~ Cult Party Kei ~

The term Cult Party kei comes from the name of a resale boutique in Harajuku originally called Cult Party, that then had it's name changed for the now famous Virgin Mary. It's not rare to see a style gradually building itself from the concept of a store and expending to become an independent style, as it is the case for Spank!, for example.

THE LOOK

Cult Party kei is in some points similar to Mori and Dolly kei, and they might be somewhat difficult to differentiate when you don't know enough on those styles.

Like Mori and Dolly kei, Cult Party is essentially based on layering of fabrics and accessories to achieve an overloaded silouhette. However, it has a more pop and cute feeling than the two others who lean more on the antique look.

(from left to right: Dolly Kei, Mori and Cult Party.)

Cult Party kei mixes vintage elements with cute pop-culture elements like kids' shows merch and accessories from lolita or fairy kei brands. The style uses a lot of light materials as well as wool and other more solid fabrics. White and pastel colors are preferred, but it is not rare to incorporate stronger colors, especially red and darker pinks.

FASHION POINTS (you can click on any picture to enlarge it!)

An item that is used and overused in Cult Party is the nightgown.They add a dreamy touch to an outfit and with a little luck, they're relatively easy to find in thrift stores. See-through nightgowns are more popular, but cotton ones with pretty patterns or embroideries are nice too.

In addition to nightgowns, you can find all kinds of sleepwear, be it pajama pieces or lingerie, in Cult Party outfits. My friends and I once joked about this and basically called it "pajama-kei"! Don't leave anything out: babydolls, bloomers, lacy lingerie and garters, but also cute pajama pants and large pajama t-shirts.

Cult Party girls often incorporate religious elements to their outfits, crosses in particular. They often craft accessories and customize crosses with natural materials like seashells and dried (or fake) flowers, or add doll parts and paint. Red crosses are also very popular, to the extent where some outfits become entirely nurse inspired.

The more Pop-ish touch to the style is often achieved with subtle fairy kei-ish elements like Magical Girl shows' merch (such as precure or sailormoon), Sanrio and San-X merch, plushies and  girly accessories. Depending on the outfit, Cult Party also uses pastel colors way more often than Dolly or Mori.

An important point in Cult Party is the crafty handmade look. Don't be afraid to sew clothes and make accessories yourself, and don't worry if the result is not perfect. To a certain extant, a slightly "off" look fits well with the style.
Other items that can add to the crafty look: mocomoco, thick wool, knits, pompoms and quilts.

Since short skirts and bloomers are popular, tights are also important to add details to an outfit. Classic tattoo tights, pretty printed tights like grimoire's, or just fun ones from American Apparel or L'avant-garde are a safe choice~ 

For shoes, platforms are the best. You can't go wrong with Tokyo Bopper, converse or rocking horses for sure! Retro uwabaki (slippers worn indoors in japanese schools), vintage running shoes and even lolita shoes can be worn with Cult Party!

Another popular item is the customized tote bag. Just take a blank one and add lace, yarn, small plushies, paint, etc.~

Finally, it is not true that boy can't dress in Cult Party kei...

... as much as it is not true that you can't have dark Cult Party coordinates.

Once you've got the hang of the style,  you can wear it anyway you want. Also, don't worry too much about labels, we use them for their practicality, but people in Harajuku could often care less about them, and it's not rare to match and mix two or more styles together. After all, the goal is to differentiate yourself and create your own style!

MAKEUP

Cult Party girls have their own makeup style, mixing dolly (circle lenses, big eyes effect) with vintage (bright red lipstick, cat-eye eyelashes) look. Another particularity is that they always look a little sick, sad, or ''faded''. They wear lots of blush, usually high on the cheeks, sometimes touching the eyelids and blending with eyeshadows, which gives this tired/unhealthy stare.

  Straight eyebrows give the cute/sad look~

For a ''faded" makeup, use brown mascara and eyeliner~

 Also, Amo's cat eyes! ♥ To get the look, only put false eyelashes on the outer corner of your eye.

 - T i p- : cut regular eyelashes in two, like this:

HAIRSTYLE

The popular hairstyles are mostly braids, double bun, double ponytails, bob cut and long curled hair. Cult party dolls are big fans of the ''hime cut'' with curled bangs. Color is also important. Grey, faded pastels, ash brown, ash blonde, black and sometimes bright cherry red. For the accessories, chouchous, pompoms, lace, flowers, vintage hats are the best ! 

 

Boutiques :

http://the-virgin-mary.com/ the virgin mary

http://ameblo.jp/cathysouth/ cathy south

http://ameblo.jp/panamaused panama boy

http://tokyobopper.com/ tokyo bopper

http://ameblo.jp/yutukicom/ incomplete alchemist

http://haightandashbury.com/ haight & ashbury

Some Cult Party kei icons :

Amo- http://ameblo.jp/aplus--amo/

Apyo- http://ameblo.jp/apyo-mxe/

Choco- http://ameblo.jp/choco-ma/

Honami- http://baby-0720.blogspot.ca/

Mimeko- http://ameblo.jp/mimeko/

Manapyon- http://ameblo.jp/kikilalamanapyon/

Minami-  https://twitter.com/creamymuna

Shoujo S- http://ameblo.jp/gdgd-shoujo-s/

* by Jiji and Mochi *

~*~ Fairy Kei ~*~

As most of your probably know, fairy kei is a Japanese Harajuku style that consists of pretty pastel colors and cute patterns. Since 2010 the style "Fairy kei" has been growing more and more popular over the internet which is why it is important to have an article explaining it to you all!

