My shape: front-facing, mid-height, very close-set teardrop with tall shallow roots, lots of lower projection/depth, more side fullness and wide Nike-swoosh shaped roots, and self-supporting firm tissue

This was the last one available on clearance at Figleaves, and since it was discontinued a while ago, I jumped at the chance to try it! The print is bright and colorful, and while not my favorite, it's accented prettily and I could grow to like it. I probably won't have the chance to, though, because holy wow, this is tight. Ladies who want Freya 26s, find one of these on ebay! It's so tight on me that the eyelet lace edging distorts and flips even when I'm standing straight up and not slouching. I don't know if this was a one-off different sloper/model they decided to try, or perhaps an older band style I'm unfamiliar with, but I've never experienced a Freya band this small. It has 3 rows of two hooks (3.8 cm tall at the narrowest), but I'm not sure I could even get away with just a single extender. Crazy!

The tight band made all the other fit problems inescapable, too: whereas my 28G - Freya » Patsy Padded Half Cup Bra (1223) is a bit shallow on the draft, I can get a little lift from it due to the band support, but between my breasts pushing down on the wire trying to find more space and the band trying to find a smaller spot lower on my ribcage, this one was doomed from the start. It's otherwise a fairly good fit, with a smooth upper edge (mostly) and a wide-enough wire. I wish the wings were taller because I have full side roots that like to bulge over, but self-supporting tissue means it doesn't actually spill out, and other ladies might prefer the lower wire and wing.

I wouldn't exactly call this a mean, stabby gore, because the wires aren't poking: it's just being smashed into my chest by the super-tight band. It is too tall, but so are basically all balconette styles on me (does a half-cup bra with a Victoria Secret plunge gore exist? I doubt it!). Curiously, there is no extra space in the wire channel, one of the reasons I wondered if this was an older model, because all the newest Patsy clones I've tried have a cm or more to play with, so if the gore IS pokey, they can be pushed out to the sides for some relief.

The straps are only half-adjustable, too. Definitely not for me. Back to the store it goes!

This bra is not owned any more

Updated on Jul 30, 2017 Flag this

• 2

  Thanks for the detailed and informative review! Interesting to hear about a Freya that could fit like a 26. Too bad I can't find it in my size online anymore!

• 2

  Just measured it: 23" unstretched. 23 inches! That means it might be better for someone who really needs a 24, because it barely stretches to 30". What on earth??

• 4

  Unstretched is not what you want to look for when trying to find your band size. This bra shows 31.7" stretched. So this is a looser fitting 28. Or someone needs to measure their bras more accurately. 8" is double the amount of suggested stretch in a band. It would make it seem this bra is quite flimsy.

  If your ribcage measures 24" for example, you wouldn't want a bra that measures that in its unstretched state. Of what use are the extra eyes? That would be like putting an elastic in your hair and not wrapping it around anymore. It's going to fall out.

  This IS NOT a good bra recommendation for those needing a size 26 band.

• I did specify someone who needs a 26 in Freya, since they are known to be stretchier. It is extremely tight on me, and all my other current Freya half-cups are 28s. Unfortunately, I can't re-measure, although I did 3 or 3 times, because I returned the bra.

• 80.6 cm was the maximum band stretch. Regular, comfortable band stretch (as it might fit while wearing it) was less than 10cm, to about 70.1.

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