A Baronesa and Her Hats

"A fine hat fits like a good friend." - Charles M. Russel

If a fine hat fits like a good friend, then this Baronesa and her hats at Baronesa Hats, are the group of friends you see in public laughing louder than the rest, frolicking and dancing to live music, living as free as a bird!

This past June, I had the privilege of meeting the one and only, Cristina Morrison, the Baronesa herself, at our dear friends, Misha and Imke's wedding. After a few short moments of conversation, we found that we shared many common interests, most of which included fashion, creativity, and travel! We then got to talking about her most recent business venture, Baronesa Hats! I immediately started picking her brain on her journey in creating this business and had her show me her latest collection.

A few weeks later, Cristina invited me to the Original Story pop-up venue here in Brooklyn, New York, to browse the collection and catch up. If you know me, I don't need an excuse to get out and shop—that's its own treat! I asked my friend Kristen if she would join me on this day of shopping and gallivanting around Brooklyn.

Once there, the Original Story pop-up venue consisted of several entrepreneurs selling uniquely hand-crafted art, fashion staples, and home pieces. I stumbled upon a perfect pair of vintage, Gucci sunglasses at the AZYR Specs stand (which you can find a peak at those later in the post, styled alongside my hat). I then proceeded through the pop-up and found the Baronesa, next to her wall of hats. We chatted a while, I tried on an array of designs, and proceeded to put on my own little fashion show before her, Kristen, and any other enthused patron passing by.

In immediate agreeance, I placed the green and ivory, cowgirl toquilla straw hat on, and found my winner! The green color, in combination with my hair and eyes, just POPPED. I knew she had to come home with me. Pieces like this hat are those items in your closet that I like to call "stand-alones." They are special in the way that they are innately hand-crafted and one of a kind. This hat makes an entire outfit whole—anything else that you wear alongside it is simply complimentary!

The Baronesa Behind the Business:

Looking at the creative brilliance behind the hats, Cristina Morrison actually wears many other creative "hats", herself. Next to design and entrepreneurship, she is also a singer, producer, and actress in the performing arts world. You can listen to her music on Spotify, linked here, to get the full breadth of the artistic talent and inspiration that leads Morrison's creative scope. On top of recording her music, she has also performed in many cities across the globe, connecting and networking through the music industry. Though music and performing took up most of her time then, she knew there was more to be accomplished. This next reality was visualized in 2022 while swinging on a hammock in the Ecuadorian jungle in the Sápara community. Or the birthplace of Baronesa Hats!

Like me, I am sure you are all wondering how the name, Baronesa Hats, came to fruition... Since 1993, baronesa has been Cristina's nickname and alter-ego. Her first trip to the Galápagos, she landed her first big role as the baroness, in the famous true story "The Galápagos Affair", on Floreana Island. I would implore everyone reading to dive deeper into that captivating true story if you are an avid mystery reader! After this role, she and her friend started a jazz band called, "The baroness and her lovers". (Even the press knows her as the Baronesa of jazz). Following that, her artistic nickname took off. Baronesa became her identity forever more: from the press in Ecuador, to her house's name, her record label, body care line (@baronesaessentials), and now her hat company!

The Collection and Hat:

This specific hat, is a part of Cristina's summer collection inspired by the land and people from her other home, Ecuador. Each hat from this collection, is carefully and thoughtfully crafted from local materials and fibers such as, the toquilla straw, as it's native to the Ecuadorian coast line. Toquilla straw is known around the world for it's high quality fibers. Flexible and lightweight, its fibers are perfect for hats and are often used in handbags and jewelry as well! This kind of straw is extremely sought after and more durable than raffia, sisal and toyo straw.