            Let's start by defining what fairy kei is. When people think about fairy kei they usually associate it with pastels and some crazy motifs. The classic coords are usually cute tops with tutus or bloomers as bottoms, but tutus are usually the popular ones. Pastel tights with cool colored vintage running shoes or even cute "lolita" shoes. Most of the time fairy girls use wigs (lots of times in pastel colors or blonde) for beautiful voluminous hair to fit all the cute accessories! Though, do not go overboard with accessories. Fairy kei is not Decora after all~ Keep the accessories in your hair not too overwhelming. A few bows with some cute little clips or mocomoco accessories is perfect!

           Now a style that fairy kei is often mistaken with is Spank!. The two styles are indeed very similar and it is very easy to confuse them. When I started out wearing fairy, I thought it and Spank! where the same style but with two different names. But they are easy to differenciate when keeping in mind that Spank! is inspired by the 80s in Japan with funky prints and 80s inspired coordinations. Below is a good example of a Spank! coord worn by our Mochi at Otakuthon~ You guys can probably see the differences easily between the fairy and spank! style now, right?

            The makeup is also an important factor of the fairy kei style! Coordinations are just half way~ Hair and makeup are important as well! As I explained before, hair can be a wig which just makes everything easier! But natural hair is good too! Pigtails or buns do the trick perfectly~ Moving onto makeup, which is the fun part! Stick to pastel eyeshadows or vibrant pinks and blues~ Remember to not make the makeup too dark! Circle lenses are a must ! Unless of course you have eye problems..... which no one can really do anything about.

For those of you who have a hard time with your makeup or don't know the basics of it, I prepared a little tutorial for you so here it is!

And to sum things up, I prepared a little shopping list for you! Hopefully it will help you out~

~~*~Online stores~*~~

• Milklim: This is a typical Fairy kei brand, it has adorable clothes! They can be found at http://oshamagic.ocnk.net/ Make sure to translate your page though, unless you can read japanese! (Note that this shop works with shopping services, so there will be a commission price on the overall)

• Swimmer: This shop has the most adorable accessories and cutesey things for your phone, home and much more! I think it specializes less in clothing and works more on bags, fashion goods and cute interior things~ Their products are very cute and a very affordable price! You can find them here~ http://www.swimmer.co.jp/SHOPPING/ (Note that this shop works with shopping services, so there will be a commission price on the overall)

• ManiaQ: ManiaQ has really adorable merchandise! Their physical shop has closed but luckily they still sell online! Their tights are really cool~ The store itself has a mixture of Spank! and Fairy Kei too! Overall they are very good shop for fairy kei clothing and accessories~ You can find them here: http://maniaq.ocnk.net/ (Note that this shop works with shopping services, so there will be a commission price on the overall)

• Pinkly Ever After: This shop is found on etsy and has really adorable clothes! The accessories are perfect and it's great for fairy kei! They have limited stock and update with new stuff regularily so check that out! Their website is http://www.pinklyeverafter.com/ which also has a link to the shop~

• Bodyline: This is not a fairy kei brand but certain sections of their shop has some clothes that would work out well for fairy kei and that are a very affordable price. Mostly for cutsews, panniers (tutus!), shoes, socks and other sections where you can dig out fairy kei stuff! You can find them riiiiight here~ http://www.bodyline.co.jp

• 6%Dokidoki: Not everything on 6%Dokidoki is traditional fairy kei, they have kind of a POPkei style but a lot of accessories and clothes work great for fairy kei! Wish on my Shooting Star necklace is one of my personal favorite accessories of all time! Here is a link to their recently opened online shop! http://6dokidoki.shop-pro.jp/

• Chocomint: Chocomint is the perfect brand for accessories! They are inexpensive, cute and perfect for fairy kei! Here is a link to where you can buy their merchandise~ http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/chocomint/ or http://closetchild.ocnk.net/ (I recommend Rakuten though, it has a wider selection~)

            I hope this small shopping list helped you out a bit if you are trying out fairy kei or needed any help with finding some things. But if you have trouble with online shopping, your local thrift shop is your best friend! Thrift stores have so much fairy kei material, it is crazy! And it's so cheap!!! Places like American Apparel have really good pastel tights and surprisingly you can even find some stuff hidden in H&M or Forever21 if you look closely enough~!

So now that you understand fairy kei a little better, hopefully... Go out and have fun! Try it out for yourself~ (/^o^)/ ~~**~*~

article by Momo~