2026 Lolita Goals

After the roaring success of 2025’s goals, and knowing what’s in store for me in 2026, I had a good, long think about what I actually want to accomplish this year. Priorities must be set firmly from the get-go if I am to make this year as pleasingly focused.

Photo by Ann H on pexels.com

1. Adhere to the wish/need/replace list more strictly

Now, the ideal would be a no buy for the first half of the year. But a strict no buy might be tempting fate to bring on failure. Having thought quite critically about what it is that I want and need in my lolita wardrobe, I know that adding those pieces would enhance my wardrobe’s overall wearability and versatility. So rather than miss out on an item that I was genuinely looking for because of being on a no buy, my 2026 goal is to stick to my list more. The same rules apply as always:

• need and high priority wishlist items get a free pass;
• lower priority wishlist items and replacements are subject to a 48 hour wait;
• and anything outside of it should be a straight up no.

The two areas where I foresee this being put at a serious risk: new releases and jewellery.

Now, there’s little within my control as far as new releases go. If any fit within some of my more broadly described wish/need/replace list items, then they will follow the same rules as outlined above. However, if they are completely outside of anything I could have foreseen to want and I still do want them at the end of the mandatory 48 hour waiting period, then the appropriate actions, in order of priority, are:

• Leave it and come to terms with missing out;
• Sell something else to gather the funds for the new piece;
• If I have no credit to pay off and enough available balance in cash without having to take away from anything, cautiously purchase;
• Purchase on credit with the least amount of outstanding balance still to pay.

As for jewellery, because I know that I’m a sucker for Folk and Fortune and her wares (as well as a few other acrylic jewellery makers), the rule here is that if it passes the mandatory waiting period, then I can buy it only with money on my fun spending card. I put £50/month on that card for little treats (a drink, a snack, a random buy etc.), so any new jewellery can go from that pot if I still find myself wanting. But only then.

The only part of this not discussed is in-person shopping, be it at lolita events or any other times. In those cases, my standard rule of ‘one round for browsing, second round for spending’ remains in place. That should be sufficient cooldown to reduce the impulse and from experience, by the time I start the shopping round, I forget about most items I initially wanted. Right now I only plan on attending one lolita event with shopping and spending money is included in my savings budget for it. However, as I want these rules to become second nature, I would like the mentality of the four outcomes above to get really ingrained in all my spending habits, particularly the fashion ones.

All of this needs to be in place until at least mid-June 2026. After that, I can review and relax the rules if it looks like there are no new big expenses (especially more international trips). However, in principle I would like to stick to these rules for all of 2026. 

The response to most purchases fr the first half of this year should be NO. And I will be holding myself accountable to that in my quarterly reviews.
Photo by Ann H from Pexels.com

2. Get back to meet organising

The complete opposite of last year! Truth is that I missed meetups. Since moving I felt like going to those in Leeds has gotten harder because of the extra public transport faff and the increase in train costs. Meanwhile, CLAM has been quiet as us old ones have been dealing with life and only a few other people stepped up to host. My goal here is a specific number of meets that I would like to hold over the course of 2026 to culminate with the annual Christmas lunch (which will be the fifth one, can you believe it!) growing into a bigger, more ILD-like celebration. I have some ideas for it already, of course.

As for other meetups, I don’t want to overexert myself and swing completely the other way around. So the key is to have a small number and mix the ideas between some that are more casual and some that might require a booking or something. Right now, minimum two and a maximum of four seems doable (Christmas lunch 2026 excluding, so three to five with that). It allows for a good spread of low effort things and those more involved, as well as gives me time in between these meets to rest.

It may be a little counter-intuitive to set myself a goal of hosting more meets again when the first six months of the year are already filled with trips and events, but the important thing is that they don’t all have to be big things that take hours. A call to get a fun drink and browse Afflecks for an afternoon or to sit at a cafe with some easy crafts is easily something that can be slotted into a normal day when I have DnD in the evening, for example. At the very least, if I’ve hosted one meetup at the point of doing my quarterly review posts, then I’d be very happy with that outcome.

I mean, a promise of a hot drink and a sweet treat is usually enough to tempt a lot of lolitas out for an afternoon. It doesn't need to be any more involved than that.
Photo by Viktoria Alipatova on Pexels.com

3. Coord Challenge: Wear Every Pair of Lolita-specific Legwear

I don’t actually remember when I set up my Last Worn spreadsheet, but needless to say, it has done its job marvellously when it comes to ensuring that I wear all of my main pieces at least once a year (and typically I average twice per year for each piece). That absolutely doesn’t mean that I wear all of my wardrobe equally and I think that it’s time to set myself a new challenge in line with what some people over on the Tea Rose Garden Discord server are already doing. Given that so many of my tops (especially the offbrand ones) get sufficient wear out of me, I decided to focus on legwear in 2026, a decidedly more uniquely lolita element of a coord and one that I know I’ve hoarded a little.

Firstly, what counts as “lolita-specific legwear”? Well, anything and everything that is explicitly made by a lolita brand: OTKs, ankle socks, and tights. I have 61 pairs of socks from lolita brands from all over and 16 pairs of lolita tights. At a pure numbers level, at least one wear in the whole year is very achievable, assuming a very doable average of two coords a week. Of course, we all know that it’s not always quite so straightforward and there will be times when the aesthetic needs of the coord will overtake the challenge, so it’s not like it won’t be a challenge at all. But that is sort of the point.

What I hope this will achieve is not just the satisfaction of stretching my creative muscles and coming up with some unique coords that I maybe wouldn’t have ever put together otherwise, but also clarity on that side of my wardrobe. It’s nice to have all these options, but do I actually need them all? Do they realistically still have a place in my wardrobe as it looks now? Have I been avoiding wearing any of these because of aesthetic or comfort reasons? Are there any that I actually have been missing and not identified yet? This is the only surefire way to find out. Time to add a whole new tab to my Last Worn spreadsheet! And who knows, if this proves as successful and fun as the me writing this down hopes it will be, then maybe I will extend the challenge to other areas of my wardrobe? 

Blatantly using a legwear closeup pic when the legwear in question is not lolita-specific. But more of the lolita-specific ones in 2026! Time to get all these fun OTKs to see some light of day.

Three worked out well for me last year and given that they all will involve a fairly significant amount of mental energy, I will stop here. The point isn’t to overwhelm myself by being overly ambitious, but rather to engage in something meaningful, which all three of these goals are doing. This year I’m also setting some non-lolita goals, which will add to how I’m balancing my time and mental energy, so the key here is definitely not stretching myself too far!

How about you all? What goals are you setting for yourselves for 2026? High five if anyone else is joining me on any of the above (and variations thereof), I extend the most sincere 頑張って to you!