The '80s Were Dolly Parton's Fiercest Fashion Years & These Pics Prove It Hands Down

From the rise of MTV to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 1980s marked a significant turning point on multiple fronts. Naturally, this extended to the world of country music and one of its defining stars, Dolly Parton, who has just passed away at the age of 80. Indeed, the '80s were a significant chapter in Parton's stunning transformation. Though she initially found major success in the 1960s and '70s with hit tracks like "Dumb Blonde," "Jolene," and "I Will Always Love You," the neon decade is when Parton started to push it to the limit, to borrow a classic phrase from the era, both proving her staying power as a musician and firmly establishing herself in the wider world of pop culture.

In December 1980, Parton starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the iconic film "9 to 5," with her titular theme song becoming the singer-songwriter's first track to reach the coveted No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Just three years later, she scored another No. 1 hit with "Islands in the Stream," a duet with Kenny Rogers. In 1986, Parton purchased the Silver Dollar City theme park in her native Tennessee, and reopened it as Dollywood — a name it notably still operates under to this day. 

Then, in 1988, she became the first woman to host the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards solo. Of course, beyond all these massive career milestones, there's also an argument to be made that the '80s were Parton's biggest and boldest decade in terms of fashion — and we've put together a little scrapbook, of sorts, to prove our case.

Few Dolly Parton outfits embody '80s excess quite like the ensemble she rocked while performing alongside Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn in Nashville, Tennessee. In the above photo, dated circa 1980, the "Jolene" hitmaker sports an eye-catching, form-fitting, all-white number bedazzled with countless ornate beads that sparkle under the bright lights. Parton completed the look with a pair of matching, dangling earrings, no doubt helping to set the stage for the fierce and flashy decade that would follow.

December 1980 saw the theatrical release of "9 to 5," which proved to be a landmark project for Dolly Parton in more ways than one. And, when the singer-songwriter attended the film's New York City premiere, she clearly planned on turning heads. Parton arrived in a low-cut, off-the-shoulder, pink and white dress adorned with floral patterns. The country star complemented her chosen outfit with a dark pink shade of lipstick and prominent eyeshadow occupying a similar spot on the color spectrum.

The 1980s were very much the decade of "big hair, don't care." Dolly Parton undoubtedly embraced that — though, to be fair, her hair was rather voluminous both well before and long after the fact. In any case, while performing at the Dominion Theatre in London, in March 1983, the only thing glittering brighter than Parton's curly, golden locks was the dress she wore onstage. If anyone could have put the famously flashy royal family to shame on their home turf, it was Dolly Parton.

In 1984, Dolly Parton starred opposite "Rocky" himself, Sylvester Stallone, in the musical rom-com "Rhinestone." When the two attended the film's premiere at the now-defunct Picwood Theatre in Los Angeles that April, Stallone naturally showed up in a tuxedo. Matching her co-star's energy, but putting her own unique spin on the idea, Parton rocked a super sexy, tuxedo-inspired number comprising a dark jacket with sparkly lapels, bedazzled white "dress shirt," and a matching bow-tie necklace. You're free to cast your vote for who wore it better, but we know our pick (Hint: It's not Stallone). 

Dolly Parton may have been born and raised in Tennessee, but she had definitely found her place in major Hollywood social circles by the 1980s — and the country icon made it a point to always dress for the occasion too. In the above photo, which was snapped in December 1988, Parton wore a dark-green, velvet or velvet-like dress adorned with an ornate, asymmetrical pattern. At the time, the "I Will Always Love You" hitmaker was attending a holiday party in Beverly Hills hosted by her longtime manager Sandy Gallin, and she totally looked the part. 

Dolly Parton had another major film appearance in November 1989, appearing in "Steel Magnolias" alongside screen legends like Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, and Julia Roberts. In between the film's New York City premiere on November 5 and its wide release on November 15, the prolific singer-songwriter and actor attended a special premiere benefiting the American Diabetes Association, in southern California, on November 9. And to say that she stole the show with her elaborately bedazzled, light-blue dress that left very little to the imagination might very well be the understatement of the '80s.

Remember how we said that few Dolly Parton outfits captured '80s excess quite like the one she wore alongside Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn early in the decade? Well, this is one of the few. On quite literally the last day of the 1980s, December 31, 1989, the "Jolene" hitmaker posed for studio portraits in Lake Tahoe, California. Finishing the '80s off the same way she started them, Parton donned a form-fitting, elaborately-bedazzled, all-white outfit, only this time featuring a pair of fluffy shoulder pads that would put most football players to shame. Suffice it to say, she owned the '80s.