The Gypset

gypsey + jet set = gypset



Images: Julia Chaplin, Elle Magazine

I've always wanted to live like Hemingway. Or like Gainsbourg and Bardot. To live a glamorous bohemian existence that endlessly fascinates. (Lust!) But realistically, I've always lacked the cash flow. Until now. I've found a third way. It's called, the gypset.

For me, it began with the realisation that I didn't want to live a conventional suburban lifestyle. But the alternative also didn't appeal. I didn't want to live a hippy lifestyle of the commune variety either. I wanted something else. I realised what I wanted was to have style, not labels. (There is a difference). I wanted to live glamour, not buy it. I wanted a creative home, not a suburban house. I wanted technology and comfort, not trendy and tacky. I wanted to be part of society, but I wanted to escape it. I wanted authentic, not superficial. I have a nine-to-fiver, but I didn't want it to define my life. I wanted to wander. I wanted culture. I wanted to create. I wanted to experience. And most of all, I didn't want to have to compromise on any of this. Enter the gypsetters.

The gypset is a counterculture of wanderers that fuse the wild and unconventional ethos of a gypsy with the sophistication and speed of the jet set. They are the next generation of artists and creative types who want to contribute to society, but on their own terms. They are artisits, musicians, fashion designers, photographers, and bon vivants who favour a hard to reach high-low mix of people and culture that is off the beaten path. The gypset follow in the footsteps of the Victorian era adventuresses, the lost generation, the beatniks, and the hippies. (I told you it was glamorous!)

So I've been trying it. In the past few months I have been creatively mixing the gypset's high-low aesthetic in a way that is just flexible enough to work for me. (Think laid-back meets city girl glam). Since I'm not independently wealthy or a celebrity, I have had to make some concessions on the gypset lifestyle. (I will have to keep my day job for now). But I'm not alone. Working professionals around the world are changing their lifestyles to become gypsetters to varying degrees. (Just like me!) For me, this blog is part of it. My life plans for the next year are part of it. I am guilty of wanderlust. I live for art. I'm a gypsetter. Are you? Bon vivant!

"Money, the right clothes, and even location doesn't make you a gypsetter. Buying luxury and checking into a five-star is not itself glamourous. Gypset glamour is about turning a rooftop into a supercool compound by painting the walls fuchsia, and firing up some votive candles for light." - Julia Chaplin, freelance writer