Dolly Parton wears wigs. It s something that the singer and philanthropist been incredibly open about in past interviews, famously saying “People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know, I’m never there.” In celebration of her new book, titled Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones, Parton shared her fashion commandments with Vogue s senior fashion and style writer Christian Allaire. Of course, her peroxide-blonde hair was an important topic of conversation.
“I started wearing wigs because I quickly realized that bleaching and teasing my hair every day would cause breakage and not look good,” Parton told Allaire. "It was handy to have several looks that I could just choose from, and never have a bad hair day.”
One of the people who is in the room with Parton s hair and helping her never have a bad hair day is Sarah Necia Wood. The London-based hairstylist was first connected to the Parton s team (which includes her longtime stylist Cheryl Riddle) through the singer s niece, Rebecca Seaver. “I m not going to lie, I thought it was a joke,” she shares over Zoom. Wood designed the wig that Seaver, also known by their burlesque name Truvy Trollop, wore for a performance on The Graham Norton Show in 2020. Parton admired the brunette vintage setting, and the partnership began.
“The first time I saw Dolly in a wig I had cut and styled, I cried," Wood adds. More recently, Parton has worn a punk-country piece by Wood while promoting her upcoming album, “Rockstar” (coming out November 17th), and Wood helped out by recreating some of Parton s iconic wigs from the ‘60s and ’70s to be featured inside the pages of Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. There s also “something major” on the horizon she can t quite talk about yet.
Parton isn t Wood’s only high profile client. Her tendency to set and style with a vintage aesthetic has attracted Dita Von Teese and singer Raye (who has a very Linda Evangelista 92 look going right now), naturally.
Wood first realized the power of hair—and gained an appreciation for retro styling—when she was a child. “My granddad was a barber and we always watched old movies together, I guess he inspired both my career and my style," she says. “I started hairdressing straight out of school at 17, and I had all these tattoos and looked a little different, so I couldn t get a job anywhere. I ended up setting up shop at home while working with patients with dementia. I would do their hair for them and watch them become calm during the process. It really shaped me.”
Super-fans who want the Parton Von Teese treatment (or just love incredible vintage hairstyling) can book a London-based session with Wood at her studio, which "has a 70s witchy vibe going on so we call it The Coven.” You can also purchase a wig of your own, which can be shipped worldwide, just like Parton would.
The higher the hair may get you closer to God—but one of these wigs will get you closer to Dolly.
