Over the previous couple of months, I’ve been working by way of the grueling (and at occasions ugly) strategy of overhauling my sports activities bra assortment. It was like all my outdated standbys misplaced their stretch and help in a single day—though in equity, I hadn’t purchased any new ones in years. To melt the monetary blow of bra procuring, I appeared to Amazon, the house of activewear dupes, for reasonable(-ish) choices.
That’s the place I discovered Baleaf’s Freeleaf Bra ($46, amazon.com), a bit I used to be deeply skeptical of at first. However its value (which ranges between $32 and $46, relying on Amazon’s present offers) and cute, strappy again satisfied me to take an opportunity. Lo and behold, it’s now a part of my heavy rotation—and I like it a lot, I lately purchased a second one.
The design
The Freeleaf is a longline bra with a scoop neck, molded cups, and criss-cross straps. All these options most likely aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, particularly in case you’re searching for most help, however I believe they play properly collectively. The inside track neckline doesn’t plunge too low, and the cups don’t should do all of the lifting, due to the strap configuration: One set of straps creates an X throughout your shoulder blades, whereas one other pair runs straight down out of your shoulders to the bra’s band. And, for my part, a longer-line bra with a pleasant, vast band is rarely a foul factor—I can put on my Freeleaf as an everyday bra or a crop prime, relying on my plans and the temperature.
The one situation I’ve with the design is that the band and straps aren’t adjustable. The complete bra is fabricated from a nylon and Lycra materials that’s extremely stretchy and what I might name reasonably compressive. That means, the band and straps will be considerably accommodating—however if you’d like a really dialed-in match, you might have considered trying one thing with buckles or a hook-and-eye closure as an alternative.
The sizing
Baleaf makes use of a mixture of standalone sizes and ranged sizes, so your choices are small-medium, large-X-large, XX-large, and 3X-large. Is that this complicated? Sure. Did I, as somebody who by no means is aware of if I should purchase sports activities bras in smalls or mediums, recognize all of it the identical? Sure. The small-medium is simply the appropriate measurement for me. The band feels a bit cosy after I first pull it on, however it shortly stretches to suit comfortably round my higher torso.
And fortuitously, the model supplies a measurement chart, so you may simply discover the choice that fits your normal cup and band measurement.
Authentic picture by SELF senior commerce author Sara Coughlin
Authentic picture by SELF senior commerce author Sara Coughlin
The texture
Clean is the primary phrase that involves thoughts after I take into consideration this sports activities bra. It doesn’t rub or squeeze wherever, and it doesn’t chafe beneath my armpits, which is an annoyingly frequent drawback for me. I don’t personal any high-end sports activities bras (once more, I’ve needed to exchange so many bras this 12 months—price range is the whole lot), however that is how I’d think about they really feel: glossy, mushy, and cushty.
Discussion about this post