Shopper mortified after PrettyLittleThing bikini goes see-through and exposes her nipples in a public swimming pool
LET'S face it - no one ever enjoys bikini shopping, so when you find a style you like then we all tend to stock up on it.
Well that's precisely what Emily Charlton-Smith, 25, did when she ordered her favourite PrettyLittleThing swimsuit in a different colour ahead of her upcoming holiday.
- White Bow Bikini, £17 from PrettyLittleThing -
The media manager, from Stratford-upon-Avon, bought PrettyLittleThing's £17 bow bikini in white before jetting off to Marbella earlier this week.
However, Emily was left totally mortified when the double-lined bikini went totally see-through as she took a dip in the pool.
And to make matters worse, the shoddy swimwear also left her nipples completely exposed to her fellow sunseekers. Awkward.
Unsurprisingly, the disgruntled shopper reached out to PrettyLittleThing's customer service team on to ask for a refund - but was simply told the garment was for "poolside posing" only.
Along with pictures of the see-through swimsuit, Emily explained: "I recently bought a bikini in black and loved it so got it in white for my holiday, fitted great so I've taken all the labels off etc.
"Went in the pool today and the whole thing went completely see-through, I'm mortified!"
What started off as a pretty normal exchange with Emily sending proof of her order quickly took a turn for the weird when customer services asked for a "video so we can see how thin this item has become."
Sorry, what? Luckily, the brand wasn't actually asking Emily to model the pointless bikini and clarified in a later message that they needed to see a "photo of the bikini with [her] hand underneath to show how see-through it is".
But despite the fact that the bikini is totally see-through (and completely unwearable), PrettyLittleThing said they couldn't refund the item as it's already been worn.
Instead, Emily was told she could send the worn bikini to the company's recycle scheme to get money off her next purchase.
They wrote: "This is due to the material of the item and it can happen with white item if made wet."
According to the PrettyLittleThing website, the bow bikini is made of 95 per cent polyester and five per cent elastane - but there's no mention of it being unsuitable to wear in water.
Understandably annoyed, Emily replied: "Just to confirm - the bikini (and item designed to be worn in water) is not suitable for water, yet you continue to sell the product in this material and colour knowing this?"
Another member of the team added: "I will pass on your feedback as I do get what you mean but from the material, it can be expected to happen.
"Most of our bikinis we do advise for them not to be worn for poolside posing based on this."
However, Emily seems to have had the last laugh by documenting the bizarre exchange on her Instagram stories and Twitter profile.
Attaching screengrabs of the conversation, Emily joked: "Umm not sure what's worse, PrettyLittleThing's Nowman asking me for a video in my see-though bikini...
"Or the customer service team telling me bikinis are for 'poolside posing' only?!?!"
A spokesperson for PrettyLittleThing told Fabulous Digital: "PrettyLittleThing does advise customers on the styles which we do not recommend be worn for swimming. These are highlighted as ‘pool side posing’ only and are designed for day/evening wear holiday dressing/pool side posing.
"If customers are unsure, our customer service team are available to advise further on which styles cannot be worn for swimming. We can confirm the customer has been refunded."
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