Cult Party Kei

Second in the series!

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• A balance between looking ethereal, eery, grannyish and doll like.
• Pale, pastel colours, offwhites sometimes with accents of red. (Dark CPK obviously uses dark colours rather than pastels)
• Mixing textiles.
• Layering.

First note, none of these rules are set in stone, particularly with CPK as it’s an ever evolving style.

Cult Party Kei (CPK) is growing in popularity rapidly in western countries, it originates from a boutique based in Harajuku primarily named Cult Party but has since been renamed to The Virgin Mary.

I like to think of CPK as being a fairly relaxed style with little solid rules, it’s not as flexible or fluid as Dolly Kei but it’s not as strict as Lolita.

CPK is all about getting a nifty balance between looking like your Granny, looking ghostly and eery and looking downright ill. (Guro themes work well with this fashion). Traditional CPK silhouettes are similar to that of mori, an overloaded figure created by excessive layering of various fabrics.

Whilst there is some controversy on the so called ‘polished’ CPK look, there is in fact nothing wrong with layering a little less than what most people believe CPK should be. Some people prefer to lean more towards Lolita and Pastel Goth styles whereas some could be mistaken for Mori.

Often clothes that would be used for nightwear is incorporated into CPK outfits, such as nightgowns and peignoir to slippers and PJ bottoms themselves.This is why I say CPK is so fluid, some people choose to look more grannyish whereas others may have an entire outfit constructed from PJs.

Textiles such as Knitwear and Crochet are commonly used for layering to create that raggedy look, sometimes light and floaty fabric like chiffon are preferred or just plain cotton.

Many CPK outfits use religious symbols (most commonly crosses) and bright red accents in their outfits. CPK uses colours leaning towards the warmer side of the colour.

Faded, or natural colour hair is commonplace in CPK,  the Hime cut with curled bangs being very popular. 

Accessories are key to creating an overdone look, handmade items of clothing are much loved, even if they have visible defects that can add to the look.

Makeup is fairly uniform for CPK, the aim is to look somewhat ill with sunken eyes. Many choose to use foundation or powder a shade lighter to make themselves look pasty though Shironuri is occasionally used for very dramatic looks. To achieve this look, apply foundation evenly, you can use black or dark brown eyeliner to outline the outer corners up to the center of the eyelids (mascara is optional) and then apply red blush bodly, under your eyes and across the sides of your cheek bones. You could add dark red eyeliner around your eyes too. Try adding dark red eyeshadow in the creases of your eyes to make them look deeper set too.

Pretty much any shoes, like lolita, creepers, rocking horse can be worn with CPK as long as they are pale or red in colour.

(If you want Dark CPK just apply all this information to darker tones instead)

[Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert in CPK, if you notice something is incorrect please do notify me]