Lina LecaroHalf naked ladies (make that completely in the case of babes in body-paint), a gluttonous amount of booze and food (which only about a fifth of the females would actually eat), Dayglo Chocolate Factory décor, and throbbing sounds by Paul Oakenfold— Karma Foundation's Kandyland, like most Playboy Mansion parties, is a sweet male fantasy no doubt, but it's also one of the most female-driven fetishistic fetes in Los Angeles.
The gathering gives girlie girls the chance to be dominant and decadent while they doll-up and revisit imagery from childhood like Barbie-pink stuff, bows, tutus, lace, glitter, rainbows, and of course, candy, which showed up in countless creative ways. We'll try to keep the candy-brand double entendres to a minimum here, even if the party crowd did not (showing off your Skittles, Hot Tamales, etc. was par for the course). Yup, Saturday's Kandyland gave new meaning to the phrase, sugar and spice and everything nice …
Paul Oakenfold offers dance confections.; Credit: Lina Lecaro
Not one of Hugh Hefner's personally-thrown parties, Kandyland none the less has become one of its best known, perhaps because unlike Hef's other shindigs, anyone can attend … if you can afford $1000+ ticket, that is (a portion goes to charity). Most ladies get in free by sending a picture of themselves and they are asked to dress (or rather undress) in theme. In the past, our feminist side struggled with this part as much as it has Playboy itself. Were women just décor? After Saturday, we can say unequivocally the answer is no.
Cherry bombs.; Credit: Lina Lecaro
The Glamazonian (girl power?) energy at this gathering was palpable. Girls admired each other's get-ups, danced together (for the fun of it, not simply to turn on leering dudes, though of course there were some) and seemed to genuinely dig their chick cliques which only random -though probably loaded- men infiltrated here and there. All guys, by the way are asked to dress in black. Not sure if this is because they look cooler that way or because it makes them blend into the background, but either way it's a good thing.
Though we may have been one of the most overdressed there, we even got a couple compliments for our sexy red polka halter dress. “I love that you're not showing your vag!” said a girl dressed -literally- like a cupcake. Yeah, that really happened.
Hugh Hefner and his new sweet.; Credit: Charley Gallay/WireImage
Other surreal moments at Kandyland: Cece Peniston taking the mic for a spontaneous version of “Finally” during Oakenfold's set; little oompa loompas posing with girls showing their not-little loompas; the crowds gathering around and staring at recently heartbroken Hef inside his private cabana with new 25-year-old girlfriend Anna Sophia Berglund; and the odd assortment of celebs (Corey Feldman, Crispin Glover, Chris Brown, Paris Hilton, Amber Rose… impressively the last two were as covered up as we were). Kinda suprised Hilton didn't go to Electric Daisy Carnival in Vegas, but Kandyland was nearly as wild. In fact, though the Wonderland/Willy Wonka aesthetic was whimsically child-like, this one was sort of like EDC for adults … Rich, horny and crafty adults.
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