Rose's Nostalgia Costume is actually a reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that first appeared in a Capcom game that wasn't Street Fighter
One of the few interesting things to come out of Capcom Fighting Evolution
Nostalgia Costumes are one of the nicer touches added in Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition with characters' classic and iconic attire being re-imagined for the modern age, but Rose's is different than all of the rest.
The latest DLC fighter in SF5 never actually fought in her Nostalgia Costume, and its origins tie back to another franchise entirely.
For those wondering when Rose dressed up as a gondolier in the past, the answer lies not in Street Fighter, but in Capcom Fighting Evolution.
The only previous official appearance of the outfit came in Capcom's ill-fated crossover fighting game thanks to the "help" of another character.
Demitri Maximoff of Darkstalkers fame can transform his opponents with his Midnight Bliss EX Move that normally changes the dudes into ladies so he can more comfortably drain them of their blood.
When performed on a female, however, Demitri simply changes their outfits, which usually contains references to their past appearances or other characters.
Rose is unique even among them, as her Midnight Bliss transformation is connected to the popular manga / anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
The world warrior herself is clearly modeled on the mentor of Battle Tendency in JoJo, Lisa Lisa, so it's only fitting that her altered form would tie back to her inspiration too.
In her big debut in the manga, Lisa Lisa disguises herself as a male gondolier before testing the abilities of Joseph and Caesar.
The actual costume itself is a fair bit different from Rose's getup, featuring a different shirt and slightly altered hat, but the boat oar certainly seals the connection.
Rose's scarf, throw, Italian origins and her love of baths are all pretty much lifted directly from Lisa Lisa along with her general design though there's an extra JoJo reference packed into Capcom Fighting Evolution.
While her regular Midnight Bliss transformation is that of Lisa Lisa, Rose has a rarer alternate form that see's her become the old woman from JoJo Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Enya.
Capcom themselves have quite a history with JoJo themselves, as they famously developed the fighting game JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future in the '90s where Lisa Lisa and Enya made cameo appearances.
They likely wanted to include some nods in Fighting Evolution even if they didn't have the rights to actually use the characters themselves.
It's been interesting to see all of the references packed into Rose here in Street Fighter 5, so we're excited what they can dig up for the rest of Season 5.
