Consumers are turning to credit cards, their tax refunds and scrounging for coins under the couch cushions, but they still hit the stores and spent online last month even as high prices at the gas pump took their toll. 

IRL spending at apparel and accessories specialty stores rose 5.7 percent from a year earlier in May, increasing to $26.8 billion, according to the Census Bureau’s monthly retail sales report, released Wednesday. The much smaller department store sector saw in-store sales increase 1.9 percent to $3.3 billion.

More and more of the spending is being fueled by plastic. 

Revolving consumer credit, a category of debt made up largely of credit cards, rose at an annual pace of 10.4 percent in April, when borrowers added another $14.2 billion to their balances, according to the Federal Reserve. 

But spending from here on out could start to get dicier. 

“Following the strong tax refunds season, we expect consumer spending to turn more episodic and event-driven in the coming months,” said Michael Lasser, an analyst at UBS, in a note to clients. “Higher energy costs have likely shifted spending away from discretionary categories. That said, potential resolution in the Middle East could drive fuel prices lower, providing relief for stretched consumer budgets.”

As U.S. President Donald Trump looks to hammer out a lasting deal with Iran, the fallout of three-and-a-half months of war in the Middle East is still snaking its way through the global economy. 

A barrel of oil was selling for less than $78 on Wednesday — indicating a return to more normal prices as Trump has promised the Strait of Hormuz would reopen on Friday — but prices had spiked up to nearly $113 during the war. The costs of the spike are still filtering down to consumers. 

Still, from the brick-and-mortar perspective, e-commerce was a bigger drain than gas prices last month as people spent $13.3 billion more at the pump in May compared with a year ago, while non-store retailers raked in an additional $15.2 billion.

And fashion’s gains in May come as consumers are having to shell out more for almost everything. 

The May Consumer Price Index for apparel was up 4.8 percent from a year earlier, putting department stores into negative territory and leaving specialty stores with just a modest gain.