What to Buy From COS If You Have $2500 Taste and a $250 Budget

My $250 COS gift card is burning a hole in my pocket.

Eliza Huber's avatar
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@nlmarilyn wearing a blue button-down shirt from COS.
(Image credit: @nlmarilyn)

I recently was lucky enough to receive a $250 gift card to one of my favorite stores, COS, but I'm a Libra, so naturally, deciding what to actually buy has been next to impossible. Now, it's been at least four months, and I still have yet to swipe once. It's not for lack of worthy options—trust me, there have been plenty of tempting items. Instead, it's that there are too many good picks to choose from, from staple basics that I know I'll wear on repeat to standout designs that will no doubt warrant compliments. All that's to say I need your help.

I've successfully edited down my favorite under-$250 COS items for spring 2026 in the mix below. Now, my job is to puzzle one or two pieces together that fit inside my gift card's limit, all the while creating the illusion that I spent a lot more than that. My taste tends to lean more toward $2500 than $250, especially at the start of a new season when all kinds of new runway arrivals are making their store debuts, so I'm hoping to make this purchase really count.

Keep scrolling to see what I've picked out thus far, including a cool-blue button-down shirt that I keep seeing It girls in L.A. and London styling and the soft derby sneakers I've been eyeing to get that Celine by Michael Rider look for the season ahead.

Eliza Huber
Eliza Huber
Associate Editorial Director

Eliza Huber is currently the Associate Editorial Director at Who What Wear. She joined the company in 2021 as a fashion editor after starting her career as a writer at Refinery29, where she worked for four years. During her time at WWW, she launched Go Sports, the publication's sports vertical, and published four (and counting) quarterly issues tied to the WNBA, Formula One, and more. She also created two franchises, Let's Get a Room and Ways to Wear; profiled Dakota Fanning, Diane Kruger, Katie Holmes, Gracie Abrams, and Sabrina Carpenter for WWW's monthly cover features; and reported on new seasonal trends, up-and-coming designers, and celebrity style.