2023 has been subject to a lot of pop culture trends so far, but I think it'd be fair to add Year of the Blonde Bombshell to the list of options, thanks both to Barbie becoming a Hollywood juggernaut and to Pamela Anderson's re-ascension within the zeitgeist. The Baywatch vet has been embraced anew in light of her Netflix documentary and memoir being released, and fans have enjoyed bringing her iconic '90s looks back as much as they've embraced pinked-out Barbiecore fashion. While the Venn diagram for Pammy and Barbie doesn't necessarily feature tons of direct crossovers, the model revealed a sweet story about her connection to the doll's creator Ruth Handler.
Speaking with Elle about her latest fashion campaign for Aritzia's Babaton collection — which sees her wearing snazzy business attire while mowing the lawn and performing other outdoorsy chores — Anderson spoke candidly about her past, and how extremely uncalculated her clothing choices were during her 20s, not realizing that those specific looks would be embraced by influencers who hadn't even been born yet. One of her most recognizable looks involves the quasi-legendary red swimsuit from Baywatch, and is itself something of a reminder of a very early Barbie release that rocked a similar outfit. And as it happens, that particular doll was at the heart of Anderson's memory about its creator. In her words:
