A mother from Tonbridge, Kent, was under the spotlight for wearing an "indecent" sundress at her own son's seventh birthday. The 37-year-old was under fire for a clip she posted on TikTok filmed by her sister-in-law.
But everyone's focus was on Raquel Dicuru's purple sundress that she was wearing for the party.
Negative comments flooded a reshared clip of her son's birthday party because she captioned the post, "When you didn't realize your b**bies were stealing the spotlight at your son's birthday party until you saw pics and vid later that evening!"
Raquel, who works as an assistant ability consultant, posted the picture with a humorous intention. But it had instead garnered a lot of attention who thought her dress to be controversially "indecent" for a birthday party. After a million views, multiple comments trolled and said she was trying to "find a husband."
But Raquel was not fazed and slammed back at them, telling them to "get a life." She shared yet another picture of herself in the same purple floral patterned sundress.
She shared in an update, "My sister-in-law was the one who filmed the video. She didn't even notice until she sent me the video, and I said, 'Oh my god! My boobies are right there.'"
"Normally, I would be just adjusting my clothing all the time. But that dress was quite comfy, so I wasn't," she added. "I think it's mostly down to the angle of the video. She was filming from above and I was crouching down a little bit."
"We were all just living in the moment and singing happy birthday to my son. So I just thought it was funny that we were all unaware."
"I posted it online because I thought it was funny and got a shock when I saw the reaction. Some of the people said my caption was drawing attention to my boobs. But that's why it was funny."
Raquel couldn't hide her disappointment in how much people were focused on her appearance when she mainly shared about eco-living and tips to reduce waste. She complained, "Of all the videos I've posted about litter picking and eco-living - which I would love to go viral - it was this that did."
She saw a lot of negative comments and saw that many thought she was seeking for attention with that clip.
She continued, "People were angry, they thought it was outrageous. They were questioning what sort of person I was, if I was looking for a husband. I'm happily married and not looking for anybody."
"The comments were mainly from men. I also had people defending me though, telling trolls to 'lighten up.'"
"I had to start deleting the nasty comments because they were getting really bad. I didn't reply to most of them, so I just deleted them and continued with my life," she added. "Men were commenting stuff like 'Women know what they're doing' and 'Women always do this for attention'. It was as if I was being blamed for having something on show."
She continued, "It just sounds like they've had bad experiences with women and they're putting me into this category of 'She wants the dads to look at her, she just wants attention.'"
"They were saying I was making it all about me rather than my son. Someone said the fact I posted the video was "sick". It's just weird - why are people so angry? They're just b**bs."
"Of course, people create a story in the head about what went on behind the scenes with the video. I don't mind too much - these people don't know me. If they knew me, they'd know I'm not like that."
"Deep down, the harsh comments did make me question what I wear. But then I thought 'No, they're the ones who have a problem with it.'"
"It's funny how people are angry at skin. Half of the world has b**bs - I don't know why it's so taboo. It was a hot day at the start of June. I was wearing something comfortable for a picnic in the park."
She continued, "This hasn't put me off wearing the sundress. I'm not indecent - I like to dress nice for the body that I have. Nobody should be shaming me or anybody else for what we wear or what we want to show."
Some of the comments were rather harsh.
But others supported her and saw nothing wrong with the dress, agreeing that it was just the angle. One asked, "Why is everyone hating... it's just a basic sun dress?"
"Wow, some of these comments. It's a funny situation folks. Life happens and they are just b**bs. Laugh a little," commented another.
"Sorry, don't see anything wrong. If you go to the beach, you see a lot more flesh," compared another user.
