Holiday Gift Guide for the Dolly Parton Fan
We all know someone who loves Miss Dolly. Treat them to the best gifts!
{This year, I’ve decided to do something a little different. Rather than typical blogger gift guides — we all know that you can get Diptyque candles at Nordstrom if you care to spend that much for them — I’ve put together a set of gift guides that speak to the interests of HerKentucky fans. Some links will generate nominal affiliate income at no cost to the reader. All opinions are, as always, my own.}
Y’all know I love Miss Dolly Parton. Chances are, there’s someone on your holiday gifting list who does, too. Here are some great pieces that any Dolly fan would love to add to their collection.
From top left:
Draper James What Would Dolly Do? Sweatshirt. I have a few pieces in the DJ Dolly collection, and they always draw so many compliments! (Draper James)
Find Out Who You Are and Do It on Purpose Cross Stitch Pattern: I love this. In fact, I plan to stitch it for my nieces’ bedrooms.
Dolly’s 50th Opry Anniversary Hatch Show Print. I actually have this; a dear high school friend picked it up for me at the show. It is so beautiful and detailed in person!
Pocket Dolly Wisdom. Take Dolly’s best sayings wherever you go.
Dolly Vintage Tee. Pretty much everything in the official Dolly Parton Store on Amazon is amazing. This tee comes in pink; go ahead and order yourself one, too!
1978 Dolly doll. I had one of these when I was a kid. Trying not to order myself another one to display in my office.
Dolly Ringer Tee. Pop Art shots of 80s Dolly.
It’s Hard to Be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World cross stitch pattern. Stitch this up for anyone who knows the value of integrity and hard work.
Hatch Show Print repro: A great reproduction of show art from an early Dolly show.
(no photo) A stay at the Dollywood resort. Obviously.
Happy holidays, y’all. Here’s to selecting fewer and more meaningful presents this season!
What Dolly Parton Means to Me
Why we all need a little Dolly Parton in our lives.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Dolly Parton lately.
Then again, I guess I kind of always think a lot about Dolly Parton. If you’ve read my blog for any time at all, you know that she’s basically my hero.
I’m not the only one, though. It seems Miss Dolly has been everywhere in pop culture lately. She recently celebrated her 50th Anniversary as a member of the Grand Old Opry. Her brilliant film 1990s film Steel Magnolias enjoyed a limited theatrical run earlier this year, and the British adaptation of her 9 to 5 musical debuted in January. She played a surprise gig with the Highwomen at the Newport Folk Festival a few months ago, recently co-hosted the CMA awards, and had a huge role in telling the story of country music in Ken Burns’ brilliant, recently-aired documentary. She has a series of Netflix films on the way and she is the subject of the most intriguing podcast that I’ve heard in ages. If you have any ties to the Southeastern United States, then you already know that she’s a national treasure. With Miss Dolly’s name on everybody’s lips, I recently had a bit of a realization.
I’ve kind of spent my adult life trying to be Dolly Parton.
Okay, that sounds a little too cute by half. Hear me out, though. I spent my teens and early twenties as a curvy, opinionated, big-haired southern girl during the “waif is in”, Kate Moss-fueled 1990s. Back then (and, truthfully, to this day still), I really only knew how to fix my hair by making it bigger. After all, as Dolly’s Steel Magnolias character Truvy brilliantly noted, “there is no such thing as natural beauty.” But beyond the big curves and even bigger hair, there’s always been a lot about Dolly Parton that resonates with me. When you look past the hair and the boobs and the rhinestones, Dolly’s story is pretty common among Appalachian women: it’s one of hard work, good humor, dedication to family and, above all, it’s a story of kindness.
Now, of course, there was a time when Dolly’s folksy humor, rife with self-deprecating boob jokes, seemed dated and cringeworthy to me. In analyzing her message as an adult, however, I’ve realized how much mystique she’s been able to maintain by only talking about her most obvious assets. In a great recent New York Times piece, Lindsay Zoladz argues that the things that once made Dolly a little brash and — dare I say it — a little trashy are no longer taboo; in effect, popular culture has caught up with her. She knows how to tell a grandma joke and, in her own words, make Jimmy Fallon look like a dumbass. There’s certainly an art to saying things that are just a little bit dirty or outré in order to deflect from truly personal or substantive conversation. “When all else fails, tell a tit joke,” Dolly laughs to Dolly Parton’s America podcast host Jad Abumrad in reference to the 2017 Emmy Awards, when her 9 to 5 costars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda made pointedly anti-Trump remarks while Dolly laughingly changed the subject to her own most famous assets. There’s a tinge of sadness in her voice, but a whole lot of resolve. She’s not going to be put on the spot or bullied into saying something that she doesn’t want to. Over the years, I’ve noticed that, time and again, she tells interviewers that they can ask whatever they want, but that she’ll only tell them what she wants them to hear. She skims over the more personal details of any story Mr. Abumrad seeks out, often saying “well, that’s personal” when a question goes too far. She portrays herself as an open book when it comes to her love of flashy clothes, cosmetic procedures, and wigs (“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap,” she’s often quoted as saying), but private details of her life are just that — private. After all, she’s been quite open about choosing to have cosmetic alterations and a particular silhouette. There’s a remarkable amount of power in owning that narrative and moving forward with its implications in an honest and unflinching manner. Like many other aspects of Dolly’s story, it’s a reminder that being a lady has absolutely nothing to do with one’s financial or educational background, but rather with how one conducts herself. She’s never been involved in tabloid scandals or gossip; in fact, she’s been married to Carl Dean for 53 years. Dolly isn’t a lady in spite of her hillbilly upbringing or her Nashville glitz; rather, she’s a lady because of it.
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean. Photo via Country Living
Dolly hails from Sevierville, Tennessee, a small town in the Appalachian mountains. Sevierville is about two hundred miles south of my own tiny Appalachian hometown, and her experiences in her Tennessee Mountain Home are certainly familiar to me. In the podcast episode in which Mr. Abumrad describes Dolly’s homestead, he draws the parallel to his father’s modest home in rural Lebanon; I immediately saw the house where my grandfather grew up in 1920s Knott County. In the same podcast episode, when it’s referenced that Dolly’s nieces and nephews call her “Aunt Granny”, I felt a fast kinship. That particular brand of colloquial endearment took me home to the holler immediately.
My grandparents with my father and aunt. Easter, 1950s
One of the major themes of Ken Burns’ Country Music was the rise of what was originally called “hillbilly music”— one of the formative influences on modern country music. Of course, for any of us who were raised in the holler, the “h” word is pretty loaded. We try hard to escape it and we rail against it with an odd mix of pride and shame. When I ran across a quotation from Dolly about her hillbilly childhood in a 2014 Southern Living interview, of course her stance made sense. Maybe leaning into the hillbilly narrative —taking back the idiom, as they say — is the most powerful way to proceed. As always, Dolly herself said it best: “I’m proud of my hillbilly, white trash background. To me that keeps you humble; that keeps you good. And it doesn’t matter how hard you try to outrun it—if that’s who you are, that’s who you are. It’ll show up once in a while.” It’s the story she’s told time and again in songs like Coat of Many Colors. And, at least to this mountain girl, it’s far preferable to railing against popular perceptions and misconceptions of hillbilly life; rather, she acknowledges its reality and celebrates its beauty. Miss Dolly has better things to do with her time, and I like to think that I do, too.
My aunt Marie and Uncle Ed with my father and aunt.
Dolly’s connections to her Appalachian upbringing don’t just resonate with me in a sociological analysis of mountain culture; her stories also feel very similar to my own mountain experiences. When Dolly’s nephew Bryan Seaver talks to Jad Abumrad about “Aunt Granny”, I immediately see my Momaw Ree — my great aunt Marie, an over-the-top fabulous aunt who had no kids herself, but who loved her dogs and spoiled her nieces and nephews. It’s a role I proudly find myself taking on with my own nieces as time progresses. In fact, just the other day, I found myself curling my eldest niece’s hair and saying “you know your hair turns out better if you listen to Dolly Parton while you’re fixing it, right?” To her credit, she nodded enthusiastically.
