As a visitor of Nashville this last weekend, I decided a country western starlet would have to be this weeks style icon. Most of Nashville’s mid-century songstresses went the gaudy western costume route of sequins, fringe, and huge shoulder pads. June Carter Cash, however, brought a sweet and understated hip style to the stage as well as off. Made even more famous by Reese Witherspoon’s Oscar winning portrayal of her in the biopic Walk the Line, Carter Cash first began her career performing with her sisters and mother Maybelle in the group The Carter Family. She went on to a solo career and married one of music’s most influential legends Johnny Cash in 1968 whom she shared the rest of her life with until her death in 2003.
Her ability to play multiple instruments (banjo, guitar, harmonica, tambourine, and autoharp) and her fierce loyalty to her alcoholic husband, Mrs. Cash is more than a style icon with her full skirted floral dresses--she is a role model to women. With a steadfast determination, a woman can have it all: career, an appreciative husband, children, and a little fashion flair to boot.
A young June on the far right with a few of her friends.
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash costumes they performed in at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN.
REESE WITHERSPOON AS JUNE CARTER CASH IN
Walk the Line.
My version of June: 1960's vintage white, pink and brown floral dress from Jet Rags' Sunday dollar sale; vintage cowboy boots from flea market.
Close-up on vintage cowboy boots.