2026 Wish/Need/Replace List

2026 has announced itself early as the Year of Many Trips. They all mean that my fashion spending has to take a back seat and I’ve pondered whether to even bother updating my wish/need/replace lists. But the truth is that fashion spending will happen no matter what and these lists will help keep me accountable to myself to stick to reasonable limits. So whilst the changes from last year to this are once again small, they are all the more significant for setting the direction I want my wardrobe to go.

REPLACE

Last year I had not identified any strict replacements at the start of the year. I considered my wardrobe to be in a great place and any replacements could happen ad hoc. So ad hoc I replaced my brown Sosic Shop shoes with brown Modos and the Vivienne Westwood Anglomanias with Elf Armorie’s Cupid’s Hearts. There were more things that I simply got rid of without replacing, as there’s no longer any need for them (mainly because of my reducing how much blue and how much sweet my wardrobe contains).

The replacements that did happen.

These changes also led me to realise that actually, there are a few more bits that I’d like to replace because of changes in style preferences and/or size. This Bodyline skirt, excellent as it is, wasn’t serving me anymore. But a neutral ivory skirt in some more structured fabric has been great for my style overall. I have by now sold the Bodyline one, so it is time to invest in finding something in its stead.

Then there’s the broader long-term replacements goal that I’ve tried to achieve for a while of replacing my old and cheap jewellery bits with better versions of the same item. I’m especially thinking here about things like pearl earrings or the various gold-coloured rings that I own or even my gold x pearl brooch. Items like this can be replaced inexpensively with real semi-precious stones and real gold through very diligent antiquing, though it also involves a lot of luck. I’m not in a rush, but it is prime time to solidify that replacement as something that I want to take seriously.

Going to be more focused on finding those jewellery gems this year.

NEED

The need list is the core of these lists. The items that aren’t just nice-to-have, but that fill in gaps that I struggled with previously. I didn’t do much with last year’s needs: the brown shoes, whilst both a need and a replacement, happened later, the underskirt never materialised, and the boots I once more decided weren’t actually a need, despite the influx of cute winter coords with lolita boots making me want some again.

I'm still sad about missing out on that specific underskirt. Little Dipper created something great and I totally slept on it, thinking I had time.

So for this year it’s time to reshuffle that once more, bring focus back on where it’s needed. I am going to be much stricter with myself as to what ‘need’ actually means. It isn’t just about items that plug in some gaps – by that definition, a fair few of my non-main piece wishlist items could find themselves here. My need list items for 2026 must:

• be a piece that I am genuinely missing (i.e. without it my coords are/have been short of reaching their full potential)
• serve multiple coords and not just one or two dresses (i.e. be a versatile builder piece)
• and fit with the overall direction that I want my wardrobe to go to (i.e. classic, warm tones, elegant, and comfortable).

After that rigorous selection, the following are the ones that made it onto the list:

• Wine underskirt, preferably in a stiffer fabric than chiffon
• Black x gold OTKs or tights with a symmetrical classic-themed neutral/versatile pattern (e.g. crowns, fleur-de-lys, florals, all variations of swirls/filigrees/arabesques etc.)
• A simple, elegant, gothic all-black headdress that’s neither a headbow nor a pair of horns (a canotier maybe? Keeping my options open here)
• A white cotton or cotton-lace detachable collar
• An elegant, more dressy light green brooch and ring (ideally the colour would come from a sparkly stone in this colour, but I’m open to options, especially vintage ones)
• A sheer, short-ish gold overskirt and an underskirt to match, not too yellow-toned, but not entirely cool-toned either
• An ivory lace capelet or shawl 
• A pair of ivory lace arm warmers
• A gold short corset 
• A Vallee Lys Fishtail Lace Gilet in bordeaux, but one that’d actually fit me (or similar – what I’m after here is the sleeveless look, the fishtail, and the lace/sheer effect)
• A brown, preferably leather, mid-size, classic bag, shoulder or cross-body preferred, probably a messenger bag, but open to other styles

Forgive me my many photo manipulations. The need for a visual is great, yet the supply of what I'm after is thin.

If this isn’t a representation of my wardrobe shifting much closer to full-time classic and a more-than-just-an-occasional gothic dipper, then I don’t know what is. Yes, I still can and have been making do with my Grove Deer OP working as a stand-in for that wine underskirt, but I really think that a piece made for that job would be better. The remaining bits are, quite fortunately, mainly accessories that I hope to be able to find locally and/or second hand to reduce the cost. Also, excuse the many photos that are obviously tampered with. Unfortunately, not everything that I’m after had a picture of anything similar to what I want that I could find, so I reached for the next best course of action.

WISH

I am very grateful that 2025 has brought me some of the wishlist items, especially the Millfeuille boleros. To only have one, and not even a lace-specific one, left to track down is incredibly helpful. That will be my priority for 2026 so that I can finally call my collection truly complete. Moreover, scoring a few of the more versatile main pieces has satisfied a couple of gaps in my wardrobe to the point where I feel comfortable removing a few bits from the main pieces list. Over the last few months I’ve also stumbled upon a few other main pieces that I hadn’t considered previously, which have clarified for me what it is that I actually want, e.g. do I want a specific wine-based floral dress or do I want a wine-based floral dress with specific elements.

