Laura Whitmore on a recent Grazia cover wearing Fine Saratoga

I promised myself once I could swim properly, I’d invest in a special swimming cap. Since starting to learn at 52, I’ve been through several items of functional and streamlined headwear. Even after preparing the slippery things with talcum powder, it can be like attempting to pull a condom over your skull. I’ve sometimes left the pool with a headache and occasionally, they’ve torn, leaving me with a handful of latex ribbons.

Four years later, swimming is an essential part of my weekly routine. I decided, the time had come to upgrade my swimming cap, so went online and invested in two vintage style swim caps in black and red, each decorated with pretty flowers on the side. Pulling on this chic head gear made an aqua-aerobics session more fun, like I was auditioning for a Busby Berkley remake. The woman behind my new look is Sarah Wilkinson who’s been promoting the pleasures of retro swimming caps for fifteen years. Her brand, Fine Saratoga includes twelve designs and spans a kaleidoscope of colours. From all-over petal designs to turban styles reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor in her Hollywood heyday, they evoke an age of glamour and bring joie de vivre to the most municipal of swimming experiences.

A Saratoga is a traditional travelling trunk with brass fittings, Sarah explains and was also the name of the family business founded by her mother, ‘a high-end lingerie shop in Oxford. I grew up surrounded by these beautiful silks and laces.’ When an agent turned up with some retro swimming caps, they were added to the window display but it was when Sarah took the initiative to start selling them online, they really took off. Two years of pandemic-induced misery have been surprisingly good for business. During lockdown, swimming pools were closed to the public and many women discovered outdoor swimming for the first time. ‘Everyone was wild swimming and they wanted to be seen. Women would recommend them to each other and sometimes buy five or six for their swimming group.’

Synchronised Swimming by Eva Watson (Copyright © Eva Watkins, 2021)

The pandemic also seemed to influence changing tastes from neutral and practical to vivacious and fun-loving. ‘Pre-Covid, I was selling plain black, navy and blue caps but since then, the petal design has become a best seller with multi-coloured, purple and green ones flying out. I think it’s about visibility and celebration; the desire to find joy. Swimming helps physically and mentally, it’s an uplift.’

With customers from 25 to 85+ she attributes their appeal to a combination of cheerfulness and comfort. ‘They are soft and tactile and don’t pull at your hair. Younger women like the cute, vintage feel of them. Older women are perhaps drawn to the nostalgia; they remind them of hats their mothers would wear.” One of the pink petal caps recently made a television appearance on the head of Alison Steadman in the BBC Sit Com, Here We Go  (highly recommended) and Claridges just ordered some for their spa. As for me, I’m now half-flipper, half-flapper and my witty swimming caps mark a new confidence in the pool.

Tot knots of Brighton swim turban

Nilgin Yusuf is a freelance writer. You can find her on Twitter @Nilgin and Instagram @nilgin_yusuf