Time for another sports bra review! Last time I reviewed the Shock Absorber non-wired multi sports bra which was a compression style sports bra. Today I’m focusing on the Freya Active Epic Crop Top Sports bra, also in a 30G, but this time it’s an encapsulation style.
Again, I’m going for the same scoring format as last time so you can directly compare how I got on with each of them.
Appearance
The Freya Active Epic crop top sports bra is definitely the prettiest of the three I received to try from Brastop. As a very fickle creature, I like pretty and fun clothes to work out in – I’m not a big fan of sports or exercise in general, but I know that I need to do it, so if I can wear something nice, it makes it a bit more enjoyable for me! This bra is in a shade called Cherry Marl. I always love “marl” designs in any casual clothing, and adding a bright popping colour like cherry on the straps, band and underbust makes it all the more fun and adds that athletic sportswear element. Who says DD+ sports bras have to just be functional?
In terms of design, as I said, it’s an encapsulation style with underwires and a light foam moulded cup. The wires and moulded cup serve the purpose of separating the breasts in a style I like to call “divide and conquer”. This holds them firmly apart rather than smushing them together, much like how a normal bra is engineered. The advantage of this over the compression style is that due to there being less “smash”, you’re less likely to get that hot and sweaty feeling in your cleavage.
You might think the foam cups would hold in more heat, but these are described as being perforated so should keep you cooler. On top of that, the fabric is moisture-wicking and smooth, so it shouldn’t allow any sweat to pool or stay on your body.
It’s also worth noting that this has the most hooks and eyes in one fastening than any of the other sports bras I tried – 4 rows, meaning the band is wide and very comfortable.
The bra straps can be hooked at the back to create a racerback which is both functional, in providing a small amount of additional support (or at least, I find this helps – do you?), and it looks better under racerback tops. It also gives it that more sporty look too.
Overall appearance score: 8.5/10
Fit
For the Freya Active sports bra, I chose a 30G based off an old Freya sports bra I used to wear in a 28FF (when that was my size) and the band was a little on the tight side. I decided to sister size up a band size from my usual 28GG and try the 30G, but to be honest, I would have been better sticking with my usual I think, typical!
The band on this Freya sports bra is definitely too big for me. While I can wear it on the tightest hooks and still get support, it’s not ideal as it will stretch out more quickly. I can’t really put this down as a size complaint as in reality, I’m not wearing the best size for me! So I’d say, stick to your usual band size in the Freya Active Crop Top sports bra. It’s interesting as I definitely needed the 30 band in the Shock Absorber.
In terms of the cup size, I’d say this is also just verging on being too big for me. I think I could potentially have worn the 28G and fitted that well, but it could be that the too large band is throwing things off for me. I think for a sports bra though, I would prefer the cups to be a closer fit so as to prevent any additional movement.
The straps on this bra were interesting as I found I needed them tightened all the way to keep them on my shoulders. Normally I only wear bra straps tightened about half way, so I’ve deduced I must have pretty average shoulders, so someone with short or smaller shoulders might find these straps too long. Nevertheless, the racerback J hook fastening means you might be able to get away with this as that pulls the straps tighter and into the middle, so no slippage should occur.
Overall fit score: 7/10 (band as expected, cups ever so slightly too big)
Support
Due to the Freya Sports bra not being the ideal size for me, I think the support is somewhat compromised, but I personally don’t find I get a lot of support from it. It’s very comfortable to wear, but I get a fair amount more movement in this bra than any other DD+ sports bra I’ve tried.
I think personally compression style might work best for me, even if it’s not usually my preferred method of support, so the encapsulation design means there’s a little less support. In addition to that, the band and cups aren’t quite a close enough fit for me, nor are the straps as tight as I’d like them to be.
But bear in mind that I’m judging the support here on DD+ sports bras, not on sports bras in general – so this would come out far higher in terms of support were the other bras I’m comparing it to not so amazing!
Nevertheless, it does still have enough support that I could comfortably do a range of lower impact sports. I think I’ll be wearing this bra a lot for yoga (which is my sport of choice!) – it’s pretty enough to show under clothing and comfortable, allowing a range of movement, where the others might feel a little tight in some poses.
Overall support score: 5/10
I received the Freya Active Epic Crop Top Sports Bra in cherry marl in a 30G from Brastop where it costs £42 for sizes 28-40 D-GG. It’s also available in Atomic Navy and Grey/Aqua.