Generally, hats with a tighter weave will be more expensive as this also reflects the time and energy spent in crafting such hats. Using this material really speaks to the quality and overall longevity of these hats. The embellishments and decoration these hats sport are all seeds and fibers found in the Andes, the jungle and native coastline. This form of artistry, creates a fun escape to the hat's exact origin. The beautiful story behind this Ecuador jungle inspired collection, is that these select hats are hand woven using techniques passed down from generation to generation that sometimes, can take years to weave! Baronesa hats, encompasses all of this artistry into a bespoke house that makes one of a kind, uniquely dreamt up creations. When wearing this hat I feel a sense of community, purpose and familial love.

The Styling and Tips:

Standing in front of my closet, scanning my curated wardrobe -- I simply had to write a styling piece solely speaking on behalf of this hat! I hope you read this post and feel inspired to buy that one article of clothing or accessory that speaks louder than the rest and have fun with it. I know I certainly have with this hat and look forward to growing my stand-alone collection!

Outfit No. 1

Starting the outfit pairings off fairly mild and simple. I wanted to style this hat as if I were imagining myself running out for a day of errands and wasn't sure where the day may take me. Maybe I need to grab a coffee, then get some groceries and perhaps mail a few letters. In which then I remember I need to return a pair of shoes at the mall and stop at my friends apartment to grab my forgotten phone charger and say hi. This look keeps things practical and comfortable!

On top, I gravitated towards this plain grey t-shirt. You can NEVER go wrong with investing in good quality basics, and grey just blends to any color and is the epitome of comfort. For me, that t-shirt is my heather grey, Skims tee. While on the practical train, since we are still in the heat of summer, I paired it with my thrifted light beige, linen pants. I had a pair of these really light green Tory Burch sneakers that helped tie the green from head to toe! Being the jewelry fiend that I am, I completed this look with my silver go-tos; a silver thrifted vintage watch, single silver band ring and short silver hoops.

Ignore the mess in the back, I halted my weekend deep clean to take a pause and capture these photos while I felt inspired. I know I'm not the only one who gets distracted while cleaning... Oh! Can't forget my make-up, I love to try and stay as minimal as possible in the summer; so here, I simply slapped on some Cover Girl mascara with my Rhode peptide lip balm! Disclaimer, this "make-up" is the same for each look.

Outfit No. 2

On this second outfit, I was clearly excited to have some fun and introduce another color to the mix. For my readers out there who are not familiar with color palettes and their relations to one another, green and orange are contrasts. Contrasting colors simply mean that when placed side-by-side, they tend to stand out relative to one another! Knowing this, I wanted to grab a color that would flush out this green even more; alas this orange, midi-slip dress from Target married up well.

This outfit is perfect for those scorching summer days where you don't want to wear anything with a waistband or sleeves. Overall, the idea for this look is to stay as cool as possible on a hot and humid day. Grab your skinniest strappy kitten heels and a statement earring to top the look off. My heels are from Zara, though I thrifted mine here in the city. As for the earrings, I have had these babies forever -- which leads me to think they must be from my middle school Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe era... (Color Matching Tip: Warm tone jewelry such as golds are best complimented with your warm tone clothes. Here, these stitched drop earrings also added a layer of necessary glitz and texture!)

Outfit No. 3

(Before speaking to this look. No, I do not play the guitar. That particular set of skills was bestowed unto my younger brother, Justin!)

Now, I must say, if I had to choose my favorite outfit with this hat, I would have to choose this little ensemble. You may disagree with me as you continue reading, but I highly enjoy a neutral tone with a pop of color and the green was speaking it's own language to me! I feel like my whole world has slowly slipped into revolving around these earthy tones... I mean hey, if you look in the background of these photos you see my mirror frame, plants, pots, trees, mosaic tile art and even this dang carpet... BEIGE!

The hat needed a fun girl's day outfit, that's what this look came out to be! No one hypes you up more than your inner circle and that's how I envisioned a girl's day going in this fit -- all the positive vibes were flowing creating this melodious synergy.

Usually, I start off explaining the outfit from head to toe but I am starting with these SHOES. (Anyone remember that 'shoes' YouTube video a lifetime ago? No? See GIF below to jog your memory...)

