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Replica Dolly Parton wigs at hairdresser’s show

Samantha Noble
BBC News, Derby
BBC Sarah Wood on the right - she is sitting down, has black hair, red lipstick, is wearing a cream dress and scarf and checked jacket with her exhibition including wigs and framed photographs behind her. BBC
Sarah Necia Wood has been designing wigs for over two decades

A celebrity hairdresser and wig maker from Derby is hosting an exhibition of her work, including replicas of hair pieces made for Dolly Parton.

Sarah Necia Wood, from Spondon, has a pop-up show at Dubrek Studios, in Derby, for the next two months.

It is the first time Mrs Wood - who has been featured in British Vogue and Cosmopolitan magazines - has put on an exhibition.

She told BBC Radio Derby: "The exhibition is a look at my favourite work over the past few years, with some of the archival Dolly wigs and stuff I have worked on in music videos and fashion film."

Steven Summers A photo of the top half of Sarah Wood - on the left - and Dolly Parton. Sarah has black hair, white flowers in her hair and is wearing something grey and glittery. Dolly Parton is pointing at Sarah, and is wearing a pale outfit with diamantes and feathers on. Steven Summers
Sarah Wood has been working with Dolly Parton since 2020

Other celebrity wigs on show in Derby include reproductions of a piece she created for fashion designer Richard Quinn, and another for burlesque star Dita Von Teese.

Talking about how she met Parton, the 38-year-old said: "Her team emailed me and I ignored it because I thought it was fake.

"After thinking about it a bit more, I went back to that email and actually it wasn’t fake.

"We ended up doing the Graham Norton show in 2020 where she was dressed as Santa – it was pretty wild.

"I did her niece’s hair. It was her niece that got in touch and I did her hair, Dolly loved it, and it went on from there. I am very proud to be part of Team Dolly."

Two wigs - one with long black hair and the other with shorter blonde hair - can be seen on display at the exhibition, along with framed photographs.
After the exhibition, Parton's wigs will return to Nashville, said Mrs Wood

Mrs Wood - who has also worked with singer Raye - said the archival Parton wigs, which were made to go on display at the Dollywood theme park, take a long time because they have to be "period correct".

"Trying to live up to the standards of how iconic it was at the time is such a big job so I’m very proud to have that job," she said.

A collage of dozens of Polaroid photographs of wigs Sarah Wood has made.
Dozens of Polaroid photographs of wigs Sarah Wood has made are on display at the exhibition

She said the archive wigs were synthetic, but the ones Parton wears now were mostly human wigs "so I get to play with both".

Mrs Wood, who used to work at the Royal Derby Hospital as a nutrition assistant, added: "It’s still a pinch-me moment with the people I work with, but it’s all about being creative and doing something I love."

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