AN online shopper has revealed how her “ridiculous” £40 bikini left her skin and bedsheets covered in orange dye following a squirt of body spray.
Harriet Wright bought the La Vida Loca bikini from OhPolly to wear during her break in Ibiza.
The 20-year-old from Preston, Lancashire, bought the bikini from the “swimwear” section but kept out of the pool.
So Harriet was horrified to discover her sheets were covered in dye and needed two showers to remove it from her body.
When the clothing company owner contacted Oh Polly to complain, she was told the bikini “shouldn’t get wet” and was: “For servin’ looks by the pool only.”
Harriet took to social media to warn other customers, tweeting a photo of her modelling the bikini with the caption: “I get so many messages about this bikini!
“It’s from Oh Polly but it’s one of them for ‘poolside only’ which is ridiculous since it’s listed in the ‘swim’ section.
“I did not get in the pool with this bikini, water contact was TINY and this is the colour transfer!”
The accompanying image shows Harriet wearing the neon orange two piece and another showing the stains on her hotel sheets.
She followed it up with another Tweet saying: “The bikini itself is stunning but I wish I’d known it literally cannot come in to contact with any water at all or else the colour will run and stain everything including my skin!
“Love the bikini but spending £40 to barely be able to wear it is not ideal.”
Fellow social media users were equally outraged:
@Sarahandmakeup replied: “40 pounds! Damn you should contact them. That just feels like a rip off.”
And @tink_93_ shared a similar experience saying: “I had this one from them, jumped in the sea off a boat at a boat party for legit 60 seconds and the colour ran and now it looks yellow ish too! I’m gutted.”
Harriet said today: “They offered to replace it for free which is hardly useful since it can’t be worn for its ideal purpose.”
“I think it’s ridiculous. I completely understand that they cater largely for influencers, but what use is a bikini to most of us that literally can’t come in to any contact with water?
“Also, why would it be listed under the ‘swim’ section, when you absolutely could not do any swimming in those bikinis?”
“To be honest, I’ve been pretty dissatisfied with them as a whole recently anyway. I will definitely think twice before ordering from there from now on.”
The incident is not the first time fashion outlets have marketed swimwear that can’t be worn in water.
In May, online retailer Pretty Little Thing was slammed by a customer known as Alisha who was told she shouldn’t have worn her bikini in water when she complained that the dye on her bikini had run.
Fellow PLT customer Emily Charlton-Smith was also left “mortified” in July when her white bikini turned see through in water only to be told the retailer again that the garment was for “poolside posing only”.
A spokeswoman said: “Our designs focus on style first and foremost, with many of our bikinis and swimsuits suitable for swimming. To achieve our stunning range of styles, some items are only suitable to be worn at the poolside.”
“We always include clear care instructions when this is the case to help customers get the best from our products.
“We want our customers to feel great in the clothes they buy from us and will review the dye and fabric used in these items to further minimise the risk of colour transfer.”
