There’s something about Pamela Anderson, that's like indulging in a sherbet fizz or painting your nails a bright shade of fluorescent orange. In terms of a suitable role model for young girls, she was hardly Mary Poppins. But for us nineties kids, Pam - with her flowing peroxide blonde locks, voluptuous figure and golden tan - was a glimpse into the mysterious, forbidden and glamorous world of sex and womanhood that seemed for us at the time a million light years away.

During the Baywatch era, she was something of an icon and fantasy to girls and boys everywhere. Teenage magazines would offer advice on how to recreate her look, such as applying her signature brown lip liner with geometric precision. (One article memorably stated that Pamela would need a good undereye concealer ‘to cover up the evidence of all those late boozy nights.’) 

"There was - and arguably still is - something deliciously rebellious and slightly forbidden about wanting to look like this impossibly sexy Baywatch babe."

One certainly wouldn't describe her as an 'enigmatic beauty,' yet there was - and arguably still is - something deliciously rebellious and slightly forbidden about wanting to look like this impossibly sexy Baywatch babe - which isn't about merely gratifying male fantasies. In her book Female Chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy notes Paris Hilton's telling remark that she was 'sexy but not sexual'. Yet there was no doubt that Pamela was in the latter camp, being one of the few women who looked like she enjoyed sex and wasn’t ashamed to admit it (made evident by the famous tabloid snaps of her brazenly devouring the face of then-husband, tattooed bad boy rocker Tommy Lee.) 

Many would argue that there are more wholesome beauty icons for young girls to look up to - yet people probably felt the same way about the likes of Bettie Page and her ilk in the 50s. And in the same way as Page, Pamela has always exuded an air of being in control and unapologetic about the person she is, that transcends that sexy, trashy persona that made her a household name.  It's not her body and fake boobs we should all be aspiring to, it's her attitude.

Unlike her fellow flash-in-the-pan pin ups of the 90s, what makes Pamela such an icon is that her look has endured. We still can’t get enough of those ice blue eyes, peroxide hair and brighter-than-bright, slightly salacious smile. You only need to look at the recent column inches devoted to her new pixie crop hair cut (and new sightings of what might be a more brunette colour?) to see proof of that. She was also famously snapped up by Vivienne Westwood in 2008 to star alongside the designer in a campaign shot by Juergen Teller. Teller remarked after shooting the two women 'I’d never seen photos quite like them before: with Vivienne and Pamela, these opposite poles of people, this weird mix of flash and no flash, everything ugly and beautiful at the same time – a sort of mess.'

"Unlike her fellow flash-in-the-pan pin ups of the 90s, what makes Pamela such an icon is that her look has endured."

And for those who accuse her of being a bad role model, she’s also been a committed animal rights activist for several years, starring in many campaigns for PETA and has famously protested against large corporations' mistreatment of animals, such as Kentucky Fried Chicken. She even spoke at The Cambridge Union earlier this year, following in the footsteps of Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt and Sir John Major. 

So here's to you Pam. There's still a part of us that would like to be you and although we may not be getting breast implants, bleaching our hair or slipping into a red high-cut swimming costume any time soon, we'll definitely be sporting a (perfectly applied) brown lip liner in your honour.

Take a look at our gallery above as we run (slow motion down a beach, if you will) through our favourite Pammie pics of all time.