To me, Dolly Parton symbolizes a deep love of Appalachia and of folks who could use a helping hand. Her commitment to charities that help people in underserved areas — specifically her Imagination Library and her assistance to people of Gatlinburg who lost their homes to forest fires — is so remarkable. This isn’t about a wealthy singer looking for a tax shelter; it’s about helping people who, like Dolly herself, have experienced life in a tremendously economically depressed area.I love that she is about helping people get on their feet and make their own lives better. I love that she’s helping people without any sort of savior complex. When she references helping kids learn to love reading at an early age because her own daddy was illiterate, her words are filled with compassion, not exploitation.
My grandfather taught school and played a Martin guitar; he lived in a small Eastern Kentucky town.
For most folks who grew up in Appalachia, the land, the culture, and our own families are inextricably linked. We know that you’re committing the sin of vanity if you “get above your raisin’.” And, the “hillbilly music” that my granddaddy and his brother played will always tell part of our generational story. My grandfather loved old time country music, and he loved Miss Dolly. I suppose, as these things go, it makes sense that my daddy doesn’t particularly enjoy what is, to him,“dad music” like Dolly and Porter Wagoner — he’s more of an Allman Brothers and Beatles guy. But, I grew up with my grandparents listening to Dolly Parton and Loretta, and the voices of those strong women always take me back to my childhood.
Now, I’m pretty sure that Dolly’s message doesn’t just resonate with me. Obviously, she’s having a huge media moment. Walk into any Draper James store and their staff will tell you they can’t keep the What Would Dolly Do items on the shelf; look up the “Dolly Parton’s America” podcast on iTunes and you’ll see over seven thousand reviews. Dolly’s certainly having a moment, and I think it’s attributable to way more than having a good PR team. I think that her unwavering message of kindness is certainly something that we all need to hear these days. When Garden and Gun ran a feature article about the thirtieth anniversary of Steel Magnolias, an anecdote from playwright Robert Harling stuck out to me: “Julia said, ‘Dolly, we’re dying and you never say a word. Why don’t you let loose?’ Dolly very serenely smiled and said, ‘When I was young and had nothing, I wanted to be rich and famous, and now I am. So I’m not going to complain about anything.’” I mean, this is so beautiful and profound. It’s why Dolly deserves every ounce of adulation and recognition that she receives. And, it’s why she’s loved by such a disparate group of fans.
Dolly’s universal appeal, as referenced by Mr Abumrad throughout Dolly Parton’s America and celebrated in the film Dumplin’, is that she is equally loved by evangelicals and drag queens, hipsters and hillbillies. Part of this, of course, is her hauntingly beautiful singing voice and her rare talent for writing enduring songs. Part of it is her message of love and kindness — her conception of God as loving all people. Part of it, too, is her treatment of everyone with dignity. One of the most interesting points raised thus far in Dolly Parton’s America is what Dolly’s nephew Bryan Seaver calls “Dollitics” — Dolly’s personal and public views on political and social issues. She’s at once outspoken and evasive. The oddest and most uncomfortable portions of the Dolly Parton’s America podcast arise in regard to Dolly’s political stances. Mr Abumrad and his producer, Shima Oliaee, seem committed to the idea that Dolly almost owes them a declaration that, as a young Nashville singer-songwriter, she was a protofeminist. Similarly, they seemed floored that she won’t make a ragingly anti-Trump statement. The analysis seems very “Ok, Boomer” at times: maybe if we keep reframing feminist ideas in a palatable manner, we’ll force Dolly to admit that she espouses these views. Similarly, there’s an air of disbelief that she won’t renounce President Trump and his voters. We live in very polarizing political times, and I do think that there is a strong belief that every American falls neatly into the red-or-blue cable news ideological dichotomy - what my friends Sarah and Beth over at Pantsuit Politics call our political jerseys. Even Dolly’s sister, who teaches domestic violence awareness courses, has criticized Dolly’s refusal to openly declare political stances. That’s all a little odd to me.
