A TikToker who ordered a $200 bridesmaid dress online said it's the 'total opposite' of what was pictured

• Anna Dinh made a widely shared TikTok about a bridesmaid gown she bought for her sister's wedding.
• Anna and her sister, Lynn, said that the $200 DHGate.com dress wasn't what they saw online.
• Anna told Insider that the dress was see-through, and she thought it would rip if she bent over.

TikTok user Anna Dinh sparked reactions on the platform after she shared a video about a bridesmaid dress that she said looked like a different gown online.

Since sharing the video in December 2020, Dinh's TikTok post has gotten 2 million views and more than 400,000 likes.

In January, Anna told Insider that in early December 2020, she and her sister, Lynn, were browsing online for bridesmaid dresses ahead of Lynn's wedding, which she's planning to have in August.

Lynn said that she found and fell in love with a light-blue gown on DHgate.com from a seller under the username hxhdress. DHGate.com is an online marketplace based in China that sells wholesale items, including clothing, shoes, and home decor items.

The listing for the dress that the sisters ordered describes the gown as a "baby-blue mermaid prom dress" with a "detachable train, high-side split" and "sequined lace" details.

It's available to purchase on the website for $198.51 at the time of writing.

Lynn told Insider that her wedding theme is "starry nights" and will have a blue color scheme - which is why she and her sister initially were attracted to the gown they saw on DHGate.com.

Lynn said that she also liked that the dress was described as having a detachable skirt, as she thought it would give her bridesmaids an opportunity to change into a different style before the wedding reception.

After ordering the dress, the Dinh sisters said that they waited about one month and received the dress in the mail at the end of December 2020. They said that when they took the garment out of the packaging, it was the "total opposite" of what they were expecting.

"When I picked it up, it was super cheap. It was just fabric and had no cushion. Everything was see-through. You could even see the cups," Anna told Insider. "Honestly, it fit nicely and hugged my body, but everything else was terrible. There was no glitter, and it felt like it could rip if I just bent over."

Lynn got a partial refund from the seller after filing a complaint that the dress didn't look like the pictures on the website

Lynn told Insider that she contacted the seller through a message on DHGate.com on December 23, 2020, which was shortly after the sisters received the dress.

Lynn said that she asked the seller for a full refund and referenced the retailer's refund policy, which, as stated on its website, says: "Buyers can return the item(s) for a refund when they are not as described or possess quality issues by communicating directly with seller."

"You can see from the pictures that the quality just isn't right," Lynn told Insider.

According to screenshots that Lynn shared with Insider showing her message with the DHGate.com seller, the shop owner initially responded to Lynn's complaint about the dress by offering to refund her $40.

The bride-to-be, who spent almost $200 on the dress in December 2020, sent a series of messages back to the seller, writing: "I want a full refund. The dress is not what you had described it to be."

The seller then told Lynn, based on her screenshots of the message exchange, that they could "negotiate" for a partial refund greater than $40.

Lynn told Insider that after her message exchange with the online shop seller, she received a $140 refund in January, which was $53.84 less than what she paid for the dress in December 2020, not including the cost of shipping.

The DHGate.com seller declined to comment when reached by Insider.

Anna and Lynn Dinh told Insider that they're still on the hunt for the perfect bridesmaid gown.