Philly woman wears House of CB dress once. Then she packs it in her suitcase, and finds out the hard way maybe it wasn’t worth the price tag

Packing the essentials is must for a vaycay. Think of money, a phone charger, passport, and of course, comfortable clothes all stuffed in your carry-on.

The last thing on your mind is opening your suitcase to find that your outfits have coalesced. This one woman was dumbfounded to stumble upon her House of CB Gold Bondage Dress that did just that in mild heat.

“House of CB is a scam. Their customer service sucks, and I did not believe this when people told me,” Philly-based TikTok creator Anna Lyashenko (@rockforknapkin) begins her video. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me. The clothes are good quality. I won’t need the customer service.” 

Lo and behold, she is proven incorrect, unraveling how to over 1.2 million viewers.

What Happened To Her House of CB Dress?

“I got this Gold Bandage Dress a little while ago,” the content creator says, holding up a light-gold dress. “I wore it one time on vacation and when I arrived home, the dress was completely stuck together. It melted in multiple spots.”

Then, Lyashenko unfolds the inner layer of the shoulder strap to unveil the burned areas. As she unfolds another layer, the entire adhesive is liquefied.

“It was literally 75 degrees out, and there was no extreme heat,” she says. “A dress should not melt in a room, maybe an above-room-temperature environment. Let’s call 80 degrees max. But in the suitcase with no sun, it’s less.” 

When the content creator continues to open more spots on the dress, the seams appear to be falling apart.

“As you can see, it is totally ruined and unwearable,” she remarks. “It looks horrible for a $200 dress.”

A Nightmare Customer Service Ordeal

“I sent many pictures,” Lyashenko recounts. “I actually reached out to them for a few weeks at a time, multiple times, to which I got no response from their customer service.”

Finally, she manages to successfully reach a representative, who apologizes and offers her a solution.

“They say I can pay for the shipping where the item is unworn, unwashed, and in good condition with all the tags and ribbons intact for them to review it and decide if it’s a defect on their part,” she reads the email out loud.

Needless to say, this enraged her and called out what she believes is a “dumb” response.

“I wouldn’t have known if the dress was defective until I put it on?” the content creator states. “When the dress arrived in the package, it was already stuck together. I had to pull it apart a little.”

Second, Lyashenko notes she never washed the dress because of the material.

What Did She Do?

But the icing on top of the cake was how House of CB allegedly wanted her to pay for shipping. 

“Why would I waste my own time and my own money shipping this heavy dress back to you for you to decide if you want to give me a refund?” she states. “That’s an inconvenience for me and it’s kind of obvious that there’s something wrong with the dress because they don’t just melt.”

Despite being non-confrontational, she says this crosses the line.

“I’m the type that is shy and if something is wrong, I will not complain,” she says. “But this is outrageous. Something that cost more than $200 that I thought was gonna be able to keep for many years and even pass it onto my kids, that’s ruined.”

“They actually ignored my email to them, telling them that I am not paying postage and that they need to resolve this some other way without having to mail it back,” Lyashenko says.

Viewers Are Flabbergasted

“Should ANY clothing be melting at ANY temperature?” one of the top comments with 43.1k likes noted.

“And even if the dress did get ‘too hot’ in your suitcase, none of your other clothes melted,” a second added.

“Why would you send it back if it’s in good condition anyway?!” a third pointed out.

Furthermore, others chimed in with similar encounters with House of CB.

“Charged me $298 and ‘forgot to ship my dress’ until i contacted them 2 weeks later,” one commenter recounted.

“I can vouch they are the WORST. The quality is next to napkins and [the customer] service is a nightmare,” another revealed.

Did House of CB Ever Respond?

“They have officially emailed me and told me that they will refund me,” Lyashenko shared in an update video.

After this entire incident, she credits the internet for resolving the issue: “I guess that’s a lesson that if you ever have a problem and the customer service sucks, just go on social media, right?”

What Materials Are in the Dress?

According to House of CB’s website, the fabric of their Gold Bandage Dress mainly consists of 90% Viscose, 9% Nylon, and 1% Elastane. Derived from natural wood pulp (plant cellulose), Viscose appears and feels luxurious because of its smooth, lightweight, breathable texture, considered an affordable option to silk. However, this is a form of semi-synthetic fiber, infamously known as rayon, which has been under scrutiny for decades. 

For starters, the textile is sensitive to heat and water, which can cause the clothing to lose its shape or shrink, DTF Virginia notes. As a result, it can burn if exposed to high temperatures. Despite the materials being sustainable and biodegradable, the production process can be the opposite.

A Good On You blog reported that the manufacturing process is full of toxic chemicals that simultaneously pollute the water and contribute to deforestation. Not to mention the several health problems for workers and those who live near the plants.

Moreover, Nylon (made from petroleum) and Elastane (also referred to as Spandex, that ismade from polyurethane) are a different story. Unlike their counterpart, both Nylon and Elastane are highly flammable plastics. When exposed to these elevated-heat environments, they are susceptible to melting and molten dripping, according to a BeGoodTex guide. 

If you ever purchase the Gold Bandage Dress, the British brand recommends handwashing the Gold Bandage Dress.

@rockforknapkin Super dissatisfied @houseofcb #housepfcb #melteddress #defect ♬ sonido original – Music+

The Mary Sue reached out to Lyashenko via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment as well as House of CB via press email.

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