(Okay, sorry. BACK TO THE POST!)

These sparkling, pointed-toe kitten heels were a random find as I moseyed around in Zara. I had no intention of buying shoes anytime soon; I wasn't really "in the business" for a new pair. Nonetheless, I strolled past the back corner shelf where a green shimmer caught my eye. That day when I bought this hat with Cristina, I immediately thought of these shoes. Star crossed lovers!

As for the dress, I pulled this belted, puff-sleeve, linen dress from Primp Boutiques. I just loved the way it pulled in the ivory toquilla straw and the twine around the base of the hat. An important note when wearing puff-sleeves; depending on the rest of the garment's fit, you may want to cinch the cuffs up just shy of your elbows. This can help create a lengthening illusion on your arms while not compromising the puff shape!

Jewelry was kept simple here. Choosing some vintage gold hoops and only adding a delicate gold plated bracelet just felt right. Though I do not personally have any bold green or blue pieces of jewelry, I would also implore you to play around with stacking and dimension using earrings or bracelets on this look. Though this outfit was my favorite, I would love to hear what the crowd favorite after reading about the rest!

Outfit No. 4

Forgetting that we all work five days a week and go into the office some, if not all of those days... I thought it would be handy to throw in an outfit in which you could find yourself wearing this hat to work! Or in the case that you cannot wear hats inside, bring it along for the team happy hour after! If you are in the lucky category of working from home each day, first kudos to you my friend. Second, this outfit can still apply to you as well! Think to the day your team unanimously concludes on a team call, "hey, we haven't seen anyone's face in real time in months! Let's get together in person next week," you will be ready.

Green and blue are those two colors that cascade through time, twirling in an endless dance. I think of a big blue sky, kissing the branches of tall evergreen forests sitting atop the highest mountains. I almost imagine some are lightly iced with the fresh morning frost. Seems a bit poetic when speaking about clothing sure; that's just where my mind goes when creating outfits and art inside my head!

I bought this satin mini skirt a few years ago while shopping around the local Santa Monica boutiques. This pale shade of blue, inspired me to focus on the cool tone outfit idea. The skirt complimented the hat effortlessly. I paired the color combination with a crisp, white, linen blazer from Zara. The pure white color, compared to an off-white, is usually better with your cooler tone colors. Then, I simply added in a heather grey, rib knit, tank top beneath the jacket. The hem line of this tank top was slightly cropped which fell right to the top of the skirt. Chefs kiss!

An added bonus was the inside lining of the blazer's sleeves; they had a light grey pinstripe pattern to really tie everything together beautifully! You are ready for work! Oh, but the shoes you say... My dear friends, do yourselves a favor and GET THE FUN SHOES! These babies are from Anthropologie. I want to pat myself on the back quick. The modern, western, cowgirl chic moment is GIVING, in this heel and hat combo. The buckles wrapping up to my ankles on these heels, gives a sort of cowgirl boot illusion that I am living for!

Though I mentioned this outfit is more cool tone and the buckle shoes' hardware is silver; those looking to be with the times and atop an inevitable trend, here's a HOT TAKE. Mixing metals is cool! Thank me later. A nice way to tie them in together is if one piece includes pavé embellishment or has a large crystal.

Outfit No. 5

Anyone know that country music festival, Stagecoach? Yeah, picture me there! That's all I was doing when taking these photos and pulling the outfit together. I had loads of fun with this one. Though I had many ideas when thinking of a concert outfit, I landed on this one for many reasons that I will spill to you now.

First, a cowgirl hat is NECESSARY when attending a country concert. It might as well be the ticket into the venue in my opinion. Whether you feel you are a hat person or not, you wear it to match the atmosphere! Plus, it protects that delicate skin on your face from the sun's rays while singing along or dancing to the music. The top I am wearing here, is actually an Italian silk scarf, from Brooks Brothers. I will spare you the many, many, ways one could wear a scarf as anything but a neck warmer as I could write an entire blog post about it. For now, I will leave you all with merely two.

