The heatwave degraded my brain cells and I zoned out through what time of the year it was. Also, how have we gone through half of 2026 already?
New additions
My initial no–to-low-buy was meant to last until mid-June. So naturally, a bit of easing on the spending has happened, especially as I was gifted some money. Still, I hope that this won’t now be some sort of an opening of the floodgates for the rest of the year as I’ve unlocked some new saving goals.
- 1 overdress (classic in wine)
- 1 pair of shoes (classic in wine)
- 2 pairs of socks (1 classic in ivory x wine* and 1 classic in ivory)
- and 2 sets of accessories (1 pair of classic earrings in gold x pink, 1 gothic headdress in black)
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| This looks like a slightly imbalanced, but nonetheless (almost) full coord. |
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| No such thing as too many roses. |
Should I have bought those socks, any of them? No, absolutely not. This was exactly the sort of impulse buy that I was trying to avoid on my no-to-low-buy. But I simply could not resist the chance to support Mary Magdalene directly and without it being a bloodbath. And since I was already ordering from Atelier Pierrot, adding their lacy socks felt too good of an opportunity to pass up on. Worst comes to worst, I might reuse them as arm warmers and tick that part of my need list off.
Possible new looks
With fewer purchases and a heatwave preventing me from fully enjoying my most recent additions, it’s only fair that less happened on the new looks front. I will wear the overdress and the AtePie OTKs soon though, that’s so much breezy lace and mesh that surely I can make it work as soon as temperatures stop being around 30s.
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| Photo from May 2026. |
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| Photo from June 2026. |
Need and Replace list progress
The replace list still looks the same as it did. In trying to stick to my no-buy as much as possible, I avoided doing any digging for specific pieces and let’s face it, the jewellery is very much something that’s most likely to be found randomly during a charity or antique shop trawl. We will get there. One day. Just not now.
However, my early foray out of the no-buy has ticked off two of the need list items. The Nocturne overdress is going to be the replacement for the ill-fitting Lace Fishtail Gilet (which I still have, someone please buy that off me!) and based on just a quick try-on, I think it’ll perform that role splendidly. And since I already had an AtePie order going, I chucked in a headdress to tick off that item from this list too. It’s not much, but the point is to add stuff intentionally, not en masse.
Current wishlist
There’s also been no changes on the wishlists. Well, except that I’ve removed the Nostalgic Matryoshka Doll from it. It’s an adorable series that I will continue to enjoy from afar. But the more time goes on, the more I want to focus on classic pieces and on adding some versatile solids into my wardrobe. I’m unsure how much is the ‘you are who you hang out with’ effect, but it feels like Atelier Pierrot and myself are a bit more intense in our ‘will they, won’t they’ dance of them releasing things that I appreciate, but that are juuust that slightly off from what I want. We’re bound to land on a hit sooner or later. And if not with them, then definitely with Physical Drop, I simply want more of PD’s cotton OPs to save me from future heatwaves.
New Year’s goals: progress summary
The goals are progressing, slowly but surely.
- Did I adhere to my wish/need/replace list more strictly? Whilst at heart it feels like I stuck to those lists more over the last three months than the first three of the year, the hard numbers tell a slightly different story. Yes, overall I bought less and spent less money on clothes and accessories. Yes, they are all pieces that will fit right at home in my wardrobe. But out of 6 items, only 2 were actually on my need list. Something to work on more over the next six months as I would like to get some of those pieces.
- Have I gotten back into meet organising? Whilst there hasn’t been an official meet hosted by me in the last quarter, I do have one on the cards for August and am thinking of one in September as well. Both are very easy-to-do, ‘come to this place that’s effectively a built-in activity’ kind of an affair, so I’m not worried about having met that goal by the end of the year. What I am (a little) worried about is that I now have two big things to organise in the slightly more distant future instead of just the one that I envisioned at the start of 2026.
- Wear Every Lolita-Specific Pair of Legwear Challenge progress? I am currently at 43 out of 80. So great, I am exactly halfway there. Less great is that I’ve added two more pairs of socks in the last three months. And if the heat doesn’t significantly ease over the summer, then I’ll have to cram more into the autumn/winter months to meet this goal. Whilst I have 4 pairs of ankle socks that haven’t been worn yet, they aren’t exactly going to carry me through all of summer, even if that would still be progress.
This last quarter was absolutely dominated by me actually doing about half of these trips that were taking up my mental real estate and that prompted the no buy. Thanks to them my spending has been lower on clothes (though a little less controlled in other aspects). And as we move through the rest of summer towards the latter half of the year, I very much would like to refocus towards those need and replace pieces more. I better note that somewhere visible though, so that I don’t lose track of this goal again…