To celebrate the holiday season, Goddess of Victory: NIKKE’s latest costume gacha features fan-favorite Blanc in her new winter-themed “Fortune Express” outfit. But while the character’s coat and boots are appropriate for cold weather, her lack of bottoms (save for sheer stockings and underwear) has been met with mixed reactions. Amidst complaints from Japanese fans that the design feels like a low-effort way of showing more skin, the artist behind the costume has explained that they’re simply drawing inspiration from real-life fashion trends.
While the Fortune Express costume does a better job at insulating Blanc’s robotic body than her default bunny outfit, the fact that she’s so exposed at an open-air train station has fans worried about her well-being. Some speculate that since passing trains would blow her skirt upwards, Blanc decided to go for nothing but stockings over white undies instead. Aside from practicality concerns, many players expressed overall dissatisfaction about the aesthetics of the look, arguing that instead of being sexy, Blanc just looks like she forgot to finish dressing herself midway, which feels kind of awkward to look at.
Addressing complaints from players, Dore, the artist who worked on Blanc’s new outfit, commented that the design was intentional and based on the real-life pantless fashion style. Usually worn by models and celebrities in warmer climates, the style has risen as a trend in the past two years (according to Vogue, at least). The look is a supposed revival of past fashion trends popularized by dancers and fitness icons, which involve wearing leotards over tights. The updated style’s most common iterations involve wearing undies over tights instead, or vice versa.
Responses to Dore’s explanation from Japanese X users have been full of people saying they learned something new, which isn’t surprising given that pantless fashion hasn’t exactly taken off among Japanese celebrities.
Considering Goddess of Victory: Nikke’s costume gacha outfits are among the most expensive cosmetics in the game (their low pull rates mean that you basically have to buy all of the banner tickets to get them), perhaps the Fortune Express outfit could do with some more details (like a skirt?) to justify its price. Then again, risque outfits that teach people about fashion may be what fans want but don’t know yet.
