Dolly Parton was one of the most recognisable figures in the history of popular music, an icon defined by her towering blonde wigs, her glittering stage outfits, her sharp wit and her extraordinary voice. But there was one element of her look that quietly stayed constant throughout her entire career: she almost always wore long sleeves. For decades, fans wondered why. The answer, it turns out, is one of the more human and personal details about a woman who made a career out of sharing herself with the world.
Parton never publicly addressed the topic directly, but over time she revealed enough that the picture became clear. She had a predisposition to developing keloid scar tissue, a condition in which scar tissue grows excessively, often leaving raised, discoloured marks on the skin. For Parton, this tended to leave a purple tinge that she found difficult to conceal by other means.
Her solution was characteristically her own. Rather than simply covering her arms with clothing and leaving it at that, she began getting tattoos specifically designed to disguise the scars. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she explained: “Most of the tattoos, when I first started, I was covering up some scars that I had.”
