One Hat Momma

The centerpiece of Marilou Laurena’s spotless living room, designed by interior designer — and Marilou’s husband — Roland T. Laurena, isn’t the African tribal art cleverly set into niches and lit like museum pieces. Nor is it her son Rolly Soliven’s framed fine art photography (although neither are nothing to sniff at). It’s the nine-foot-tall Christmas tree decorated with all manner of hats like wild, overgrown blooms in the zaniest colors imaginable.

Marilou, a fine arts graduate, began making hats two years ago when her sister, Tess Rodriguez Alba who was involved with Inner Wheel bazaars, offered her a booth.

“My first concern was what I was going to sell,” says Marilou. “‘What’s not available yet?’ I asked myself.”

Hats, it turned out, was the answer. Not exactly most people’s first pick for an entrepreneurial gig, but Marilou wasn’t concerned. “Things that aren’t a necessity,” she says with a laugh, “are what I do.”

Thanks to her connections with the Chamber of Handicrafts (she was its executive vice president), Marilou called up exporters to provide her with hat bases and the rest, as they say, is history.

Hats Off To Hollywood

“I grew up watching celebrities like Audrey Hepburn,” says Marilou. The Givenchy muse had a decidedly large influence on the milliner. “She was so elegant and timeless.” With her little black dress, pillbox hat and high heels, Hepburn served as a sartorial template for the local hat maker.

Other almost-mythical figures in fashion served as inspiration. “As a child, I’d see Grace Kelly and Queen Elizabeth in pictures. They looked so dressed-up in their hats. Without the hats, they looked almost unfinished.”

During her travels, Marilou would hunt for headpieces that were a little out of the ordinary. Her pride and joy, a cone-shaped hat made out of woven leaves that decorates a hat rack right next to her front door, appears to be African-inspired. “I picked it up on one of my trips abroad and just loved how it looked.”

Flea markets, in particular, proved to be a bountiful source for unique toppers that would later become part of Marilou’s growing collection of hats.

“I grew up wearing hats because I was prone to freckles,” she explains. “I had the most freckled complexion when I was younger, so I was very wary of the sun.” She’d sport wide-brimmed hats for shade, although, in her opinion, smaller hats, similar in height (but with a flat top) to a bowler hat, are more flattering for her.

Too Hat To Handle

When we take a tour of Marilou’s workroom in her home, where racks of hats are displayed along the walls, she tells me that their range has grown over the years. Rustic hats straight out of a safari to elegant chapeaus fit for tea parties to extravagant creations embellished with colorful feathers and beadwork make up Hat Momma, Marilou’s label. “Once we had the frames, dressing them up with trim was a simple enough task,” she explains.

Hat Momma offers a staggering variety of styles: Panama hats, sun visors (not at all sporty; think wide-brimmed, Gone with the Wind-inspired toppers), tea hats (dressy pieces, ideal for weddings), garden hats (more informal), and fascinators (headdress perched directly on the hair, the kind Philip Treacy made popular).

Made from such materials as sinamay (processed abaca), paper (a sturdy, woven and washable variety), crinoline (similar in feel to a stiff nylon tulle), jute (rough textured weave like those used for sacks), straw, buri (used for banigs), laichoi (Tawainese braided dried leaf matting) and raffia among others, Hat Momma makes and sells toppers for all sorts of things. “We have hats for everything, from gardening to parties.”

But who wears these crafty creations? The more practical pieces, like fisherman’s hats, are normal enough for everyday wear but the more eccentric creations, like oversize fascinators or tea hats with colorful plumage covering the brim, seem to call out to a different kind of customer.

“I cater to a lot of artistic people,” Marilou says. “Designers, fashion and interior, often come to me.”

For the Melbourne Cup, a local event where people are expected to come in headgear much like Ascot, an Australian couple knocked on Marilou’s door at 9 p.m. with a sartorial emergency: they needed some standout hats for the much-anticipated event.

This sort of thing is nothing new to the Hat Momma milliner. “Last year, I took a peek,” she adds, “and almost all the guests were wearing Hat Momma.”

Expats provide her with plenty of business, as well as socialites with more adventurous taste.

Surprisingly, one of the faster growing segments of her market consists of kids. And by kids, she’s referring to people of her niece’s age bracket: the much in-demand 20- to 30-year-old demographic.

“Kids are more daring now,” she says. “My niece, who is 22, likes wearing all sorts of fascinators to parties.” Theme parties, which have become popular, make use of many hats and never fail to amuse Marilou. “I think young people aren’t so afraid to dress differently.”

Hat Off The Press

Those who want to see Marilou’s craft up close will have a chance to try on her stuff at a Christmas bazaar she organized herself, dubbed “Hat Momma and Friends.” The bazaar, held at the Rockwell Tent from Nov. 7 to 9, is made up of accessories, jewelry, clothing and, yes, food brands that Marilou handpicked herself.

“We wanted to put up a green bazaar that supports the preservation of the earth,” she explains. Concessionaires were told not to use plastic bags, while food booths were asked to avoid Styrofoam. To support the movement — and budget-minded shoppers — Marilou is offering to waive the P50 entrance fee for people who come in green attire or shop using a recyclable bag. Of course, in a nod to her fans, she’s also offering free admission to anyone wearing a hat, cap or fascinator or has a copy of the Hat Momma flyer.

Who else is expected to be part of the bazaar? Flanking the entrance, next to Hat Momma, will be jewelry designer Arnel Papa’s booth. A tip of the hat, so to speak, to Marilou’s offbeat sense of humor. “Think of it as the romance between the mommas and the papas,” she joked.

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For more info, visit www.hatmomma.com, e-mail hat_momma@yahoo.com.ph or call 0917-813-1884.