Rustan’s X The Gypsetters Net launch

June 19, 2014 posted by Vicki in Dot Dot Dot

It started out as a seed of an idea between two friends last year. In February 2014 that idea became a reality when, after months of site design, discussions and writing we published for the first time online. On May 15, 2014, Stephanie and I were excited to finally launch our little passion project, this travel and lifestyle blog, at Rustan’s Makati, thanks to a serendipitous meeting!

Rustan’s marketing maven Dina Arroyo-Tantoco approached us earlier this year asking if we would be interested in curating a vignette for Rustan’s using our Gypsetters sensibilities. And were we! With all the beautiful products Rustan’s carries, we found it would be an exciting project for us to do and a perfect chance to launch our blog. We decided to theme the vignette “Everyday Wanderlust,” to inspire one’s every day with dreamy travel. Our idea for the vignette was that it would mimic a gypsetter couple’s dressing room right before they are about to leave for a trip, with some things packed in suitcases and others still in their closets, items strewn all around as they typically are before packing for a trip.

The man’s dressing room on the left and the woman’s on the right

After several meetings, Stephanie and I walked around the department store together with Dina and Malou of the marketing department and we happily chose and pulled out all the décor that would go into the set – it kind of felt like choosing items for a registry or shopping without breaking the bank! We realized that scattered all over Rustan’s were many beautiful gypset items- leather trunks, antique desks, vintage world maps in frames, wooden display cabinets, a globe that turned into a wine caddy when you opened it up, deer antler coat hooks, Moroccan poufs and lamps, soft periwinkle armchairs, Chinese screens, Natori silver picture frames, martini glasses and decanters, animal candleholders and more. There was more than enough things for the home for us to choose from and believe me, even just pulling out items in Rustan’s for a vignette was a dangerous proposition for shopoholics like Steph and I!

Found objects around Rustan’s Makati for our vignette in Rustan’s

In line with the spirit of our blog, Stephanie had the wonderful idea of having a trip as a raffle prize during the event and I suggested to make it the prize for an Instagram contest instead!  We are thankful to Sern Chipukulchai, general manager of Thai Airways-Philippines who liked our idea and believed in our blog and sponsored tickets for two to Phuket, Thailand as well as to Charisse Vilchez, public relations manager of Agoda Philippines, who helped in sponsoring the accommodations in Phuket.

Richard Tiu, Tina Pamintuan-Wheeler, Kris Larsen; Fabio Ide and Michelle Pamintuan; withNew Zealand Amb Reuben Levermore and Steph’s hubby Jonathan Crespi; Arrun Bhavnani and Vimmi Badlani

The morning of the event, walking into The Galerie on Rustan’s Makati’s second floor was like a dream. The Rustan’s team headed by Noel turned our gypsetter ideas into a reality. The final task was up to Stephanie and I who chose the clothes, accessories and beauty products which we gleefully draped, hung and folded into suitcases, chairs and cabinets. I would kill to have a dressing room that actually had everything in the vignette – including all the Natori caftans!

Our Everyday Wanderlust sign; Print Social’s retro live Instagram set-up

That evening, the intimate affair was attended by our guests who enjoyed cocktails by Belvedere Vodka and canapés by TWG. After introducing our event and the inspiration behind our vignette and the blog, we were honored to have Ginggay Joven-de la Merced, PR maven of Visions & Expressions and whose famous Instagram travel photo blog @ginggayjdm has over 27,000 followers, to give a short talk about how to take the best travel photos. After she spoke, we were also honored by the presence of The Spoiled Mummy, blogger Grace Barbers-Baja who gave a talk about how to take the best food shots.

Jessica Tan-Gan, Alexandra Rocha-Araneta, Stephanie Kienle-Gonzalez; Steph wih her mom Vicky Zubiri; Allana and Bianca Montelibano; Steph with Tina and Audrey Zubiri

Finally, we encouraged all our guests to walk around the vignette, to sit and interact with it for our Instagram contest, where they would have to take a photo of three things that inspired their everyday wanderlust. Print Social printed each photo with our hashtags #EverydayWanderlust #RustansXtheGypsettersnet and judging the photos were Charisse, Sern, Dina, Stephanie and yours truly. There were a lot of contenders who creatively captured the idea and in the end we had three clear cut winners.

With Philippine Tatler’s Anton San Diego; ABS-CBN Publishing’s Philip Cu-Unjieng, Huffington Post Correspondent and entrepreneur Blue Carreon; Town & Country’s Alicia Sy, Lifestyle Asia’s Cheryl Tiu; Paolo Tantoco, Ramon Araneta, Jaime and Nicole Hernandez-de los Angeles

With Vain Mama Vanessa Santos and Commander in Chic Mikka Padua; Mela Sison, Charisse Vilchez

There were just too many wonderful entries so we ended up spontaneously giving a runner-up prize to Luis de Terry, who took a photo of vintage books and martini glass and to Joanna Preysler-Francisco, who took a photo of gold sandals, a caftan and champagne.

The grand prize of a trip for two to Phuket, Thailand went to Carmela Villegas of Casa San Luis Pastries and the blog Carmela’s Journal for her photo of her bejeweled finger to Provence, France on a vintage globe.  Her caption read, “Pointing out the location of my future wedding in Provence next year while wearing my Lola’s vintage ring from one of her travels where she was young.”

With Olga Azarcon, Country Chief Rep of Moet Hennessey Phil; Sern Chupikulchai, GM Thai Airways-Philippines; Charisse and Sern with winner Carmela Villegas; Dina with runner ups Luis de Terry and Joanna Preysler-Francisco

Again, thank you to Rustan’s Makati for such a wonderful evening and launch of The Gypsetters.Net, to our grand prize prize sponsors Thai Airways-Philippines and Agoda Philippines as well as to Belvedere Vodka, Print Social, TWG and Alex Van Hagen for the event photos. Remember to live with everyday wanderlust and let travel inspire your dreams!

Some of favorite Instagram photos by Alicia Sy, Luis de Terry, Mandy Hornberger and the winning Carmela Villegas

May all your gypsetting dreams come true,

Vicki