Customer Told to “Bend Over” to Judge Yoga Pants Sheerness

Customers of Lululemon allege store workers told them to bend over to see whether pants -- that were recently recalled -- were see through

Days after international yoga pants seller Lululemon Athletica announced a recall of pants because they were too “see through,” some customers complained of “degrading" tests by store employees who told them to “bend over” to determine whether the pants were transparent.

The high-end Canadian clothing company recalled some spandex yoga pants from stores on Monday after they were deemed "too sheer to meet company standards."

Facebook user Christina Phillips said she went into a Lululemon store in Canada on Tuesday to return a $100 pair of Astro Pants and an $80 pair of Invert Crop pants.

"I was asked to BEND OVER in order to determine sheerness," she wrote on the Lululemon Facebook page. "The sales associate then perused my butt in the dim lighting of the change room and deemed them 'not sheer.'

"I felt degraded ..."

Phillips did not return a message left for her on Facebook on Sunday.

Facebook user Melissa Lake said she was uncomfortable returning her pants.

"I want a replacement but do not believe I need to do a bend over test," she wrote.

The complaints come after company CEO Christine Day announced the so-called "bend over" test in an earnings conference call.

"The only way that you can actually test for the issue is to put the pants on and bend over," she said, according to the Wall Street Journal. "It wasn't until we got into the store and started putting it on people that we could actually see the issue."

The company has since been fielding complaints online.

In response to Lake, a company official, identified on the Lululemon Facebook page as Siya, wrote that store workers would not need to see her in the pants and said she could return them in exchange for another pair.

Siya apologized to Phillips about her experience and promised to to follow up with the store she went to.

"In the meantime, if you're not comfortable with the Invert Crop and Astro Pant that you've purchased due to sheerness, we want to make that right for you," Siya wrote.

Since the announcement of the recall, Lululemon, which has Southern California stores in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Brentwood, among others, said it has taken a hit in the stock market.

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