I waited six months for these to hit retail, plus another six weeks after I ordered with them stuck in customs, but the two bras I decided I had to have at last February’s CurvExpo are finally in my hands.

First off is the Freya “Martha” padded half-cup bra. Near as I can tell, Freya makes one of these styles to match almost every underwire plunge they create. But they’re really hard to find. Figleaves.com almost never offers them, and other online retailers seem to sell just one or two once in a while. I didn’t even know they existed until I went to the Curve show and saw them in person. But when I did discover them, I was really excited to try the vertical-seemed three-part construction. As much as I love Freya’s traditional styles, many of them do give a bit of a pointy shape on me, so I thought this style would give a much rounder silhouette.

So was the “Martha” half-cup successful? Well sort of. For some inexplicable reason, the half-cup bras start at a 30 band instead of the 28 of all the underwire plunges. And the band is definitely true to size. I’m wearing it on the tightest hook and it’s still riding up just a weeeeee bit. I’ll have to alter it as it gets older and stretches out.

The cups are also not as perfect a shape on me as the plunges, but that may be due to wearing a sister size. While the cups give great uplift and lovely Marie Antoinette-style cleavage, the gore seems to be a touch wider than my Freya plunges, which pulls the bottom half of my breasts out to the sides. At least it’s only noticeable from the front, and you can’t see it under clothing at all. This, plus the ever-so-slight quadboob on my larger side, makes me wonder if going up a cup size would be best, but since I have to order these from eBay, it’s not really conducive to trying multiple sizes. I’ll probably take in the gore, though, as that should help angle the wires a little more vertically.

As for the look of this bra, it is just lovely. The print looks like multiple layers of sheer butterflies atop each other. It’s vintage and modern-looking at the same time. The cups are made of a layer of soft, flexible, thin foam with the sheer butterfly mesh over it. The bright sea foam green lace trim, straps, and thread flounces along the upper and lower edges are really unexpected and pretty.

Final impression: I adore the look of this bra, but probably wouldn’t buy another Freya half-cup unless they introduce 28 bands.

Next up is the Freya Ada. I loooooooove this bra. I’ve always had the best luck with Freya bras of this construction—opaque fabric on the bottom half and lace or mesh for the top half, with the opaque fabric running into the strap—and this one is no exception. It fits me pretty much as perfectly as it fits the model. One thing to note, if you have top-heavy breasts this bra may not work as well for you, due to a mesh ribbon running along the upper edge of the cup that could dip into breast tissue.

I simply adore the fabric. The print is a collection of tattoo flash-inspired flowers, winged hearts, dragonflies, and little Freya banners interspersed with paint drop-like black dots. I like the slightly muted colors, as it’s reminiscent of old tattoos in real life. The embroidered flowers, hearts, and dragonflies on the mesh are a sweet, girly touch; and the black and white polka-dotted bows with pink in the center, which appear on the straps and gore, are a cute, unexpected detail. The black thread flounces along the bottom edge and the straps are a final edgy touch.

Lastly, while Freya’s wide elastic straps are perhaps not the most elegant, they’re completely adjustable and stay in place incredibly well, which is very necessary for narrow shoulders like mine.