11 Things I Bought & Loved In 2026

I’m going to do something that I always found incredibly annoying as a merchant and that is comp myself YoY. But instead of running the same tired promo, I’m comping my second most-liked post about the things I’ve bought and loved as we hit 2026’s midpoint. And surprise! Most of these are secondhand.

The catch is that I’ve only bought 11 fashion items this year (I was nowhere near as judicious in 2025) because I’m finally getting to the part where I know my style well enough to buy what I’m going to love and wear for the foreseeable. It now takes me days/weeks/months/years to add to cart vs. the impulse buying I did in the 2010s since I try to avoid returns and pieces I won’t repeat at all costs.

As much as my heart wants to purchase things like bloomers, the odds are low that they’re going to work for me in the long run. I’ve been admiring more and more trends from afar, and not buying items just because other people are wearing them has given me better style clarity. If you’re trying to figure out how to get here, I have tips for changing the way you approach trends to define your personal style below.

My only firsthand fashion purchase of the year because I couldn’t find secondhand balloon pants after months of intense searching. With a TFS Christmas gift card in my hot little hands, I bought these mid-January and spent $41.76 of my own money.

The most flexible pants in my wardrobe, the Aubrays go with everything. They have a comfortable elasticized drawstring waist that makes them great for city walking and airplane travel. The cotton blend fabric is perfect for San Francisco’s mild weather and I’ve also worn these comfortably during our mini heatwave last month. The care label says dry clean only; I say absolutely not and wash mine in a mesh bag and air dry them with no issues. I don’t own an iron or steamer and they come out virtually wrinkle-free every time. Highly recommend1.

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The very first thing I bought in 2026, purchased on my beloved The RealReal. If I had to restart my wardrobe from scratch, I’d immediately go to the resale market to find this exact jacket. This is one size up from my usual, which creates enough ease to wear comfortably without looking overly boxy.

The high neck and cropped length are a breath of fresh air in my wardrobe after half a decade of oversized blazers. It’s rapidly becoming the most versatile item I own, a cinch to dress up or down and wear as a jacket and a top. This was under $100 with tax and shipping, a steal for double faced wool with a silk/cotton lining.2

It’s also a blank canvas for brooches with a textured weave that doesn’t show pin holes. Something to keep in mind for the plain black blazer you haven’t worn for eons. It might just need a little zhuzh to stay interesting, whether it’s brooches, a scarf, or a really enormous necklace.

The jacket so good that I dedicated an entire post to styling it. A wool and cashmere blend in vibrant red, this gets almost as many compliments as my Ganni buckle ballerinas. Fringe is a statement jacket hallmark, red continues its ascendence as a key fashion color, and this is a prime example of the 2026 maximal minimalism aesthetic shift.

Platforms like eBay and Etsy are overflowing with unique vintage jackets, the kind that are very cool, no one else is wearing, and cost less than the sales tax on new wool and cashmere outerwear today (this jacket was $40 for the record).

Another piece I was so into that I created a full post around how to style this blazer (aff link). $33.75 NWT, 100% wool, and the long sleeves of my long arm dreams. I got a size EU 48, which I went with based on the measurements after I reverse image searched my way into the original listing to confirm it was a slim cut.

I’m not allowed to buy any more gray blazers in 2026, but what a way to go out for $50. This is the silhouette I’ve been gravitating towards for the past couple of years. Cropped? Check. Double breasted? Check. Long sleeves for long arms? Check.

It’s made from EcoVero viscose and recycled poly, which slightly reduces the non-natural fiber sting. This is another versatile piece that easily goes from bubble hem skirt to barrel leg jeans even though it’s a suiting blazer irl.

My first ThredUp purchase of 2026, thank you mysterious $10 site credit that took this to under $25 pre-tax. A brown leather blazer has been on my secondhand wishlist3 and this fitted shape is spot-on for 2026’s changing silhouettes. This is going to be great for fall, and by fall I mean San Francisco’s year-round fall climate.

This went into the same ThredUp bundle4 as my Ann Taylor blazer. I was sold on the bright navy color, barrel shaped buttons, and stand collar. It was only $9.59, but I hemmed and hawed like this was $959 because there were no measurements5. Also because it’s 100% synthetic, something I’m trying to buy less of even at resale. But if my heart can’t have new bloomers, then it can have this secondhand polyester jacket.

I’ve been casually searching for vintage leather gloves since I started buying leather secondhand last year, but they didn’t feel truly necessary until a February trip to New York. I completely missed my window on The RealReal to get something affordable and spent a lot of time scouring eBay and Etsy to find my red gloves. These came to me in great preloved shape for under $30 all in, but picked up some dark marks on the fingertips from my heavy wear this winter. If you’re wisely buying out of season, these are my same vintage gloves with light wear and NWT (both aff links).

The majority of my brooches have been handed down to me from my grandmother’s collection. I supplemented my brooch fever with three vintage styles from eBay this year, one with matching clip-on earrings which I’ve repurposed as statement buttons. I love that you can change the entire look and silhouette of an outfit with simple brooch placement. If you like your clothes, but everything’s feeling kind of womp womp when you put it on, a brooch is your outfit’s best friend.

My makeup and hair styling skills are abysmal, but I’m very into skincare after teenage acne sent me down a lifelong path to keep my skin in check. Nothing here is the buzziest new thing and ymmv, but I continue to buy these with my own money because they work for my skin and have cruelty-free certifications.

• Sunscreen6: I’m a loyal Supergoop customer of a decade+. I use this mineral for my face, this chemical for my body, this stick for touchups, and this backup from Paula’s Choice when my face is feeling sensitive (all aff links).

• UPF clothing: Skincare because they’re not chic, these UPF 50+ gloves are my latest addition after years of my blazer cuffs being coated in mineral sunscreen. Combined with this body retinol7, they’re starting to fade the couple of sunspots I’ve had on my hands for years. I’m also protecting my collars and neck with this minimalist bandana (all aff links).

• Vitamin C: I’ve been using this Paula’s Choice Vitamin C lotion since it launched years ago to brighten my skin and fade PIH marks. I restarted this more affordable The Ordinary serum last year and rotate them out every other day (all aff links).

• Argireline: If you’re an expressive sleeper this TO serum (aff link) helps make things markedly less crinkled when you wake up. As in my forehead no longer looks like a pleated skirt when I look in the mirror first thing. It’s not a Botox equivalent, but some people say it helps extend the life of their neuromodulators. I say for <$10 in a glass bottle, I’m going to keep buying it.

Now that we’re halfway through 2026, I’m back with something new in Notes: Just Rewear It July. If you want to join me, I’d love to see your rewears! I’m documenting Just Wear It July on Instagram in a different format if you’d like to follow along, cute adoptable dogs in my stories guaranteed. I hope this inspires you to get creative with what’s in your closet, prioritize secondhand shopping, and repeat what you love.

Speaking of cute adoptable dogs:

And if you have a moment before you go:

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