Dolly Parton Skin-Colored Gloves Theory

About

The Dolly Parton Skin-Colored Gloves Theory is a conspiracy theory which purports that country musician Dolly Parton wears flesh-colored gloves with fake nails attached to them to either make her hands look younger or to hide tattoos or a scar. Alternatively, many think she is wearing flesh-colored compression gloves, which end at the knuckle, for arthritis, or that it is simply a fashion choice. Theories pondering why Parton wears long sleeves and gloves have spread online throughout the late 2010s. The skin-colored gloves theory went viral on TikTok in December 2022.

Origin

Purportedly, Dolly Parton began wearing fingerless gloves during her media appearances around 2010, leading some fans to wonder why she started wearing them. She is also always seen in long sleeves. A rumor started to spread online throughout the 2010s that she wore the sleeves and gloves to cover up her tattoos, rumored to cover most of her body. Parton has admitted before that she has some tattoos.^[1] In 2011, Duane Gordon, the owner of the Dollymania fan site, claimed that a source told him she was asked about it during the filming of Joyful Noise and that she started to wear gloves to cover up a scar left after having corrective hand surgery.^[2] In 2019, InStyle^[3] published an article where Dolly's creative director Steve Summers says she wears the gloves as a "matter of taste," saying quote, "[They ask] 'what’s wrong with her hands?' She’s 73, and she doesn’t like them! It’s a normal woman thing."

On September 28th, 2022, TikToker^[4] @moonbowapothecary posted a video discussing the tattoo theory. During the video, she shows images of Parton's hands, pointing out that she's wearing what looks like "pantyhose" over her hands with fake nails on top of them, suggesting it's to cover her ever-growing collection of tattoos, gaining over 28,000 views in three months (shown below, left). On October 2nd, TikToker^[5] @jdm331 comment-replied on the video suggesting they might be arthritis gloves, garnering over 300,000 views in two months (shown below, right).

Spread

The theory spread across TikTok over the following months, with many people sharing support for Parton if she wants to wear the gloves to make her hands look younger. On December 6th, 2022, TikToker^[6] @spork_lift posted a video sharing the theory about her wearing the gloves to make her hands look young, claiming to support her choice if it makes her comfortable, garnering over 400,000 views in three weeks. On December 7th, TikToker^[7] @lolosaysnono posted a stitch to the video agreeing with the theory, also mentioning the possibility of arthritis, garnering over 1.4 million views in a similar span of time (shown below).

On December 20th, TikToker^[8] @hannahbearbraun posted a duet of one of Parton's videos claiming she noticed the skin-colored gloves in it, garnering over 7 million views in a week (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References