We live in an era in which we all feel compelled to take strong political stances. Nearly all of us have friends and relatives who identify strongly along both sides of the partisan divide. It’s very easy in the era of party-specific news channels and seemingly endless daily Facebook rants to characterize those with whom we disagree as cartoonish buffoons. I know that I try in my own daily life to consider the motivations and merits of those who disagree with me. I want to see the same in Dolly Parton. I tend to hope that she’s trying to see the value in her disparate fans’ opinions. I like to think that Dolly embraces the diversity of messages her fans espouse — “I’m here for you evangelical Christian Republican AND for your hyper-liberal counterpart” is the very reason why she has established the universal appeal for which she’s currently being celebrated. She’s embraced her LGBTQ fans with such kindness and compassion in a manner that incorporates her own Christian faith, and she is resolute in providing a message of inclusion and grace for all. But, whether she’s America’s open-hearted “Aunt Granny” or a shrewd businesswoman who doesn’t want to piss off any of her constituent fan bases or, as is most likely the case, a little of both, how much of a political opinion do we actually need Dolly Parton to express? Is it necessary for the woman who gave us some of the greatest songs of the country music canon to also provide staunch political commentary? Maybe it’s enough for her to say “all of y’all are welcome in the Dollyverse. Let’s lay aside our political differences, I’ll make a boob joke, and we’ll all sing along to Jolene.”
I’ll be one down in the front row with my hair teased up as high as it’ll go.
Love Dolly as much as I do? Don’t miss my holiday gift guide for Dolly lovers!
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Keepsake T-Shirt Quilt by Campus Quilt
Louisville-based Campus Quilt Co turns a drawer full of t-shirts into a keepsake memory quilt!
(Disclosure: Campus Quilt Company created a custom quilt for me in exchange for an honest review of their product; all opinions are my own.)
When you write about Kentucky, you wind up with a lot of Kentucky-themed shirts. A LOT of shirts. More than one person could ever possibly wear. So, I was thrilled when Campus Quilt Company suggested that we collaborate on a t-shirt quilt.
Now, as y’all know, I take my quilts very seriously. Quilting is a serious legacy in my family. I even tried to make a quilt with my grandmother, but things didn’t turn out quite like I planned. I hold quilts to a really high standards because my grandmother has always made such exquisite pieces. I knew that Campus Quilt was the only t-shirt quilt company that would live up to those standards. They’re based right here in Louisville and have been in business for nearly 20 years! Their process was so simple and fun.
First, you order your quilt. You can order online or call 502-968-2850. You place a deposit for your quilt, and Campus Quilt will email or mail you instructions for how to prepare your shirts and where to send them. I’d advise washing your t-shirts without any fabric softener so they’re clean and ready to go!
Once you receive your kit, it’s time to get creative. You can choose the size of quilt you want — from lap quilt to king-sized bedspread — based on how many shirts you want to use. I went with the 30 shirt, full-sized quilt. As I said above, I have so many shirts that commemorate aspects of Kentucky life that I chose a Kentucky theme for my quilt. I chose 30 of my favorite designs and set up a bit of a pattern that roughly alternated light and dark designs. I laid out the shirts in order, then used the numbered stickers that came with my quilt kit to indicate where each design should go. (If you don’t want to choose the design yourself, you can ask the quilt makers at Campus Quilt to do it for you!) A lot of these shirts were very special to me — commemorating events or special places — so it was important to me to use a company I knew that I could trust to take good care.
You can customize your quilt as much as you want. It was very important to me to include sashing between the shirt designs. I grew up helping my grandmother cut and pin the sashing between her quilt blocks, and to me it’s just not a quilt without that sashing! I love that Campus Quilt gives you the option to choose sashing colors and quilt backing colors and fabric. Since most of my shirts were in blues and greens, I went with denim blue as the color for my backing and sashing. (Again, if you’re not fully sure what would look best, you can request that Campus Quilt choose fabrics for you!)
Finally, you fill out some paperwork, seal up your return kit, and ship everything back to Campus Quilt. I used UPS and was thrilled to see that it arrived at Campus Quilt Company within a couple of days. The communication was fantastic — I received email updates at every step of the process. And don’t tell my granny, but their turnaround time was faster than I’ve ever seen a quilt be made! I received my completed quilt in under two weeks!
The quilt is really beautiful, and so well-constructed. As you can tell, I’m a bit of a quilt snob. I know quality construction when I see it, and the Campus Quilt quality is amazing. They actually use long-arm quilting techniques; they don’t just tack the designs or use a lazy “stitch in the ditch” technique. If you aren’t familiar with sewing terms, just trust me when I say that you’re getting a thick, well-made quilt that will hold up as a keepsake.
