I'll Deal with Him Later

Similar dresses by the designer hanging in an installation

Villanelle wears a pink tulle dress in a scene where she attends an informal psychiatric assessment at the request of Konstantin, who is concerned that she may be getting too sentimental. She then defiantly walks into the street wearing it. The dress was designed by Molly Goddard as part of her Spring 2017 collection,[n. 1] and was inspired by a 1958 Balenciaga babydoll dress.[4] The color of the dress has been consistently described as "bubblegum pink".[n. 2] Madeleine Davies of The Muse describes it as a "cotton candy fantasy",[3] and Melania Hidalgo of The Cut calls it a "pastel-colored confection".[10]

Luke Jennings described Villanelle's style as "goofy couture",[11] which Steff Yotka of Vogue believes Phoebe de Gaye has applied to this outfit, saying that "[Villanelle's] wardrobe matches her flights of fancy" and "rarely do you see a character whirling through Paris in a shocking pink Molly Goddard dress".[12]

Lauren Sharkey of Bustle called it "the first heavy-hitting ensemble" of the show.[7] De Gaye says that the key to making the outfit work was Jodie Comer, that "you couldn't put that dress on any actress and bring it off. [Comer]'s got the kind of chutzpah to wear those things with just the right amount of nonchalance."[5]

In the script, the dress in the scene was described as "a big poofy dress".[5][12] The writing team had originally envisioned something more classical,[12] an idea they returned to throughout production, but eventually went with the Molly Goddard dress proposed by costume designer Phoebe de Gaye.[5] De Gaye had been inspired by the script, telling IndieWire that when she read the description "[she] thought, 'Well, Molly Goddard has those. Let's go and get one of those.'" She also drew inspiration from when she had been creating an initial mood board for the character and "found a great fashion image of somebody shimmying down a drain pipe wearing a kind of great floaty thing", saying she was also "looking for things which were playing with the masculine and feminine side to [Villanelle] because she's sort of slightly ambivalent".[8] De Gaye bought the dress directly from Goddard,[12] and modified it for the episode slightly, explaining: "I added a bit of a little bit more trim to the sleeves, a little bit more but not much. Then also we built out the skirt a little bit, we put a little bit more sort of under-petticoat things that poofed out even more slightly."[8] For the rest of the outfit, DeGaye describes the black Balenciaga boots and black bra Villanelle also wears as "an antidote to all that frou-frou".[13] DeGaye has said that she loves the dress.[5]

De Gaye believes that the dress is "a very strong statement on camera" and also "a big opportunity for [Villanelle] to do a sort of very girly thing, but undercut it by putting it with boots", saying that she "thought that Molly Goddard stuff was just perfect for that more insouciant, putting two fingers up, rather subversive [moment]".[5] She does add, however, that though "it's quite nice to give these [designer clothes] an airing [...] it's always got to work in with the dramatic needs of the scenes". Yotka praised De Gaye for "finding innovative ways to include contemporary luxury items".[12] Critics have commented on how the dress works to reflect Villanelle's character and subversive nature.

Within the context of the scene, Ellie Violet Bramley, writing for The Guardian, notes that the dress "is Villanelle at her elusive, teasing best" because it shows her "throwing all manner of curveballs in the direction of those trying to psychoanalyse her";[6] Hidalgo says that "the cheerful dress is a perfect contrast to the grisly subject, true to her character's dark sense of humor".[10] Sharkey, and Hahn Nguyen of IndieWire, agree with De Gaye's assessment that Villanelle's dress choice is deliberately childish. Sharkey says that "Villanelle decides to wear the frothy tulle dress as a middle finger to her bosses. If they want her to act like a young girl, why not dress like one?",[7] and Nguyen mentions that she's "almost like a little girl who is playing dress-up, and her manner at the session is mocking and playful".[8]

The dress has been described as a subversive choice outside of the specific context, too. Chloe Foussianes of Town & Country says that it is subversive in how "it channels Villanelle so well: flamboyant, unapologetically feminine, and utterly unconcerned with squeezing into society's rigid boundaries".[14] In a slightly different assessment, Sonia Saraiya of Vanity Fair believes that it is subversive because of how it contrasts the feminine with the masculine, as "[the dress is] paired, rebelliously, with punky Balenciaga boots".[9] Yotka agrees that the boots were a good contrast, and also writes that the dress is a deliberate statement, saying that when "Villanelle [...] stands in Paris's Place Vendôme in that very outfit, [she is] rivaling Rihanna in statement-making style".[12] Nguyen likewise adds to her assessment that Villanelle is still trying to be "attention-grabbing" in her choice,[8] similar to Bramley mentioning that "any misguided expectation of ultra-femininity is undercut by her choice of Balenciaga leather boots".[6] Agreeing that "[Villanelle] has to add a twist by pairing the overtly feminine style with tough Balenciaga biker boots", Sharkey also uses another interpretation in noting that it reflects Villanelle's other choices in extravagant murder outfits and that "by dressing angelically yet powerfully, she draws in her victims almost by hypnotising them", suggesting that nobody would suspect a girl in a pink dress of being an assassin.[7]

Actress Emily Blunt in bright pink at the 2019 SAG Awards.

Morwenna Ferrier says that the appearance of the outfit on the show "broke the internet".[11] Natasha Bird called it "fashion's big television moment of the year",[15] and Katie Rosseinsky called it "[the] autumn's best fashion moment".[13] Stephanie Eckardt of W said that the dress turned "an otherwise unnotable scene [...] into a standout fashion moment".[16]

The dress had an impact in popular culture. Foussianes asserts that "when Killing Eve fans close their eyes, they likely picture Villanelle in this look",[14] with Danielle Fowler of Harper's Bazaar writing that since Villanelle appeared in the dress it has "continued to steer our shopping habits";[17] a November 2018 article in The Guardian states that "you can tell a TV villain has made their mark on popular culture if they become a Halloween costume" and noted that "for every Trumpian wig or handmaid's bonnet seen at a Halloween party, there was a giant pink dress based on the one worn by the assassin Villanelle".[11] More significantly, multiple commenters saw a further impact in the abundance of pink dresses worn at the 91st Academy Awards and other ceremonies in this award season, writing that there was clear inspiration taken from the episode.[n. 3] A cake depicting the character in the dress was made for the 2019 Cake International festival,[36] created by Turkish culinary artist Tuba Geçkil.[37] Through Autumn/Winter 2019, tulle remained in mode, a trend credited to this dress on the show.[38]

Within the spy thriller genre, Yotka claims that "[this dress] has also redefined the look of an international assassin story. There are no blunt bobs and leather dusters like in last summer's Atomic Blonde, nor any drab and utilitarian cargo pants or knits like those once worn by Jason Bourne."[12]