Fashion

These 35 Looks Prove Pamela Anderson Is Hollywood’s Top Bombshell

3 February 2022

Photos: Getty Images

By now, you’ve probably already seen Lily James’s uncanny on-screen transformation into Pamela Anderson in the new Hulu series, Pam & Tommy. The show follows Anderson and Tommy Lee’s infamous relationship in the ’90s, when the couple’s honeymoon sex tape was stolen and leaked to the public. To portray Anderson, James sports a bleach-blonde wig, heavy eyeliner, and the actor’s signature skinny eyebrows (don’t forget the skin-tight clothes and sky-high heels, too). The costume is a deliberately campy homage to the bombshell look that Anderson has perfected in Hollywood over the past four decades. And in honour of the buzzy series, let’s take a look back at 35 of Anderson’s best looks of all time.

Anderson has always had a knack for turning heads. She was first “discovered” in 1989 when she was 22. After she was splashed on a Jumbotron at a football game in B.C., Canada, to great applause, she was signed as a model to be a Lebatt Beer “Blue Zone” girl. In 1991, she made her television debut on Home Improvement as Lisa, the Tool Time Girl. Anderson went on to star in several TV shows afterwards, including Baywatch, V.I.P., and Stacked. But it was her public appearances that truly cemented her as a star: She hit the red carpets in sexy minidresses and skin-tight corsets, becoming a style icon in her own right throughout the ’90s and ’00s.

She took her signature skin-baring aesthetic to new heights when she began dating Tommy Lee, a founding member of the rock group Mötley Crüe, in the ’90s. Together, the pair gallivanted around Hollywood in the best edgy-chic ensembles. Lee would wear leather pants, and Anderson would sport low-cut dresses or miniskirts by his side. One of their best couple style moments to date was at the 1999 VMAs, when Lee wore a Burberry trench coat and Anderson sported a pink fuzzy hat designed by Ivy Supersonic, paired with a snatched white corset and beaded trousers.

Anderson has since gone on to wear many more corsets, often designed by her close friend, Vivienne Westwood. Today, she’s still a muse to the designer, having starred in several Westwood campaigns, most recently in 2017. As a vegan, animal rights activist, and PETA advocate, Anderson’s recent style has seen her stray away from wearing any leather and furs – a move she attributes to Westwood. “I started with animals and moved to environmental causes with Vivienne Westwood,” she wrote in a 2018 op-ed for The Guardian. “She and I are kindred spirits, and I’ve learned so much from her.”

In the past few years, Anderson has been spotted attending the shows at Chanel and Balmain during fashion week. She continues to be a red carpet fixture at 54, continuing to embrace glamorous gowns and spunky silhouettes. In The Guardian op-ed, she spoke on finally finding her true style stride. “There was a time in my life when everyone was doing everything for me – even my husbands were dressing me,” she wrote. “But for the first time in my life I don’t have an army of people making decisions for me. I can finally decide for myself.”

Below, 35 of Anderson’s best bombshell looks.