Campus Quilt doesn’t just make t-shirt quilts. They can create memory quilts from flannel shirts, ties, baby clothes — basically any textile you want to commemorate.
I was thrilled with every part of the Campus Quilt process, from design to implementation. It’s such an amazing way to commemorate special events in your life! I’m already mentally planning more t-shirt quilt designs, from old sorority t-shirts to all that UK gear in my closet to my favorite bourbon distilleries. I can’t wait to order another Campus Quilt to make a meaningful scrapbook of the places I’ve been and the things I’ve done!
Campus Quilt and I want to share this experience with you. Visit my instagram to enter to win a t-shirt quilt (up to full-sized!) of your own! Thanks so much to Campus Quilt Co. for partnering with me on this post!
Anchal Project Fundraiser
Kentucky-based textile company helps women end the cycle of sex trafficking and domestic violence
Today is Give For Good Day here in Louisville. Over 500 local nonprofits will utilize the Give For Good online portal to raise funds. Many individual gifts will be matched or rewarded by corporate sponsors, maximizing the impact of these gifts.
Today, I have teamed up with my friends at Anchal Project to raise funds for their amazing organization. Anchal produces the most exquisitely beautiful textiles — scarves, bedding, home accessories, and bags — from upcycled materials dyed in a sustainable manner. But, the real beauty of Anchal is that they help their artisans — both in India and here in Kentucky — emerge from cycles of sex trafficking and domestic violence. Anchal not only produces wonderful goods; they’re providing economic empowerment for women and families on two continents.
Wearing my very favorite Anchal scarf!!
Over the past few years, I’ve had the great opportunity to get to know Colleen and Maggie Clines, the sisters behind Anchal Project. These women are amazing; they believe in their organization’s mission so deeply. When you hear them talk about their artisans — whom they call didis (Hindi for “elder sister”) — it is with so much respect and love. They are so committed to better lives for these women. I was converted from Anchal Fan to True Believer when I heard Colleen give this talk a few years ago.
Anchal is rapidly expanding, and they need your help. Maggie and Colleen are currently in India, planning 2020 projects with their team. They are expanding rapidly, but they need funds to meet their goals. They need to raise $12,000 during Give for Good in order to hire 2 new project assistants and purchase new ironing machines, a new washing machine five new sewing machines! Please visit my fundraising page and consider donation today. Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions!
#HerKentucky8 Charity Events
I appeared on Midday Kentucky this week to promote #herkentucky8. My Draper James dress is soo comfy and flattering and is on sale now!
Hey Y’all!
On Thursday, it’ll be eight years since the first blog post ran on HerKentucky.com. A lot has changed with this site — and with blogging in general — in the years since 2011! I’ve been so fortunate in recent years to have a great group of readers who share my interests as well as a fantastic network of professional partners.
I especially love that I have found a way to use my social media channels as a way to promote great causes. In the 2018 Fiscal Year, HerKentucky x Draper James Shop & Sip Events raised the equivalent of one month’s rent for Dress for Success Lexington!
To celebrate the eighth anniversary of HerKentucky, I’m participating in five charitable initiatives over a ten day period. I’m partnering with local and national brands to give back to charities that empower, enrich, and even save the lives of women in Kentucky and beyond.
Stop 1: Draper James
Tonight, Wednesday, Sept 11, from 6-8 pm, I’ll be at the Lexington Draper James store for a Shop & Sip benefiting Dress for Success Lexington! Dress For Success Lexington not only provides work clothing to low-income women in the Lexington area; they also provide training for economic empowerment and professional skills. I believe strongly in the Dress for Success mission, y’all. These folks are changing lives!!
Stop 2: Oxmoor Mall
On Thursday, Sept 12, from 5-7:30 pm, I’ll join the Ann Taylor team Oxmoor Mall for the Twisted Good Happy Hour benefiting Twisted Pink, a Louisville-based charity that raises funds for metastatic breast cancer research.
Stop 3: Anchal Project
This Thursday, September 12th, I’ll be partnering with Anchal Project to raise money through the @cflouisville #giveforgoodlou day of giving. Anchal is based right here in Louisville, but their scope is global. They help women (both in India and here in Louisville) to rise out of cycles of poverty, prostitution, abuse, and trauma by retraining those women as artisans. Anchal’s sustainably produced textiles — like the scarf I’m wearing above— are the softest, most beautiful pieces you’ll ever see; their impact is infinitely more beautiful.
