The prices of burando hair accessories on the secondhand market continue to climb to ridiculous heights, so when I got given an unexpected bonus at work recently I decided it would be best spent with some Chinese indie brands instead. Several years ago I wrote a post about Taobao stores that were releasing accessories that felt on a par with brand quality, but now it feels like all the most unique and creative accessory stores operate largely on Xianyu instead of Taobao.
Below I've photographed, linked and reviewed the accessories I bought - all headwear, mostly headbows. At the end I've also added a comparison between an overskirt I ordered on Xianyu as part of this haul, and a Me Likes Tea overskirt I preordered in January or February of this year that arrived a couple weeks ago, so scroll down if that's what you're here for.
As always, I'm reliant on Google translate for these Xianyu shop names, so my apologies if they are inaccurate.
xianyu hair accessories
mo yuan'er
The first item: a red polka dot cotton headbow, with tulle lace trim.
I missed out on the matching headbow for Strawberry Cake Party when I was in Japan, and while I do have plenty of other options to coord it with, I have so many other dresses with red accents or red polka dots on that I thought this would be a really versatile headbow in my wardrobe.
Here are my images:
unknown handmade girl
Next up: a pink cotton headbow with tulle lace and pearls.
I wanted to look for a headbow that matches better with "airier" coordinates, if you know what I mean by that—ones that have sheer elements, such as overskirts, socks with transparent elements, chiffon blouses—as my current go-to pink headbow is quite solid and doesn't have these softer edges. And I'm always a sucker for pearl details, as you'll see repeated on later items.
My pictures:
It's a really cute headbow, maybe a little more saturated in person than it has photographed here. I think if I saw someone wearing this, I would just assume it was AP. If I look very closely at the stitching I can tell it's a handmade item, but I don't say that in a negative way—it's just the very slight variation of something being made by hand, not at all something I would consider a flaw. The headbow is really well constructed and super adorable. Worth noting it is attached to the band so cannot be repositioned to the side (without modifying it).
I'd rate this one 5/5!
blowing out bubbles
This one is a cotton lavender headbow with pearl accents. It's so hard to find basics like simple and versatile headbows secondhand nowadays, especially in colours like sax, lavender, yellow, and mint. I wanted to fill the lavender headbow gap in my wardrobe, so ordered from this listing - but the same design is available in pink, white, and black, as well as some combinations of multiple colours.
humans who don't know magic
This old school strawberry headdress is so cute and unique that I had to order it when I saw it.
It's a mint cotton fabric with white rose lace running down the centre, with beautiful pink inset cotton bows over the top, and trimmed with white torchon lace. At each end there are two pink polka dot cotton strawberries, complete with leaves, hanging from mint and white pearl chains.
I think this will be so cute with prints in my wardrobe like AP's Original Strawberry Print, Sheep Garden, Sugar Fairy Cake, or BTSSB's Mary's Sweet Sheep... Often strawberry prints have little accents of green or mint but I haven't really had the pieces to be able to pull that out before now.
It's immaculately sewn—and, even better, comes complete with crocodile clips to secure on the head.
little rabbit bobo handmade
Oh my god. This heart-shaped mini hat is actually insane.
It has sturdy-feeling construction, with heart lace, torchon lace, cotton lace and grosgrain ribbon adorning it, as well as a large cotton bow that is decorated with pearls and a heart-shaped charm.
I've wanted to add a mini hat to my collection for ages (before now, I only had a mini straw hat). This design is so unique and cute, it really feels like something AP would have released ten years ago that would now sell for the price of one of your smaller organs on the secondhand market. I can't wait to style it!
I do think it's quite funny that the heart charm reads "Mezzo Piano since 1988" since, well, it's obviously not a Mezzo Piano item. It won't stop me from wearing the hat, I just find it a bit amusing.
The hat came with a length of matching grosgrain ribbon that can be optionally added if you want to tie it under your chin, which is very cute, and a few freebies!
This one is also a 6/5. It's my rating scale and I can do what I want.
overskirts review
cheese cat handmade
I've been wanting to develop my overskirt collection, as I'm saying goodbye to the only dress in my wardrobe that comes with a pink overskirt. I ordered two items to hopefully do two different jobs: the first of which is this longer pink overskirt, with white trim, pink bows and pearls decorating it.
I had pretty high expectations as I already own some Cheese Cat items. Now, pretty immediately after trying this on, I realised there was a reason it was described as an "apron", not an overskirt, on the Xianyu listing, so perhaps this is my fault for expecting something different. There are no photos that show the item from the back on the listing, and it's definitely more... front-forward, when worn.
Here are some quick try-on photos—the overskirt doesn't match well with this dress, but just to demonstrate for you. The drama is all in the front! I don't think this is a sizing thing—even with a smaller waist, the way the two pieces of fabric are spaced wouldn't mean they move much further back. I do think it still looks cute, but maybe I just need to adjust my expectations of how it will look when worn?
I'm wearing my 12m Aurora and Ariel petticoat in these pictures, which is my "medium" and most worn petticoat size, but I think the overskirt/apron might look best over my largest petticoat, like in the seller image (which makes sense, as it's the sort of thing I'd wear to a fancier event).
Aside from it surprising me with the lack of... butt coverage, the piece is sewn really well and is very cute. I do still like the item overall and think I will get wear out of it in the future for more OTT coords, which is what I intended it for.
me likes tea
As mentioned previously, I also pulled the trigger on a Me Likes Tea overskirt early on in the year, which arrived recently. I specifically ordered what they call the "Ruffled Overskirt" in pink.
The Me Likes Tea overskirt is about six times over more expensive than the Cheese Cat one, but I do have to concede that it is impeccably made.
Again, please excuse the quick try-on photos, but hopefully it helps to demonstrate the length—I opted for the shortest option when ordering as I wanted one that wouldn't cover the print of a dress when worn. I chose Pale Pink as the colour and it's a really nice neutral pink that pairs well with my wardrobe.
The overskirt is fastened with a button and loop at the front, has an elasticated waist, and comes with a detachable bow. It also has a little gold logo sewn into the waistband at the back, which feels very premium.
The method of fastening means that the overskirt is sized, and I found the size I ordered to correspond to the size chart and fit me well. I'm really excited to use this to add some extra oomph to my coords going forward!
I'd recommend Me Likes Tea overskirts if you have the sort of wardrobe where you have one dominant colour that matches most of your pieces, and you know you'll get a lot of use out of it, which is true for me.
I also want to note that I found the brand owner to be super helpful when I had a question about the different colour options on Instagram! They have two pink shades available and I wasn't sure on the difference, so she tagged me in the comments of previous items in each colour on their Instagram so I could see real-life examples, which really helped me choose what colour to go for. Me Likes Tea also prepays taxes and customs so you won't get any on your parcel.
Overall I'd say the high price is completely worth it for the ability to specify exactly what I want, down to the colour of each component, the size, and the incredible customer service. I'm really pleased with my purchase! They don't always have the ruffled overskirts available, so you may need to wait for the next preorder to snag one yourself if you're interested.
Thanks for reading as always. I'm really excited to style these new headpieces and overskirts. Feel free to drop me a message if you have any specific questions I can answer on any of these pieces!
