Ariel Winter Lights the Internet on Fire with New Red Hair

Gettyimages | PG/Bauer-Griffin

Only days after celebrating the end of her 11-season success story on Modern Family and provoking a firestorm of controversy over her sexy sheer wrap party dress, actress Ariel Winter shrugged off her Alex Dunphy dark look like an old gown and stepped out into the sun Tuesday sporting a vibrant gout of red hair.

The LA native was spotted stepping out of celeb-tailored salon Nine Zero One in West Hollywood, complementing her new locks with a cozy black turtleneck sweater, sexy skintight activewear leggings featuring a bronze metallic marble print, and black sneakers.

The actress teased the upcoming change in style to her 4.3 million followers on Instagram, running her fingers through the straight black strands her bookish character Alex has sported since Modern Family's premiere in 2009.

"bye bye dark hair :) I don't think I'll miss you :)))" she captioned the video, provoking speculation from her fans and compliments on the new look once the news broke, sprinkled with a few comments expressing sadness over the change. "Noo Ur dark hair is my favorite, sad that u won't miss it, but hopefully u love it," one fan wrote.

Gettyimages | Larry Busacca

Ariel has gone red before, sporting the fiery look before ditching it to return to the Modern Family set last August, and appears to have been planning to return to her old look for awhile.

"can't wait to get back to this hair color," she wrote on the 7th, alongside a throwback photo to last year's look. The paparazzi snapped her looking pretty pleased with her new style as she unleashed the return of the redhead onto LA on Tuesday; she was certainly smiling.

Gettyimages | Gabriel Olsen

Ariel last snatched headlines only two days before, for her sexy ensemble of a sheer—and sheer is an understatement—black dress, black bra and underwear set, which turned many a head at the Modern Family wrap party on Sunday at the Sunset Room Hollywood in LA, and set many a tongue wagging on social media.

Although many fans' pulses were set racing, others weighed in with negative comments and trolling. "Jesus, there are kids at this event and Ariel is dressed like this," one commentator wrote. "Embarrassing."

Fortunately, on-screen sister and co-star Sarah Hyland was quick to have Ariel's back. "Everyone that is making a negative comment about my sister can back the f*** up," she clapped back, to the thunderous applause of over 7,000 likes, "because I will not tolerate it."

"Good for you!! Please keep standing up for her because this is ridiculous," one fan wrote back to Sarah. "You ladies both look [fire]!!!" Sarah's fiancé chimed in.

Between her display at the wrap party and new hair, there's no doubt Ariel is bringing the heat to Winter.