@misto713 It's more plain Jane than ugly duckling, like she doesn't take the time to work on her appearance or look appropriate/trendy/presentable. Thus, standing out in a negative way.
She's literally thought about her need to make moves politically, but first she should be above criticism for her appearance. Her lack of courtly charm/appeal was one of her past glaring flaws.
We have seen her with fancier dresses in the flashbacks. Doesn't mean she has as many as her sisters but she definitely has some appropriate dresses. She just chose to wear plain clothes because of her greater (moral) concerns. As in, she wasn't trying to gain power like her siblings.
She doesn't want to create a new world in that extreme sense. She didn't agree with all the slaughter/mass execution. I don't exactly agree with her but, for whatever reason, she wants to save the empire on her terms.
She couldn't have done this in the past because her edge now is she knows what will happen. She had no way of knowing sibling 3 would be worse than her father. She had no way of knowing her pleas for change would never work on the sadistic royals. Existing in that past timeline meant she thought through how to effect the world around her and took action based on that but, she was 100% blind to the impact of other people's actions. Including her own influence, funnily enough, since her appeal to her family and her actions resulted in Mikhail rebelling. So, she strove to change things but because there were other factors, she failed.
She fought for the homuncul the only way she could. Her sudden skills - knowing the future and changing her strategy so her position on the board is the best possible one considering future events. Avoiding traps she's aware of, gaining Mikhail, isolating Rosie, vying for crown princess knowing how disastrous the original timeline's crown princess was. It's really not skill so much as as a shift in priorities. Just like she gained the support of the homuncul, she's going to gain the "right" kind of political influence to become crown princess etc
Lol, she's an imperial princess too. They're only better placed than her right now because they've begun moving earlier than her. They're also more ruthless than her but I think she will behave a little differently now that she knows what their goals are.
She doesn't really want a bloody anything. Even the gruesome death of the awful crown princess horrified her. Also, being relatively quiet was how she lost any advantage she had last time. She was seen as weaker than and easily picked off so she had no power.