Why Is Dolly Parton Always Wearing Fingerless Gloves?

You may not have even realized that Dolly Parton is almost always wearing gloves. Sometimes her outfits feature fingerless gloves that are fully visible, but other times, it seems like she wears nude-colored gloves that you might miss at first glance. The fact that her gloves are sometimes just barely visible leads most people to believe that the gloves are more than just a style choice.

First of all, though, we should get this out of the way: Dolly Parton might just wear gloves because she likes wearing gloves. She really doesn't need more reason than that. She's Dolly Parton. She can do pretty much whatever she wants to. And she always pulls it off. 

The singer has also never publicly commented on the gloves, but there are a few theories about the style choice. 

In addition to the gloves, Dolly also always wears long sleeves. The long sleeves have sparked plenty of rumors that Dolly has tons of tattoos, but as it turns out, things go a little bit deeper than that. Dolly does have tattoos, but as she told Vanity Fair, "I'm not trying to make some big, bold statement." Instead, the tattoos are there to cover scars on the country star’s arms.

"I have a tendency to have keloid scar tissue, and I have a tendency where if I have any kind of scars anywhere then they kind of have a purple tinge that I can never get rid of," Dolly said. "So [my tattoos] are all pastels, what few that I have, and they're meant to cover some scars."

So, do Dolly Parton’s gloves also cover some scars? They might! Dollymania.net is a Dolly Parton fansite that’s been operated by superfan Duane Gordon since 1996. One section of the site is dedicated to "Letters to the Webmaster," where people can send in their questions about Dolly, and Duane will answer them to the best of his ability. In 2011, someone asked Duane about the gloves. Here is his response:

“For about the past nine months, Dolly has worn gloves with the fingers cut out of them at virtually every public appearance or photoshoot or video shoot, and the few times she has not had them on, she has instead worn sleeves that have additional fabric at the end so that they cover her wrists and upper parts of her hands. She has not publicly given her real reason for wearing them. Consequently, although many fans have asked me about them, I can't give an answer with first-hand information.

She has even been asked about them on a couple of television interviews, and she joked about them, saying in one she was wearing them because she was cold and in another because she thought they were cute. 

However, I can relay third-hand information that she was asked about the gloves by fans while filming scenes for her upcoming movie Joyful Noise and told them that last year she had had corrective hand surgery (medical, not cosmetic) and it left a scar that she's covering. Again, I've not heard that directly from Dolly or her management, but I'm told that's the answer she gave privately in Atlanta to those who asked.”

Given what we know of Dolly's tendency to scar, we think it’s probably a pretty safe bet that Dolly Parton’s gloves are there to cover some scarring. One thing we know for sure, though, is that no matter what Dolly Parton is wearing, she always looks fabulous.

Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square is available to stream on Netflix now.