A student returned his £300 North Face coat after people mistook him for a Primark employee.
Connor Cundale, 20, only spent three weeks with his brand new coat before returning it. The blue and black colour scheme was likened to the uniforms worn by Primark workers, which Connor says made him feel like a 'laughing stock' around campus.
The advertising student from Buckhurst Hill, Essex, said the jacket made him look like a 'walking Primark advertisement'.
It simply wasn't meant to be, after the comparisons started the same day he bought the jacket, when a friend made the noticed that the colours were the same used by the popular high street fashion brand.
"On the day I bought it, I went out with my friends that evening," Connor explains.
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"One of them made a comment like 'oh, he's wearing a Primark coat.'
"I didn't think anything of it, but that evening, it clicked in my head that I was a walking Primark advertisement. The colours were spot on.
Connor visited a Primark store shortly after and realised his friend was onto something.
"I was in Primark one day, and this lady tapped me on the shoulder.
"She asked 'do you work here?', I just turned around and laughed. I said, 'No, I'm just repping the colours.'
"After that, I noticed loads of people staring at me. I don't know if I was being paranoid, but I was wondering whether people were going to come up to me to ask for help.
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"It put me off wearing the coat in Primark, it put me off wearing the coat point blank. I had someone I didn't know at university make a comment to me, saying I looked like I worked in Primark.
"It became well known in student halls that I was the guy with the North Face Primark employee coat."
Connor said the comparisons made him feel embarrassed and he decided to stop wearing the coat around campus.
"I felt like such a laughing stock for spending that much money on something now being related to a Primark employee.
"Nothing is wrong with working in Primark of course, but you just wouldn't want your coat looking like a brand's uniform.
"I actually ended up returning the coat in the end. I had it for three weeks overall."
Connor decided to see the funny side of his fashion faux pas by posting about it on TikTok to a mixed response.
"When I made the connection, I thought it'd be funny to make a video on TikTok poking fun at myself. It went viral and I got so many comments from Primark employees saying how much I looked like one of them. I just thought 'I can't deal with this, I really can't. I've got to return it.'
"I filmed [a] video on Clifton Suspension bridge in Bristol. I did get some comments from people saying I'm an idiot and that I should jump off the bridge. I just had to laugh it off though."
Fortunately for Connor, North Face were able to refund him on his purchase, allowing him to switch to a different colour palette.
"I didn't like the idea of having spent so much money on it and then people making a joke out of it. It was a nice coat, it was a nice colour, it was just the connection.
"I only recently got into design stuff. North Face is a really good brand with high quality stuff, so I made an investment into it. I managed to return the coat, even though I'd removed the labels. Their policy says that they don't accept returns if that's been done.
"But I got in touch with them and just explained that I really didn't like the coat, and the customer service was really nice. They said I could send it back. I got a replacement coat in a balsam green colour. I made sure there were no resemblances to any supermarkets or any other big brands.
"I have the coat I want now, and I'm really happy with it."
Lots of people on TikTok saw the humour in Connor's situation, as they agreed with the comparison.
One user commented: "I'm crying, I do work at Primark and you genuinely look like you could be my co-worker."
Another user joked: "Employee of the month boyo, now get behind them tills."
Primark and The North Face have been contacted for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News & media
Gregory Robinson