Stop 4: Ann Taylor
On Saturday, Sept 14 from 1-5 pm, I’ll be at Ann Taylor in the Oxmoor Center for a Shop & Sip benefiting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. We’ll have champagne and special discounts, and I’ll be providing styling tips from the gorgeous new fall selection!
Stop 5: Recycle the Runway
Next Friday, September 20th, I’ll be at the Recycle the Runway fashion show benefiting Dress for Success Lexington. The event kicks off at 6 pm at Limestone Hall!
I hope to see y’all at these events!!
Louisville Palace Ticket Giveaway
Celebrate the Palace Theater’s 91st Birthday with two Fun Giveaways!
The Louisville Palace is one of the most recognizable and unique buildings in the Downtown Louisville landscape. The venue opened as a “movie house” — the Loews and United Artists State Theater — on September 1, 1928. These days, it exists as a beautifully renovated venue for concerts and comedians, drinks, the occasional movie, and even private events!
The Palace has graciously extended some fun giveaways for HerKentucky readers. Y’all can enter to win tickets to two events this week!
First up is two tickets to Wednesday night’s Rob Thomas show. Rob Thomas is, of course, the frontman for Matchbox Twenty and the guy behind about a million radio hits that you’ve sung along to. Enter to win using the rafflecopter widget below. You can enter until midnight Tuesday night; I’ll contact the winner first thing Wednesday morning and set up the will-call for your tickets.
The Palace is also offering one HerKentucky reader two tickets to see Tesla on Friday night. I know y’all ‘90s kids remember Love Song. (Love will find a wayyy — serious high school dance vibes right there!) Enter below to win — runs through midnight Thursday night, and the winner will be contacted Friday morning.
Thanks so much to the Louisville Palace for providing these tickets. Comment below and let me know if you have any great memories at the Palace Theater!
Frida Kahlo Exhibit at the Frist Art Museum
A review of the Mexican Modernism exhibition at Nashville’s Frist Museum
Self-Portrait as a Tehuana (Diego on my Mind) by Frida Kahlo
A couple of weeks ago, Bob and I took a quick overnight trip to Nashville for an appointment. I was thrilled that this schedule allowed us to see the Mexican Modernism exhibition at the Frist Museum! Several paintings by Frida Kahlo, along with several more by her husband Diego Rivera, were the focal point of the show. I couldn’t contain my excitement that we’d get to go see these works, as Frida Kahlo has been my very favorite artist since I was a teenager. In fact, I kept a postcard print of the above painting, Self-Portrait as a Tehuana (Diego on my Mind), on my dorm room bulletin boards throughout college.
I was so excited to see Frida’s paintings that I ordered a copy of my favorite non-required-reading book from college, Hayden Herrera’s Frida: The Biography of Frida Kahlo. I wanted to remember all of the important details of Frida’s life, influences, and work before I saw her paintings!
Y’all, this exhibition was amazing. I’m not kidding you, I was in tears several times as I looked up close at works I’d previously only seen in reproduction. Even if you aren’t a Frida junkie like me, it’s a very well-done series. The works in the exhibition are from the Jacques and Natasha Gilman collection, and include many of the most celebrated and recognizable works from Rivera, Kahlo, and several of their contemporaries.
Self-Portrait in Red and Gold Dress by Frida Kahlo
Self-Portrait with Monkeys by Frida Kahlo
In addition to the fantastic array of paintings, the exhibit includes over fifty photos from Frida and Diego’s lives together. The photos cover the major events in the Frida & Diego mythology, from their two weddings to their political activism (they even helped house Leon and Natalia Trotsky in exile in Mexico City) to the ravages of Frida’s lifelong health issues, the result of a childhood bout of polio and a trolley car accident she survived as a teenager. A video of Frida and Diego plays against one wall, and several traditional Tehuana costumes, like those favored by Frida, are on display.
The exhibit runs through September 2nd; I’m seriously considering running back down for a second viewing over the holiday weekend! It was such a great reminder that Nashville hasn’t become all Bro-Country bars and bachelorette parties. Stay tuned for more adventures in how to do Nashville like an adult!
