Dolly Parton Wearing fingerless gloves for a long time, but netizens suddenly attracted attention thanks to a TikTok goes viral posted by user hannahbearbraunincluding a clip of the 76-year-old American country star performing at the 37th annual festival Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. In the video, Parton appears in front of a microphone at LA’s Microsoft Theater wearing a gem-encrusted patent leather ensemble that pairs perfectly with the trim on her guitar and strap.
In fact, when you look closely at her hands, you can catch a glimpse of the gloves she almost always wears with her cocktail ring, if you look back at her outfits throughout history. Parton not only wears gloves on stage but also for interviews, signing autographs and rolling out the red carpet. While some commenters on TikTok posted that the gloves were meant to compress her arthritis or cover her finger tattoos, Parton has never publicly confirmed this to be true.
In 2017, she said Vanity Fair that she tries to hide her keloids, explaining: “I tend to have any kind of scars anywhere they’re purple that I can never get rid of .” Parton also said her butterfly and flower tattoos are light in color to help cover up the scar.
Then her creative director Steve Summers told In style that each pair of gloves is custom-made (many are embellished with rhinestones) and that they are simply part of her wardrobe. “People always ask why she always wears sleeves – well, she’s 73 and she doesn’t like her elbows. [They ask] ‘What’s wrong with her hand?’ She’s 73 years old, and she doesn’t like them! It’s normal for women,” he said in a 2019 article.
Regardless of Parton’s intentions, we’re going to shed some light on some of her most memorable looks — all representing her signature style — with or without gloves on.