First, the strapless wrap you see styled above and below. I usually have to be careful wearing scarves as tops. I am a bit bustier and the fit can be deadly if not properly secured or plainly not the right size scarf! But this silk scarf had plenty of fabric for me to work with. This size scarf I was able to fold in half, line up the top crease where I wanted it, then wrap around my torso and tie. For security, I would recommend a double knot should the fabric allow!

The second way, is to repeat this same process, but turn it around so the tie is in front of you. If you tie the top in front, I recommend trying to fashion a neat bow versus the knotted look.

Finally, the obvious shoe for a country concert or music festival outing... HIGH HEELED COWGIRL BOOTS! These candy apple green, Charlie 1 Horse boots were actually thrifted off of Etsy. As I scrolled the site looking for boots to wear in Nashville a couple years back, these gals started singing my name -- I was happy to oblige. The embossed, denim-like print on the leather were practically begging to be worn with ripped light-wash denim shorts. To complete my feminine, concert go-er, summer look; I found my sparkliest hoops, my most glitzy pavé bracelet, and turned on, Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy), by Big & Rich!

Outfit No. 6

The last outfit I had time to throw together before getting back to my weekend deep clean, was my OOO outfit. What kind of outfit is that you ask? "Hi, Thank you for your email! I am currently out of the office, I will reply upon my return on __ date," is basically the gist.

After learning it's origin story, the moment I place my hat on my head I immediately feel transported to the Galápagos islands, off the coast of Ecuador! That feeling alone required a whole look in and of itself. All that is required are your beach go-tos. When I say that I think of my favorite, hot girl, feel good bikini, (mine is this lurex black set, from Wave Swimwear). Then, a comfy beach pant to throw over your swimsuit is a must. I like this semi-sheer white pant from We Wore What, I snagged this from a sample sale at the Chelsea Market a few seasons back. Which then, made me think of my silk scarf, bandana print sandals, from Tory Burch -- the two go so lovely together and the black in the sandals bring my eye back up to the swimsuit! (I dearly enjoy those 360 looks.)

Furthermore, when going to the beach, never leave home without a large and in charge tote bag. This bag is the Tory Burch, Ella canvas tote. This is essential for your 'essentials', (a water bottle, snacks, book, a towel, sunscreen and sunglasses)! Speaking of sunglasses -- remember earlier when I mentioned that I bought a pair of vintage Gucci sunglasses at the same pop-up as my hat? Yes, you guessed it! These are those. I wasn't kidding when I said I hit the shopping lottery!

That's a wrap!

Concepting outfits from my closet brings me so much joy, especially when I get a new vibrant item like my new hat from Baronesa Hats! Some of the best purchases we make as consumers are the efforts we put into supporting small businesses like Cristina's and the indigenous people who help craft such beautiful works of art. These smaller businesses understand the importance of social and economic responsibility. This exact notion, ignited a community of people to come together and raise funds and resources during covid, to help those smaller communities affected by travel restrictions in Ecuador, to preserve the jobs and way of life. Cristina and so many others, rallied together to put on a safe musical event for those people and communities at that time. Even now, proceeds from Baronesa Hats aids this community through the business, and use of plentiful resources through artisan workers.

For those that wish to shop with Baronesa Hats, there is now a permanent joined located within the Wicked Heathens store in the East Village. It's located on E 9th st.! She can usually be found in the NYC area for long periods of time throughout the year, (unless you find yourself in Ecuador these next few months, you could also find her there). Though there is no shoppable e-commerce site just yet, (stay tuned for the launch of her site soon), you can reach out directly to Cristina on her Instagram account for a personal design consultation and design your very own stand-alone hat.

Please give her personal account a follow for all things baronesa, @cristinamorrisonofficial, and follow here at, @baronesahats to check out her new fall and winter collections! As always, thank you for reading and supporting! I hope you enjoyed the read and left a bit more inspired and joyful than whence you came.

Xo,

SRS