The Pamela Anderson mania sparked by her Netflix documentary this year has blessed us with many things. Not only did we get Pamela’s personal perspective on her endlessly documented rise to fame, we got some excellent hairstyle inspiration as a bonus. The ’90s pammy updo — think hair piled haphazardly on top of the head and two parts framing the face left loose in the front — has been everywhere ever since. Some of our favorite stars also love the style.
Take Rihanna, who recently pulled off an enviable all-red maternity look with a Pam-inspired hairdo while on a date with A$` Rocky in New York. After playing Anderson in Hulu’s Pam + Tommy, Lily James really leaned into her character’s aesthetic on the press tour, with a knotted hairstyle created by hair stylist Halley Brisker. And Nicola Peltz Beckham, who’s always quick to jump on a ’90s trend, wears the look alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Katie Holmes and Kim Kardashian. Anderson herself is still wearing her signature style 30 years later.
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Pamela Anderson in 1994.
Brisker works with a number of celebrity clients – including James, Simone Ashley and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley – on their red carpet looks and says he’s channeled a lot of Anderson’s ’90s hair lately. “I was a kid in the ’90s and I’ve been obsessed with pictures from that time ever since,” he tells me over the phone. “Pam was all about piling hair on top of her head. The key to this whole ’90s thing was the falling strands of hair and what was left out of the style rather than kept.”
Ideal for both casual and more formal occasions, Pam looks effortless and is flattering on most face shapes and hair textures. All it really takes is a stealth pinning of the hair into some sort of shape at the crown of the head. “It’s about creating a silhouette,” says Brisker. “That’s all that really matters about this one – how you get there doesn’t matter. Nobody will tell you that you didn’t do it right. The main thing is to feel confident about how it looks.”
But he does have a few tips: “If you want to try this type of hairstyle, I would advise you to use images first – that’s what we hairdressers do, and we are professionals,” he says. “Go to Google and look at any image or style you like and memorize the shape.” He also stresses that it doesn’t matter if something goes wrong, hairstyles like the Pam are about letting the hair do its own thing (to an extent) so play with it instead of striving for perfection.
How to create the pam at home
1. Separate into three parts
“The more hair you have to process, the easier it will be for you to create this style. Start by dividing your hair into three sections: Part the head horizontally from ear to ear so you have a back and a front. Then, split the front section in half so you have two sections on each side of your head.”
2. Create ponytails
“Pull both front sections into separate small ponytails at the top of your head, then pull up the back of the hair somewhere in the middle of the two you just created.”
3. Fold and twist
“Once you have these three ponytails, all you have to do is find a way to fold and twist them into a fun shape, making sure to let out some tendrils of hair in the front to frame the face.”
4. Secure the silhouette
“An easy way to create the shape is to pin the back ponytail down, then pull each front ponytail side by side and fold them on top of each other and secure with an elastic. You can loop them together and let them fall on top of each other, a bit like shoelaces. Slip one loop through the other loop’s hole so they fall on opposite sides.”
The best celebrity updos “Pam” to inspire you now
Kim Kardashian
Photo: Getty Images
LilyJames
Kate Holmes
Photo: Getty Images
Pamela Anderson
Photo: Getty Images
Yara Shahidi
Photo: @yarashahidi
Anya Taylor Joy
Photo: Getty Images
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