This is an excellent sports bra. The wires are nice and wide and the band is VERY firm, I can barely hook it (which I think is good in a sports bra).
My fit issue is that I do have wrinkling at the tops of the cups, but my boobs don't move much at all when I jump or shake so I can overlook that issue. I think it's more of a shape thing since I'm quite shallow. The top of the bra on my chest is also very tight, it would be nice if were even just a little bit more stretchy. Otherwise this bra should work well for me. I would consider getting this bra in a 28C, but that size is not produced, so this will do.
Longer straps than the Panache, which is good. Much wider, shallower cups; the wire width makes it not as comfy or as supportive. Slightly less firm band. Shape isn't as good as in the Panache; lift and projection are less present. Much more true to size than the Panache, in which I wear the 34F or FF. It fits, but it's not as good an option for my particular rack. I do like the width of the band as well as the contrast stitching and hooks.
I used this size and model sports bra for a few years and was happy with it. It's VERY supportive - I felt like my boobs were locked in place! It has a pretty good life span and feels comfortable and well constructed. I wasn't crazy about the shape it gave me, but it looks fine under workout tops that aren't too tight. I bought this pretty black and blue one to add to my rotation, but my boobs grew before I got around to taking the tag off. So I'm hoping to find it a new home https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" />
This a much tighter band than I am used to. It's good to know that not all 28 bands are ridiculously stretchy. The cups are a great width. They are a bit shallow, but the construction of the bra makes that a small problem. Because of the shallowness there is a bit of compression helping out the encapsulation, which is a little uncomfortable but doable for the great support. The gore is a bit too wide, but once again, it is doable. Next time I might get a 30DD or 30E, depending on how it breaks in.
Update: After wearing it a couple of times, the band is perfect and the cups are perfect.
This bra looks amazing and the fabric is nice and soft! The black with purple accents is very striking and makes me feel like a badass, heh. I sized down in the cup as I do with Panache, which seems to have been a good choice for me.
The band is surprisingly stretchy compared to the exceedingly tight sports bra bands I'm used to wearing, which makes it easier to put on, of course. It seemed to stay in place pretty well as I wore it around, but that's no guarantee on how firm it'd be during activity. The four hook clasps are MAGICAL.
The wires are very wide, but ...I don't seem to have an issue with the width despite my not-so-wide breasts. There may be a little extra room at the top of the cup in my larger breast. However, I don't think I'll be keeping this because my smaller breast just seems to swim in the thing, to the point where the fabric dents in at the apex. Yech.
I might exchange it for a 28E, though I'm afraid it'll compress my larger breast too much. Decisions, decisions... Read more 80 more words
Cons: Silliest looking shape ever, when viewed from the side. Can we say pointy? I feel like a 1950s barbie doll.
Pros: This fit really well when I first got it and was still a 30 band. The band was tight enough to wear on the loosest hook. I got a ton of support from it and definitely felt comfortable no matter what exercise I was doing.
Even as a 28FF/G, I'm still wearing this bra to exercise in. It's a little quadbooby sometimes, but usually fine.
This bra fits well in the cups (only a tiny bit of wrinking on my smaller side), but the shape is too pointy for my taste. I could excuse the pointiness if it controlled bounce very well, but it doesn't. I'm a distance runner and hours of bouncing boobs hurts. The band is also more snug than I like, I have trouble fastening it on my own. I'll be returning this one.
I ordered this from Figleaves with a 20% off coupon code. Yay for discounts! When I opened the box and saw the bra, I was first a bit disappointed in the color. It was supposed to be 'magenta', but it looked more like a purple color. Oh well, it was still nice and better than the black or white sports bras I've had my entire life.
Also, I feel the need to disclose the fact that this bra was not the correct size for me (band too large, cups too small), but I will give as much information as I can. I ...will be returning this bra and ordering something else in the future.
Pros:
*Colors are nice (so-called 'magenta' and grey) *The fabric is of good quality *4 hooks for lots of support *Underwire for support *Straps are more centered over cups than at the edge
Cons:
*The shape....wow. SUPER POINTY. I don't have a problem with boobs in your face, but this bra made my breasts come to a SHARP point. It was just too much. Also, the east/west look wasn't helping with the pointiness (I'm sure if someone saw me, they would be afraid I would shoot!) *The straps are not fully adjustable. I'm 5'4", so in most cases, I have to adjust my straps quite a bit on any bra. There was very little room for adjustment here. *I found that the bra didn't control bounce at all, but this may be due to the fact I was wearing the wrong size. I ordered the larger of my go-to band sizes because I had read many reviews saying that the band runs small, but I should have stayed with my normal Freya size of 32. Also, the largest cup size that the bra is made is an H, and I really need a HH or J in most cases. Read more 210 more words
I usually wear a 30 band in Freya, but there was no way the 30H in this bra was going to hook in the back.
At first the 32G was hard to hook, but on trying it a second time, it hooked more easily. It's comfortable enough, but I think it doesn't quite fit well enough to keep for the gym. I may have to try it again to take more notes.
