We look forward to the national costume segment of any beauty pageant, and some costumes have proven to be quite laugh-worthy.

However, netizen reactions have been largely negative when the national costume for Miss International Hong Kong 2023 Verna Leung was unveiled on Monday (Oct 9).

Said to be the work of seven undergraduates from the Hong Kong Design Institute, the comments have been largely comical, with one user saying it reminds one of a “Halloween ghost bride look.”

Some were more sympathetic to the aspiring designers and said, “Sometimes the best design is to stick to tradition and timeless fashion! You want to represent Hong Kong well!”

Anime fanatics took it a step further and said the national costume reminded them of Kyogai, a character from the Japanese anime, Demon Slayer.

Hopefully, that wasn’t the designers’ direction when they came up with the design.

According to a post on the Miss International Hong Kong Facebook page, the vase-shaped outfit is said to “showcase not only traditional Chinese elements but… local [Hong Kong] flavours too: neon signs, night sceneries, [traditional] Chinese characters,”

Photos: Miss International Hong Kong/Facebook

Catch Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba on meWATCH here, or in the embedded link below: