A LETTER FROM A READER

AT 67, I STOPPED HIDING FROM THE POOL UNDER A KAFTAN

Margaret Pemberton
Boston · August 6, 2026

I nearly didn't write this, because it's only a swimsuit. But my sister asked where it was from on holiday, and a woman by the pool did too, so I'll just say here what I told them.

For years, a holiday with a pool filled me with a quiet dread. I'd pack a swimsuit I didn't feel right in, then spend the whole week under a kaftan on a sunlounger, watching everyone else go in the water. Somewhere along the line I'd decided the pool wasn't really for women my shape and age anymore, and I'd made my peace with sitting it out.

"I wasn't frightened of the water. I was frightened of the walk to it — of how I'd feel in the swimsuit before I ever got in."

HOW IT HAPPENS

Nobody decides to stop swimming. It goes one uncomfortable summer at a time. The swimsuit doesn't feel right, so you cover it up. The kaftan is easier, so you keep it on. Before long you're the one holding the bags and the sun cream while everyone else is in the water, and you tell yourself you never much fancied it anyway.

WHAT I HAD WRONG

I'd assumed a swimsuit at my age had to be a plain, armoured, joyless thing. The Brooke is the first one in years that felt like me. It's from Bennett Boston, an American label that's been quietly looking after women our age for a good twenty years.

It's a one-piece with a high-waisted, shaping cut that smooths the middle and holds you in gently, with supportive cups and adjustable straps that actually fit — no digging, no tugging up every two minutes. And the ocean print is genuinely lovely: soft blues with coral and shells, the sort of thing that makes you feel dressed rather than exposed. It moves with you and stays put, which is all I ever wanted from one.

WHAT HAPPENED ON HOLIDAY

I got in the water on the first morning — first time in years — and my sister, who has not willingly complimented me in fifty years, asked where the swimsuit was from. A woman on the next lounger asked too. I felt held-in and covered and, for once, not on show. That is the rarest sort of thing at 67 — a swimsuit you forget you're wearing the moment you're in.

THREE THINGS I'VE LEARNED SINCE

Shaping is quiet confidence. The high waist smooths the middle without squeezing the life out of you.

A real print helps. After years of plain black, a bit of colour made all the difference to how I felt walking to the water.

Straps that fit change everything. Adjustable and supportive, so I stopped fidgeting and started swimming.

ABOUT THE PRICE

I'll be honest about why I'm writing this rather than just telling my sister. The Brooke is currently $39.95, down from $80 — half off for their summer sale — and when I checked this week the middle sizes were already going. They do it from a US 4–6 right up to a US 24–26.

Brooke | Ocean Print Swimsuit

★★★★★ 4.6 out of 5 · 500+ reviews

$80.00 $39.95 — Save 50%

• High-waisted, shaping one-piece that smooths the middle
• Supportive cups and adjustable straps that actually fit
• Lovely ocean print · stretchy, stays-put fit
• Inclusive fit, US 4–6 to US 24–26 · free delivery via USPS

See the Brooke Swimsuit →

Due to high demand for our summer sale, the middle sizes are selling first.

I'm the one in the water now, not the one holding the towels.