America Ferrera Reveals Favorite Fashion Moment from the Barbie Press Tour: ‘Felt Like a Badass’ (Exclusive)

The actress tells PEOPLE that her stylist, Karla Welch, makes her “be brave” sometimes when it comes to outfits

America Ferrera knocked it out of the park with every single one of her Barbie press tour looks.

The actress, who is styled by Karla Welch, wore everything from a baby pink St. John two-piece set for the movie’s world premiere to a fiery body-hugging Alex Perry dress for the European premiere.

One outfit stood out to Ferrera, though, as her absolute favorite — which is saying a lot, when every single look was a slay.

“I’ve had a lot of favorite Barbie fashion moments,” Ferrera tells PEOPLE exclusively. “My stylist, Karla Welch, is just a killer. We had so much fun together.”

Ferrera, who plays Gloria in the Margot Robbie-led film, points to her all-leather outfit at a Barbie press conference in Seoul, South Korea, on July 3 as her winner from the summer.

“I just loved it so much,” Ferrera says of the Tanya Taylor top and Veronica Beard pants. “I mean, I’ve loved so many of the outfits, so it’s very hard to pick. But I remember putting this on and being like, ‘This is exactly how I feel.'”

The look was styled with a black belt and black platform heels, and Ferrera wore her hair slicked back and rocked a bold pink lip. She capped it all off with gold Jennifer Meyer jewelry. Welch shared a carousel of photos on Instagram of the actress at the time, captioning it, “AMERICA the BEAUTIFUL.” Conveniently, the post was shared on July 4, and Ferrera left a gushing note: “I love you my Queen.”

Ferrera tells PEOPLE that the bold leather look — plus the hair and makeup — made her feel like a “badass,” adding, “I felt strong.”

“I love wearing a dress, but there’s something about pants and heels that make me feel tall because I’m a whopping 5’2″, so I love being in high heels, but a great pant look just feels like that’s my true inner look,” Ferrera says. “What’s so brilliant about [Karla] is she is never putting clothes on me. She’s always helping bring through the way I want to feel. Sometimes that’s soft and feminine, and sometimes that’s va va voom. And other times it’s, like, badass boss in a pantsuit. I would say that I probably feel the most like myself in a badass pantsuit.”

After working together for more than a decade, Ferrera and Welch have gotten to a point where they work together seamlessly. They work in tandem and Ferrera says Welch helps bring out the best in her. Plus, she pushes her.

“Karla makes me be brave sometimes,” she admits. “I don’t know that I’ve ever done full leather before. I felt so amazing in that outfit.”

Source: People