It s hard to believe that Britney Spears turns 35 today. Doesn t it seem like just yesterday that she was dancing around in a classroom in a Catholic schoolgirl uniform, pink pom-poms in her hair? Since then, there have been plenty of highs and lows in the pop star s life—those unforgettable VMA performances, those very forgettable marriages—but through it all, one constant remained: Britney Spears plays by her own set of rules. (“It’s Britney, bitch,” take it or leave it.) In honor of her 35th birthday, here we remember (in no particular order) 35 times that Britney Spears did exactly what she wanted—and made us love her all the more.
1. Who was responsible for costuming the music video for “. . . Baby One More Time”? Who cares! Britney ditched the planned jeans and T-shirt and came up with her now-iconic schoolgirl outfit instead.
2. Eighteen-year-old Britney s surprise striptease at the MTV Video Music Awards solidified her reputation as a sex symbol—and made her the number one enemy of every suburban mom in the country.
4. She wore this to the 2000 Billboard Music Awards. This!
5. Who says underwear must go under pants? In the music video for “I m a Slave 4 U,” Britney pulled off a look not even Regina George could master.
6. And speaking of underwear, what better way to show off one’s love for Madonna than by dancing to “Open Your Heart” in your knickers? If you’re Britney (and starring in Crossroads), there is no better way.
7. And then she scandalized even more moms when she kissed Madonna at the 2003 MTV VMA.
8. Britney recorded “Touch of My Hand,” a song about masturbation, a full 12 years before Hailee Steinfeld made headlines with her own take.
9. Always the romantic, she ran off with her childhood friend, Jason Alexander, and got married in Vegas (and was spotted wearing a trucker hat around the same time, no less).
10. And then she probably realized that there’s a reason people take their time with these things, and annulled said marriage, a mere 55 hours later.
11. And then there was that time that she poked fun at her own virginity scandal by wearing a tank top that read: “I’m a virgin, but this is an old T-shirt” out in Santa Monica.
12. Not to be beaten down by the ever-present paparazzi, Britney introduced Kevin Federline to the world by frolicking around a beach with him in her bikini.
13. And then she proposed to Federline after dating him for only three months, because, well, she was still a romantic.
14. Remember that no-holds-barred reality show, Britney Kevin: Chaotic, about her burgeoning relationship with Federline?
15. And then there’s her preponderance for walking around gas stations barefoot.
16. Because of her unashamed love of Cheetos.
17. Because of her unashamed love of Frappuccinos.
18. Because of her unashamed love of Uggs.
19. She loves the female form! And proved it when she posed pregnant and nude.
20. After her divorce from Kevin Federline, she rebounded by striking up a tabloid-ready friendship with then-infamous Hollywood party girls Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.
21. When a woman at a hair salon refused to shave her head, she just grabbed the pair of clippers and did it herself. Because it may have been a symptom of a larger problem, but it was her own head, damn it.
22. How she was kind of fabulously, sometimes brutally, honest as a judge for The X Factor.
23. And then there was that time that she posted a video to her Instagram painting a series of rainbow-color shapes along to music by Charles Trenet, because why not?
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24. And then who could forget when she showed up at the 2016 MTV VMAs, looking better than ever. (And, ahem, made our 10 Best Dressed list . . .)
25. When someone asked her if she was nervous to perform after Beyoncé at the2016 VMAs and she said: “I really wasn’t thinking about that.”
26. She told James Corden she didn’t know or care what the song “Oops! . . . I Did It Again” was about. “It’s just a song.”
27. And then she sang on Carpool Karaoke.
28. That time that she posted a grainy black-and-white video twirling around to Adele’s “Hello” for no apparent reason.
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29. And then she shared a photo of her massive tacos for dinner.
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30. Only Britney could release a song called “Slumber Party,” even though she’s well past the age of sleeping over at a friend’s house, and have it still be kind of a banger.
31. Would you be mad if Britney Instagram stalked you, and called you “very hot, very hot?” Us either.
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32. She told all the girls in her Vegas audience that they were beautiful, but then added: “Men, frankly, can suck my fucking toe.”
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33. She tried to teach her young niece to dance along to Madonna (but, of course, didn’t mention that scandalous VMA performance).
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34. She is in full support of her dancers, once commanding an audience to give them a standing ovation—and then daring them to sit back down.
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35. When she consistently proved to everyone that she has never looked better.