19th Century - Blog Posts
Ditching ur arranged marriage to be with the cute farmhand
I realized I never really got in depth with my character designs and that left some people feeling a bit confused. This was a really fun project though, and I’m overwhelmed at the amount of positive feedback I got from it. Thank you! I hope this little explanation helps.
This is set in the Philippines during the Spanish Colonization era. I have no specific date, but it’d probably fall in the 1800s. I wanted to make it a point that they were all Christian so I made them wear scapulars. (despite how unchristian the step mother and step sisters act haha)
The style of clothing is Maria Clara.The dress takes its name from one of the protagonists in Noli Me Tangere, one of the most important pieces of literature in Filipino History. Although not shown here, I drew Cinderella with glass bakya ( wooden slippers) To push the design more.
The step-mother and sisters were based on Doña Victorina, also from Noli Me Tangere, who was described as a social climber who would powder her face extremely white to make her look ‘mestiza’ or western. There was already that belief that being of Spanish or descent means you are wealthy.
For the fairy godmother, I based her clothes on traditional Maguindanao clothing, although I did take a lot of liberties with it. Instead of a fairy, I turned her in to a diwata which is the closet I could think of to a Filipino version of a fairy.
Lastly, the Prince, I envisioned as someone who came from a sultanate, hence his middle eastern inspired clothing. Honestly, I just didn’t want her to end up with a Spanish prince. ( happy endings with your colonizer felt odd to me)