—that I would be spending the afternoon breathing the same air as the one-and-only Dolly Parton. That was until I noticed the cars in the parking lot.
They were not overtly luxurious, but most had a vanity plate on them with a moody portrait of the Queen of Country—proceeds from which, I learn later, benefit her Imagination Library, which sends more than one million books per month to children around the world.
When I enter through the doors of the sound stage, I’m greeted by Steve Summers, a former Dollywood lead dancer and Dolly’s steadfast creative director of nearly 20 years. He and his team are responsible for producing every one of Dolly’s ensembles—often more than 300 looks per year—and this building is the covert hub for all things Dolly, a universe so wide-reaching and so beloved by the masses that there is never a day to rest.
Because of the world’s unquenchable thirst for Dolly, Summers’ role requires a sort of gentle-yet-militaristic precision to ensure the masses are never without her. On this particular 9-to-5 day, the second half is devoted to filming promotional holiday videos for a network talk show, hence the snow-flecked Christmas tree in the corner. But for the first half of the day, they will be producing content to highlight Dolly’s new collaboration with jewellery maker Kendra Scott.
Laden with rhinestones and butterflies, her 1974 hit “Love is Like a Butterfly” served as the North Star of inspiration for this first collection, with several more collections to come over the next three years, all harkening back to her roster of hits. “It’s still surreal to me, the whole thing just blows my mind that we’re getting to work together,” Kendra Scott, the founder of the juggernaut eponymous brand, tells me. “We’re working on ‘A Coat of Many Colours’ now, and I can’t wait to do ‘Jolene,’ ‘9 to 5,’ all of them. I wore out my VHS tape of 9 to 5 when I was 7 years old, and I feel like that planted a seed in my brain to build a business that is successful and gives back and is able to create beautiful pieces like these that help everyone find their inner Dolly.” Out now, the collection is available online and in all Kendra Scott stores.
When I’m invited to join Dolly in the studio, she is already seated with a tray of her jewellery selected from her personal collection. “How’s it going today?” I ask. “Oh, it’s always going great,” she says with a smile. She is donning a white leather jumpsuit embellished with rhinestones and silver stitching, a pair of custom Christian Louboutin silver stilettos in a size 5.5, and a set of fuchsia acrylic nails to match her fuchsia and turquoise eye makeup.
Despite her slight frame, the aura of Dolly is exceptionally large. When she speaks, the room grows quiet and listens intently. At the request of Vogue, Dolly was asked to unearth some of her most memorable pieces of jewellery from her home, and for a few moments she recounts the unforgettable memories and origin stories attached to each piece.
Dolly’s Original Wedding Ring from Sears
“This was my original wedding ring. When my husband and I got married back in 1966, we didn’t have the money to buy anything, but my mother-in-law, Carl’s mother, she had a credit at Sears, a charge account. So we bought our rings at Sears on her account. I was working a little bit and [Carl] was working, so we paid her every month on my wedding rings.
I was never willing to change them for a bigger stone, but several years later, I lost a stone and it freaked me out. I didn’t know where I lost it. So I thought, ‘Oh, what am I going to do?’ Even though it’s just half a carat, it’s just a tiny little piece, they were personal. So we went back to Sears and bought the stone, and even though we could have afforded it, we charged it. We paid on it so it would feel like it was still the original.”
Dolly’s Second Wedding Ring
“Because my wedding rings were so small, and I was wearing other bigger jewellery, I had this band made just to wear with it. It says May 30, ’66. I think it gives it a little more oomph, so that it didn’t look so tiny compared to other jewelry. I love, love, love these rings together, and wouldn’t trade them for nothing.”
An Assortment of Butterfly Brooches from Dolly Parton Fans
“This collection is just a few of the thousands of things that fans have given me through the years; the ones that I always thought were the most special. They’re all special, but some are just beautiful pieces that I’ve been collecting my whole life, especially since I started in show business. I started early on, when I started making records back in the sixties—’67, ’68, ’69— and then when I started with The Porter Wagoner Show, and now my own career has gone on.
I have a whole building called The Arts & Crap. It’s some art and it’s some crap, but it’s all things that fans have given me. It’s pictures they paint or draw of me, thousands of these butterfly brooches, and many other things, some of them beautiful and some of them not so beautiful, but I know the love that went into each one and I cannot throw anything away that the fans give me. That includes the butterflies, which are my signature and my emblem, because I’ve been known to chase butterflies and get lost in the woods since I was little.”
Custom Star Ring
“My little nieces fight over who’s going to get this one when I’m dead, because they grew up seeing me wear this ring, but this little star is the first thing I ever indulged in for myself. When I felt like I had become a star, I thought, ‘Well, you know what? I’m going to have myself a ring made.’ I can’t remember the name of the jewellery store, but I had it made here in Nashville and I’ve been wearing it on my little finger for years and years and years. I’m one of those people that, if I see something I like, I’ll buy it, and if I think of something I want to have made up, I’ll just go ahead and do that.”
Parton Family Charm Necklace
“I had this necklace when I first started making any kind of money at all, because I’m very proud of my family, and love my family a great deal, and you know, there’s 12 of us children. Mom and daddy had 12, and daddy had a couple later, but anyhow, this is all mom’s and daddy’s 12 kids, and each charm has their little names and birthdays. There’s six girls and six boys, and I had this made to wear when I was on the road, because I loved and missed my family. Then I have little earrings in the same style, just a boy and a girl, which are just to say, ‘I have to have some earrings to match it.’
Platinum Butterfly Ring
“I’ve been with my manager Danny Nozell for 20 years, and in our tenth year of management he had a jeweller friend in Minnesota make this for me. I put my little wedding rings on all of the time when I’m around the house, but if I’m going to a special dinner or celebrating a hit record or there’s something fun going on, I’ll always wear this one when I go out.”
Dolly’s 50th Anniversary Wedding Ring
“My husband and I have been together 60 years. We’ve been married 58, and when we had been married 50 years, we got married again. Carl was telling everybody I was his second wife, and I said, ‘Stop saying that! I’m your first and only wife,’ but we had a wedding with all the stuff we didn’t have before with the beautiful suit and with my beautiful gown, and then we had these rings made and we both paid for them. He paid half and I paid half. Mine is a three carat diamond. I could’ve afforded bigger, and I tried the five carat, but it just didn’t fit right.”
This story was originally published on Vogue.com.
