Dolly Parton Refuses to 'Tone Down' Her Look for Anyone: 'You've Got to Find Out Who You Are'

Don't mess with Dolly Parton!

The beloved country singer revealed that she wouldn't change her unique style in an excerpt of the first episode of the "What Would Dolly Do? Radio" podcast, which premieres on Wednesday, October 25.

While discussing the evolution of her look over the years, Parton told co-host Kelleigh Bannen that her "dear friend" Chet Atkins once suggested she should soften her appearance.

"He said, ‘Dolly, I really don’t believe that people are going to take you serious as a singer and songwriter unless you tone down your look. You’re a right pretty girl. You don’t need all that,'" she recalled. "And I said, ‘Well, okay, I’ll take that to heart, Mr. Atkins. Thank you for your advice.’ And of course, I just got worse with it. And years later, after I became a star, he sidled up beside me and said, ‘Now, ain’t you glad you listened to my good advice?’"

When Bannen asked her what she would say to someone today if they told her that, the "9 to 5" singer quipped, "I'd say, 'Go to h---. I ain't doing it."

"My true belief with most things, you’ve got to really find out who you are, what makes you happy, what you’re comfortable in, and if you feel like you look your best, according to your rules, then you are going to do your best," she explained. "I really believe that. And I think everybody has their own little things they love. To me, that is what fashion is."

In another excerpt, Parton revealed that teasing her hair and "wearing too much makeup" earned her a bad reputation growing up.

"A lot of the mothers in school thought that I was a bad influence on some of their girls, thinking I was too cheap, a little too this, too that," she said. "And their daughters were the ones that were making all the trouble, running with the boys and all that. And I was actually pretty innocent in that respect."

"I think I wanted to be pretty. I’m not a natural beauty, but I can paint it up to where I can get away with it," she said, referring to her love for makeup. "But it was just always in me to wear lipstick."

"Even when I was little bitty, I would get in trouble because I would find all the natural things living back there in the mountains," she continued. "I would pick poke berries that stain forever, and I’d paint my lips and make jewelry and all sorts of things with that."

Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!

Despite what others thought about her fashion sense and makeup application, the "Jolene" singer shared that her mother always "understood that I was just trying to be myself."

"Mama trusted me too," she added. "She knew that I was a singer and I was creative and that I was different. And so she tried to keep me in check as much as she could. But she did understand."

Variety shared the excerpts of Parton's new podcast episode.