The wires are fairly wide and so they don't sit quite right against my breast tissue. The wire as it comes up to the center gore is sitting on the edge of the breast tissue ...rather than encasing it. The wire doesn't press the tissue against my ribcage, but as it comes up, it isn't quite on my sternum until the very top of the wire.
Also, this bra is very much an encapsulation type sports bra, providing a good deal of lift and separation, pointing the girls up and out.
I think the wire shape of this bra isn't working for me. I don't think the next cup size up would do much good as the wire would likely be even wider.
That said, it does seem to provide pretty good bounce control, and if you fit well in Freya wires, you may well like this bra. Just remember, you may need to order a larger band size than your usual Freya size. Read more 129 more words
Unlike "regular" Freya bras, the band on this is NOT AT ALL stretchy! I couldn't even fasten it! I find that in general the 30 inch band Freyas are stretchy and perhaps some are even too big for me (at 30.5 underbust). Not so with this... There's maybe an inch and a half or two gap, even with struggling to fasten the hooks.
So all my sizing comments are guesses...
It provides a very pointy, triangular shape. But I can't really say much about it because I couldn't get it on!
I know other women like it, as it does reduce bouncing. And they also note the very pointy appearance. I may try it in a 32G.
Update! After wear testing with some different exercises I thought I'd come back to share what I think.
To start, I did not even bother taking this for a run. Just after jumping around a bit and feeling the movement I was not sold on this bra. I'd consider going down one cupsize to get more compression, but I do not feel that the encapsulation of the bra is working well for me.
The pluses: The band fit. It is very tight as a 28 band and it works well with my 26" ribcage. The internal "sling" pulls the breasts forward. It's visible through the bra and creates a pointy look. Many people would not like this, but I feel like it keeps the breasts forward and prevents them from being pushed to the side.
I'll use this bra for weight lifting, biking, elliptical, but nothing high impact like jumping or running.
These are my first impressions after trying out my first proper-fitting sports bra. I'll update the review after a couple more runs. As this is a sports bra, I won't delve deeply into how it looks (not a big fan of the lime color) or what shape it gives under clothes (pointy but minimising, which is a plus!).
The band is quite tight, so even though I generally feel better in 28 bands, I'm really glad I chose a 30 band in this one. I could probably even get away with a 32. The band is not at all stretchy, and the closing consists of four by four ...hooks, which is quite awesome. The material itself is very soft and of an almost foam-like consistence.
The whole bra is very constricting - great when running (reduced bounce), but terribly uncomfortable when sitting down. I would never want to wear this bra during non-sport activities, but, then again, I suppose that's the point of sports bras https://d28qt14g3opchh.cloudfront.net/smileys/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" /> I'm also very happy with the underwires - they are wide just enough and very flexible, and don't poke anywhere.
I had a bit of a problem with the center gore - it didn't lie flat against my chest, so I figured I'd need a smaller band and larger cup. However, the 30 band was really the tightest I was willing to endure, and I swam in the 30H and couldn't tighten the straps enough. In the end, I attributed this problem to the closeness of my breasts and my ever-so-slight chest hollowness, but I'm not sure... I just felt that the tightest possible band was less tight at its upper edge than at the lower one.
So, with a slight wink, I fit into a 30GG, which is my normal Freya size.
All in all, I'm glad to have at least one sports bra in my wardrobe. It's priceless for heavy-bounce activities (running), but I think it's too uncomfortbale to be worth wearing for less bouncy stuff, such as inline skating. Read more 235 more words
The band is very tight and not stretchy, especially considering this is a Freya. Order at least a band size up from your normal Freya size. The cup also is fairly small. I wear a 28H Freya Arabella and this 30GG is too small. It does feel supportive.
Best sports bra I've ever tried. The shape is not as obvious (pointy) as people say, I was quite rounded, actually. Extremely supportive, no movement at all, and very comfortable. Different than a regular Freya bra, band more true to size (Freya runs large generally), and wide underwires (Freya's are generally narrower). Fantastic!
Normally I'm a non-wired bra person, but unfortunately there are only so many options for sports bras in my size range. I previously used the Panache Sport non-wired, but I had too many problems with hooks breaking so I switched brands to Freya and went with a wired style since I couldn't find anything non-wired. Things are going well so far. The only thing I would say is that maybe there could be a little more padding around the wire, but then and again I'm sensitive to them.
The shape is very pointy and definitely not for everybody. The underwires in this thing are crazy wide - one side is fully under my armpit, why? It's quite comfortable, but I don't know that I'd buy another one.
Considering that Freya bands are a little bit more stretchy, I expected this to be a fairly tight fit, but I couldn't take a full breath! Normally 28 is good for me, 30 it is this time. The cups were slightly empty at the very top, but I expected that. Otherwise, if it really nicely. The extra band across the top and through the bottom helped enclose my tissue a little better even though the wire was too wide. It didn't feel empty, felt nice. Other than the band being too tight, it was comfortable.
