From revelling in the colour pink to the “She’s everything, he’s just Ken” tagline, the Barbie movie was a powerful, candy-coloured odyssey that prompted a worldwide celebration of femininity the likes of which we can’t remember ever seeing before. Sure, the billion-dollar film wasn’t exactly a ground-breaking feminist text, but there’s something magical about seeing the hordes of people joyfully shouting “Hi Barbie” at each other in cinemas all over the world. 

Since Britney was freed from her conservatorship in 2021, we’ve been desperate to hear her side of the story. Her memoir The Woman in Me felt like a moment of triumph after she’d been silenced for so many years. 

Imagine debuting your second pregnancy on one of the biggest stages in the world. And that stage was floating in the air. And your performance earned a record-breaking 121 million viewers. Unbelievably iconic stuff.

Queen Bey’s gorgeous, queer-friendly, opulent Renaissance World Tour, complete with incomparable voguing and a giant floating horse, was such a huge, joyful cultural event that literally spanned the globe. Attendees are going to tell their grandkids about it.

The England national netball and football teams worked so incredibly hard and put up fights for the books in their respective World Cups. Not only were these finals an absolute thrill to watch, but we as a whole nation were endlessly proud the teams made it so far.

Swift’s Eras Tour has been described as a bona fide cultural phenomenon. The local economies were boosted in towns and cities the tour stopped in, and even some governments have paid tributes to the whole thing. But the cherry on top of this cake has been her winning Time’s Person of the Year. 

National treasure and goalkeeper Mary Earps’ Sports Personality of the Year win marked the second year in a row that an England women’s footballer scored the top prize. It’s also a great excuse to bring up her iconic apparent f-word expletive after she saved that penalty during the World Cup Final.

Yeoh became the first person of south-east Asian descent to win the best actress Oscar for the incredible Everything Everywhere all at Once. The now 61-year-old dedicated her award to “all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight”. She also used her history-making speech to remind us all: “Ladies: don’t let anybody ever tell you you are past your prime.”

Since England took home the trophy at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, Women’s Super League (WSL) game attendances have risen by an impressive 200%. Just this month, Arsenal set an amazing new WSL attendance record thanks to the 59,042 fans who watched the team face off against Chelsea on 10 December. 

We love makeup here at Stylist, but it goes without saying that it has to be on our own terms. And Anderson going makeup-free at Fashion Week after spending so many years being objectified in the media was a big slay. 

From girl dinner to Barbie to putting adorable bows on pretty much everything, 2023 had very big Girl Energy, and we loved every bit of it.