As my taste has shifted and my wants turned towards things that aren’t just versatile, but also pretty wearable and comfortable, I am moving things around, not just in terms of the items on these lists, but also their priority score. As much as I may not want to, I have to take the current market into account. What used to be my ‘dream dress at any cost’ now has to be adjusted for what is reasonable for me to spend on a single piece, both in terms of my personal finances and in terms of what I think is a fair asking price, especially for second hand items. I’m still keeping the split of fanciful wishes (as in, I just like that specific piece and want it), permitted seasonal wishes (as in, I know that I might not get to wear these as often, but would still like to own them), and daily wishes (as in, pieces that I can imagine myself wearing more frequently and on a more regular and casual basis). However, whilst red-amber-green still indicates priority in descending order, I’m changing their meanings to:

• red = up to 400 GBP at an absolute push;
• amber = up to 150 GBP;
• and green = as cheaply as possible, preferably under 100 GBP.

As always, unless specified the images aren't always for the exact thing pictured, but for something fitting that description.

And the text version for ease of remembering and ease of search:

• Fanciful wishes
• Mary Magdalene’s Arabesque Rose JSK in ivory (the original release with shirring only)
• Mary Magdalene’s Farutetto JSK in wine or ivory (any release)
• Angelic Pretty’s Antoinette Decoration JSK in ivory (non-bustier cut only)
• Physical Drop’s leopard print JSK
• Metamorphose’s Matryoshka Doll in beige in either the Apron JSK or the Lace Up JSK
• Seasonal wishes
• BtSSB’s DOKI DOKI Strawberry Magic skirt in red
• A velvet JSK or OP in either wine red, emerald green, or ivory, preferably with gold or ivory accents (lace etc)
• Daily wishes
• A wine-based floral JSK (preference given to BtSSB’s Antoinette Bouquet 2012 Memorial Series cut, with AatP’s Reminiscence of Ornament Rose JSK II a close second)
• A solid colour brown JSK (adorned preferably with tiers, pintucks, and bows, minimum lace on the bodice
• A tiered chiffon JSK in either ivory, green or wine red
• A few more simple solid skirts (or in simple patterns like florals) in longer length, tiered and more classic in appearance, ideally in pink, wine red, green, brown or ivory

I am still keeping an eye out for more Physical Drop main pieces generally because they are peak comfort for me and they do some really nice solids. And maybe Atelier Pierrot will do another Skirt A’La Carte thing? But for the most part, my eyes will be looking out to the second hand market and to the indie brands. As you can see from this, most of my list is firmly in the amber-to-green territory. Cost matters a lot more this year, but also, with the sorts of things that I am after, I don’t feel the need to go all out. The one piece that is marked red has a high chance of not popping up this year, as well as of being much more expensive and of being snapped up by someone else. And I am at peace with that. I’d much rather spend this year growing my collection of builder pieces if any purchases are to happen.

Which is where the non-main piece wishlist comes in. This is the one that’s had the most use in 2025 and again, I’ve had some very good luck with tracking down the Millefeuilles. Having realised that 

It is satisfying ti have so many things ticked off (even if in reality, the corset/bustier all got solved by one item).

Because of that, this list has the fewest changes. The items that I’m adding could be considered replacements, but not all of them. The kinds of wants that I have grow harder to narrow down ahead of time because I’m at the stage where I have pretty much everything that I could need, so I need to see something first to decide that I want it. Some of those are entirely dumb things, while others are relatively reasonable. For a bit more accountability for future me, I will RAG rate this list as well. Let’s face it, just because these aren’t main pieces doesn’t mean that there aren’t items here that I want more or less than others. 

Not saying that I want all three of the pink Millefeuilles pictured above. I simply used all three to reiterate that this is an absolute top priority item for me.

In text this wishlist reads:

• A pink Innocent World Millefeuille bolero in size L and in any lace pattern (ribbon would be preferable, but I will take any)
• A wine short overskirt
• A wine vintage hat, either a percher or a wide brim
• Angelic Pretty’s Girly Sticker pochette
• A classic/neutral handbag in ivory, spacious enough to fit most day outing essentials (not exactly this one, since it peels like mad, but as it got tonnes of use with me when I owned it, something like it would be perfect)
• A pair of elegant, comfortable, flat winter boots, preferably in brown, fur trims welcome but optional, though fur/fleece lining would be great (so that I'm not stuck with carrying my Docs to change into after the aesthetic pictures or with heeled boots) 
• Atelier Pierrot’s Neige Neko Muffler (because look at his dumb face, no thought behind those eyes, he's perfect)

THE INKLINKS

2026 kicks off without any inklings. I’ve not seen anything on any previous, be it Japanese brands or indie, that’d have me fear for my wallet and there’s no point trying to predict anything. For the sake of all those trips I have coming up, may that stay like this until the latter half of the year!


Comparing last year’s collages with this year’s ones is an incredibly satisfying streamlining. My wardrobe has a much more specific direction in which it is heading. Both my needs and my wishes have met on the classic side, leaving most of the sweet things out. Not because I’ve fallen out of love with sweet that much, but I really don’t have much that I’d either wish for or have need of for that substyle. Years of focusing on building up that side of my wardrobe have paid of and now it is time to give the same level of attention to my classic wardrobe. And potentially, gasp, do a bit more pruning, especially of the small items like jewellery that really aren’t seeing much use with me and I’m hoarding them purely because I’m a magpie.

And now that I have a post that I can keep constantly open on my phone and refer to, what sorts of things are you hoping to find and putting your energy to search for this year? Are you also on a journey in a slightly new direction or are you sticking to what you’ve been doing and growing that? Either way, may the odds be ever in your favour and all the best of luck finding what you’re after!