When I dropped the trailer, this dress was for sure the main talking point in the comments! It's pretty funny to think about to me, because I designed this outfit super quickly. 🙈
I was running behind for episode 4 and needed to design outfits QUICK. Normally I'd create a separate design sheet or at least sketch it out before going into the new episode, but there was just no time. So, this dress was created in about 10 minutes lmao. I guess sometimes the best ideas are the ones when you're under time pressure, huh? Haha.
My thought process for this dress was not much because it had to be done so fast, but I guess my main idea was that I wanted it to have a cut-out at her stomach. I really love dresses with cut-outs and did a manic Pinterest search for ideas; sadly, nothing really matched the vibe I wanted, and I decided to just experiment with some shapes myself!
Eventually I had a sketch ready, but as I hadn't planned anything ahead, I still had to decide on a colour for her outfit. My first instinct was to go for a light blue, since that's sort of Bloom's signature colour, but something was not working with this gown. It's hard to describe, but the colour almost felt too "innocent" for the dress I was trying to design. I think because in season 1 of Winx Club Bloom's first dress was light blue, and I associate that colour with her younger self. It's also the colour she wore to the ball at Eraklyon when she was still with Sky. For this dress I wanted a more mature vibe. And that's when I remembered her dark blue gown at the end of the first movie, "Secret of the Lost Kingdom". It is just one of the most beautiful ballgowns I've ever seen, and the colour scheme is perfection. 😭
The light blue almost represents the colour of Sky's eyes, while this dark blue is more reminiscent of Valtor's dark ocean eyes. I think it shows how she moved on from her teen love and has moved on to something more mature. :3
After I had the main silhouette and colour, I still felt like the dress was missing something. Winx is known for its intricate and detailed outfits, so I wanted to make this dress a bit more special without making it too difficult to draw. That's how I added the chain details in a dark gold to complement the deep blue. Now it at least looks like the dress has some structural integrity and isn't just held up by magic and a dream, hahaha.
I also wanted her hair to be LONG, like insanely long. With magic anything is possible, so I wanted this outfit to stand out even more by giving her long hair like she has in Enchantix. It makes it look even more magical, doesn't it? 🥹
And of course, I couldn't leave out some heart-shaped details for my girl. 😌I looove adding that little detail in every outfit I can; I think it's so adorable that that's her signature! They could have easily done something with flames or sparks, but that's so generic! I think the heart perfectly resembles Bloom and how she is still a girly girl despite being so powerful 🥹
There are many more gowns in this episode! But I'll leave those as a surprise for when the episode releases 🤭