Real stories · The swimwear set that made me stop dreading the pool

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A swimwear set I could walk to the pool in without the towel dance, that is what I had quietly given up on. I am 67, and I love the water: aqua aerobics on Tuesdays, the hotel pool on holiday. What I do not love is the bit between the lounger and the steps. My old swimsuits either flattened everything and dug in, or gave up entirely around the middle, and so for years I did what half the women my age do: the towel clamped firmly round the waist until the very last second.

What I wanted was swimwear that did some actual work: coverage where I need it, comfort where I want it, and something cheerful enough to feel like a holiday rather than an ordeal.

Then I found the Nina from , a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. A two-piece swimwear set, a relaxed tank top with matching printed shorts, and it is the first time I have felt properly covered and actually happy about how I looked at the water.

The clever thing is that it is two pieces instead of one. The tank top skims over the middle instead of squeezing it, the way a one-piece always did. The printed shorts sit comfortably at the waist, so there is no digging and no riding up. The floral accents on the straps add a bit of detail without being loud. And because the top sits over the shorts, you get that forgiveness around the middle that I had stopped hoping for.

It is coverage that does not look like you are hiding. That is the thing I had assumed did not exist, and it took me until 67 to find it.

The proper test was our week away last summer. I did the walk from lounger to pool, in front of everyone, towel-free, on the first morning, and by day three I had stopped thinking about it altogether, which is the whole point. At aqua aerobics the top stays put and the shorts do not ride up, nothing needs adjusting after every length.

It is in the , down from . I had checked before ordering that I could send it back if the fit was off, you can, within thirty days, and the delivery is free, so there was nothing lost by trying. It comes in five colours, purple, black, blue, pink, and a light blue, and goes from S right up to 4XL. I ordered the purple and already have my eye on the pink for next time.

If you also do the towel dance, do treat yourself to a look. The Nina is rated out of 5 by more than twelve hundred women, it is in the instead of , and the popular sizes always seem to go first.