Pamela Anderson’s guide to happiness

When Pamela Anderson walks into the room, the energy shifts. But if she notices, she doesn’t show it. ​“How cute is this?” Anderson says to two women standing near her, gesturing to the food created by Sophie Dalah. Dalah, who Anderson didn’t realise she was speaking to, tells her she made it. ​“Oh my gosh! It’s incredible.” They continue speaking about the tablescape inspiration (‘70s dining tropes) as Anderson fills a glass with pink punch.

Anderson then goes to hug her children, Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee, who’ve just arrived at the launch of her collaboration with Los Angeles-born denim and ready-to-wear brand RE/​DONE. It’s the afternoon after the Oscars and if Anderson is tired, she doesn’t look it. She’s wearing a light washed denim shirt tucked into jeans with open-toe heels. Her long blonde hair is loose and, as has become her signature as of late, there’s not a drop of makeup on her face.

Anderson is approached a lot for collaborations, but creating a collection with RE/​DONE felt natural and authentic – two things she’s valuing highly these days, since making the move back to Vancouver Island to renovate her grandparent’s old house and reconnecting with the woman she was before she became a celebrity. The conversations began a year ago, when her eldest son texted RE/​DONE founders Jamie Mazur and Sean Barron to tell them his mum couldn’t stop wearing one of their tees. Lunch was suggested and from there the idea to pay homage to some of Anderson’s most iconic looks came into fruition. Not the ones on the cover of Playboy or from red carpet events, but the off-duty moments during some of her happiest times, when she was a young mother spending time at the beach, going to the grocery store and doing school runs with her two young boys.

“We already knew Pam, but from all the things she’s done over the past couple of years, now we really know Pam, love her even more and realise how closely our values align,” Mazur says. ​“She’s cool as shit.”

The 25-piece capsule includes denim based on a pair of jeans Anderson’s worn forever, miniskirts covered with silver sparkles and T‑shirts: a ​“Girls” long-sleeve inspired by a baby tee Anderson wore in 1996 and one which reads ​“Pam’s Guide to Happiness”. Below, Anderson tells us exactly how she found just that.

You lived in LA for a long time. What do you think of the city now?

I mean, when I first moved to LA, I was really kind of frightened. A small town girl moving to the big city. My sons feel like they’re kind of sick of LA now, but it’s a nice place to visit. I mean, I love Malibu. But when you’re living here for a long time, you start feeling like a mascot. Now I’m coming back with a new perspective.

It feels like you’re in this incredible era of reclamation, over your image, your career, your story, your looks. This collection is also about reclaiming your old wardrobe on your own terms. It all feels very aligned.

I’ve had a lot of people come to me over the years and want to do these capsule collections based on pink and plastic and I always said, ​“this is not me.” But this. This is me. It really is. I grew up in a rainforest on Vancouver Island, surrounded by animals, wild animals, rescued animals, and even just living by the ocean in Malibu. So I felt there was something in there, but no one really thought of me in that way. And these guys [Mazur and Barron] have known my kids since they were tiny, so it made sense. I like to see where the stars align and what fits.

You had a lot of input over all elements of this collection, including the campaign imagery and shooting with a team made up of exclusively women. But on the clothes specifically, how did they come together?

The looks in this collection are very much what I would wear to the grocery store back in the day when my kids were really small. The body suits, the jeans, wrap skirts, tank tops, baby tees and onesies. It’s everything I used to wear. It’s nostalgic. And now is the perfect time because I get to take little pieces of the past, which are fun and youthful and embody this free spirit I’ve been reconnecting to, and blend it with what I wear and who I am now.

What’s your favourite look of all time?

My favourite look of all time? Now! The no makeup thing, the pared down thing. The living in my garden, farm-meets-Malibu kind of vibe.

What are you wearing when you’re feeling your best?

Jeans and a T‑shirt.

You looked beautiful at the Oscars after-party. I saw people saying you were one of the best dressed.

Oh my gosh, really? Wow. Oscar de la Renta at the Oscars.

What is the brief when you use a stylist?

I don’t have a stylist. I do it myself. I don’t ever work with a stylist. Anytime I’ve worked with a stylist in the past, it’s always been a big mistake.

Wow. So how did you come about this look?

Oscar has been wanting to work with me for a long time, so they called me directly and they gave me a bunch of options. I didn’t even try it on. I was in Canada. They shipped me that dress, and I loved it. But I talked to them directly, I don’t have a stylist. No glam team, no stylist. I feel comfortable in my own skin and, you know, all these RE/​DONE pieces, they were created by me. These are just me in the moment thinking, ​“Oh, this is comfortable. This is cool. This is cute.” I feel like those are the things you’re remembered for: the looks you create, not the ones people put on you. You go to the Oscars and there’s always this whole team, and you’re doing what they tell you. Even me wearing that dress. My kids wanted me to wear something else. They’re like, ​“I don’t know if this is a good look, mum.” Everyone has an opinion. I’m like, ​“Okay, I can dress myself.” You do you and I’ll do me.

That’s very refreshing with how many brand deals are behind red carpet looks now. And even style in general, everything has become very monotonous.

Thank you. I’m not even trying to stir the pot, or trying to influence anyone to do what I’m doing, but I do love a little jolt into the system, to throw a little wrench into everything. Because, like you said, it’s this machine. So what do we even like? We like what other people like. I always try to check in with myself. That’s why I do my journaling and my newsletter, my little open journal thing, because I always want to know what I’m thinking outside of the noise. It’s been helpful for me to live back on Vancouver Island, to be amongst nature. I’ve been able to get everybody out of my head and realise, this is fine I’m happy with the way I look underneath it all.

Earlier you mentioned seeing where the stars align… do you believe in manifestation?

I do believe in manifestation. I do believe. I think that you are your thoughts. And you know, happiness begets happiness. Violence begets violence. It’s true. You have to find your peace and enjoy the ride. Every chapter is different. As we get older, we definitely learn things.

What are you manifesting right now?

Love [laughs].

A man?

Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it’s been a long time. I’ve been on my own really trying to figure out my own self worth and all those things. So I’m glad I spent this year alone. And who knows what’s around the corner. But now I’m just starting to think about it. It’s starting to become an interesting idea to me. I can tell when I start getting a little starry eyed…

It’s time to begin making the potion.

Exactly, making my own little love potion, write the list [laughs].

Speaking of writing, you’ve been journaling a lot and have released a newsletter, which includes poetry. Who do you read a lot of?

Anaïs Nin, Frida Kahlo and Dorothy Parker. Virginia Woolf, all these great writers. And Emily Dickinson, if you’re thinking just poetry. But I love streams of consciousness and reading diaries. That’s why I love Anaïs Nin, I love her journaling.

When I told my mum I was interviewing you, she screamed. She’s loved you forever, but finds it very powerful that you have stopped wearing makeup. Did you think the response to your choice to embrace your natural, bare face publicly would be as impactful and as major?

No. But it was major for me. I was doing it for me. I was just thinking, ​“I don’t want to play this game. I want to get off the crazy train and just accept myself.” And it resonated. You never know what’s going to resonate. You’re not thinking it’s going to be a political statement or anything. But I’m glad because I think there are a ton of impossible beauty standards that we’re all trying to achieve. People start looking the same. I just felt like it was so much work. I’ve realised what people really respond to, what people gravitate to is a magic mind, a unique thinker. Because we’re all just trying to figure out who we are.

And authenticity.

And authenticity, yes.

How does it feel to have your authentic self out there and for the world to have embraced you for it?

It’s wild. It’s wild. Because we all try. Sitting in a makeup chair for three hours, hair and makeup, doesn’t make anyone like you more. You know, my mum is like, ​“Put a little lipgloss on, or a little eye on”. I’m like, ​“Mum, I’m just having a free moment.” I don’t know what my next incarnation is going to be. But I’m paring it all back. I don’t know what I’m gonna do next. It’ll hit me and then we’ll do it. It’s not like I’m done forever. I love makeup. I love glam. I love fashion. It’s just going to happen organically. I’m just kind of following the signs. It’s fun, it’s a very freeing place to be. Because even when I did go to those couple of fashion shows, I felt so good. I was wearing this big floppy hat at Andreas’ show for Vivienne Westwood and I was looking around and it was so plastered. I was like, ​“God, that’s so much work”. And I just feel like this little kid in this amazing outfit. I still feel like a little girl.