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6-year-old adorably dresses as Dolly Parton

1:20
6-year-old goes viral after dressing up as Dolly Parton for school
Courtesy of Dana Troglen
ByYi-Jin Yu
March 28, 2023, 4:39 PM

Move over, Dolly! Six-year-old Stella is stealing the spotlight!

Dana Troglen shared a TikTok video of her 6-year-old daughter Stella Ruby dressed as Dolly Parton while walking into school in costume, complete with a mini guitar. The clip, shared on March 2, has since gone viral with 3 million views.

Dana Troglen's six-year-old daughter Stella went to school dressed up as Dolly Parton.
Courtesy Dana Troglen

Stella Ruby dressed up as one her favorite singers, the iconic Parton, for "book character day" at her school at the end of February. Her ensemble included a blond wig, a star-spangled dress, golden leggings and a mini guitar.

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Dana Troglen's six-year-old daughter Stella went to school dressed up as Dolly Parton.
Courtesy of Dana Troglen

"I [chose] Dolly 'cause I like her very much and it's a fun thing to do," the first grader told "Good Morning America."

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Troglen, a mom of two and the photographer behind Wandering Maverick Photo and Film in Tennessee, said she helped make her daughter's costume and couldn't resist sharing it on social media.

Dana Troglen is a mom of two daughters, who are now 6 and 15.
Courtesy Dana Troglen

"I love to make videos and so I just started recording her walking into school and threw some music on there and I could not control my laughter," Troglen said, adding, "[It's] just a normal mom thing to share."

The mom-and-daughter team tapped their creativity to pull together the magical outfit.

"Dolly's always sparkly and so we pulled our sparkly pieces and we coincidentally just had that dress with the stars on it that had a similar neckline and I just cut up some birthday fringe and fabric glued it down her sleeves and made it a little bit shiny and extra," Troglen explained.

Troglen shared a video clip of her daughter dressed as Dolly Parton on TikTok, which has since gone viral with 3 million views.
Courtesy Dana Troglen

Stella Ruby said she loved transforming into Parton, even breaking into song during her interview with "GMA," belting out her favorite Parton hit, "Jolene."

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"We love dress up days. We like to have fun with them and just go the extra mile, fuel our creativity. We like to make our own stuff a lot," Troglen added.

Troglen said she helped make her daughter's Dolly Parton costume with a store-bought blond wig and a white shirt modified with a birthday party banner.
Courtesy Dana Troglen

Troglen said she's happy her now-viral video has been able to bring a bright moment to others online.

"I thought it was really cool to make some people laugh," the 39-year-old said. "So many people got a really good kick out of it."

"I'm glad that everybody found some joy in it like we did," she added.

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