If you’re feeling sad that summer is over, have no fear as I’m back with a couple of bikini reviews before we head into chillier times. These should be perfect for those of you that are grabbing a bit of winter sun or if you’re in the southern hemisphere – I’m feeling jealous of you as we’re battering our way through storms in the north of England right now!
Back at the beginning of summer, Simply Beach got in touch to offer us some swimwear to try out over summer, for me from the Freya collection. Due to various circumstances including spa trips being cancelled and early pregnancy symptoms confining me to the safety of the house for several months, I didn’t get a chance to even try on my swimwear after my initial try on when they arrived. But no fear! There was our honeymoon on the horizon at the end of summer and the perfect opportunity for me to really test out this bikini.
Simply Beach sent me the Freya Way Out West Underwired Bandeau Bikini in sunset (£22.80) in a 30G and the matching bikini briefs (£12.60) in a size 12.
Shape & Appearance
The version of the Freya Way Out West bikini I picked was the bandeau style. These can be particularly tricky for a full bust to pull off because of the very “straight” shape of it across the chest plus the fact that it needs to act basically as a very good strapless bra – you don’t want to be tugging a bikini back up around the pool or at the beach! As such, it’s tricky to find bandeau bikini tops in DD+ plus sizes, let alone in G cups, particularly ones that actually look like a “real” bandeau – I think this one manages that very successfully!
In terms of the rest of the appearance, look at those colours! The bikini is so bright, fun and young looking – I can imagine it looks wonderful against pretty much any skin tone with the bright sunset shades. The top is outlined with black and has a black neck strap, which isn’t really entirely necessary as it doesn’t provide any support or additional shaping, but adds to the overall look well.
You can’t really tell from photos, but what’s so clever about this bikini is that it has a secret hidden underwire inside! Basically it has all the functionality of an excellent strapless, underwired, padded bra, but with the look of a bandeau. This means that the shape is really quite rounded and uplifted – something that you don’t usually get from a bandeau.
It fastens at the back with a standard black plastic bikini clasp, and the neck strap is fully adjustable as it’s a simple halterneck tie.
Size, fit & comfort
Okay, first things first: by the time I wore this bikini on holiday, I’d definitely expanded from a 28GG/30G to a 30H/32GG due to pregnancy, meaning that technically this was around 2 sizes too small. Fortunately, I was still at the point that I could get away with this, and the bikini had a little bit of room for movement in sizing too, which was very lucky! You can tell along the top edge of the bandeau that it’s digging in slightly which it didn’t do on first try, but otherwise, it was a very good fit, even considering the technically incorrect size.
To illustrate how good a fit this was, can I PLEASE tell you how much I want this bikini as a strapless bra?! Freya, please, PLEASE make this design into a strapless bra! To further illustrate – I’m wearing this bikini at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, ie. a water park. Okay, I wasn’t exactly riding any big slides, but I did sit in the shallows of the wave pool, wander around a lot, and circle the lazy river multiple times, and not once did it slip out of place of require tugging and pulling. In fact, it was super comfortable for several hours.
Comparing sizing is a little more tricky for me right now as my size is in a state of flux, but I would say the 30 band is on the tighter side meaning it can fit a 28 band pretty well too – which is good as it’s not adjustable nor do they offer this bikini in a 28 band. If you sit in between sizes, I’d say you’re probably better to size up in the band in this but take your usual cup size. I’d say it’s also more likely better for full on bottom shapes as the top edge is pretty closed – I imagine in order to make sure the strapless function works better – so full on top shapes may get a little digging.
The matching briefs in my usual bottom size medium fit me very well, again needing no pulling back up or de-wedgying throughout the day. As yet, my brief size hasn’t changed so these were also very comfortable.
