We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bianca Solorzano. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bianca below.
Bianca, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
I’ve had PTSD for a couple decades and it was at it’s worst in my late twenties. I’d done therapy and EMDR but I still felt lost so I started working with energetic healers. One of the women I worked with helped me learn to identify the ways it was manifesting in my life. Shedding shame and figuring out how to address these issues was the first step and it required commitment and trust that things would get better as long as I was sticking to the tools and practices I knew helped. Practices like breath work, eft tapping and meditation. Little by little I started to notice that my nervous system felt much more regulated. In my twenties I would shake and had trouble breathing properly when stressed or overwhelmed and like magic I was 31 with a growing sense of peace for the first time in my life. I became sober and life started to feel manageable. Sobriety is crucial for me and it’s helped me to dig deeper into the parts of myself and my history I was avoiding with substance abuse.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I started working with vintage clothing in 2003 at a vintage clothing store in Eagle Rock called Owl Talk. Clothing in the early 2000s really didn’t fit my curves the way I wanted it to and I was drawn to all the older fits I’d see going to garage and estate sales with my grandma growing up. I’d work weekends and tried to learn as much as I could about the decades of fashion and dating clothing. I was steaming clothing and keeping careful attention to the differences in fabrics, zippers, hems and cuts. It’s a highlight of my youth that I hold really dear. At the end of 2008 I stopped working there because I moved to San Francisco for school but I started selling clothing on Etsy and would sell at whatever market or farmers market would have me when I’d go home to LA during the summer. I had jobs in between and during but vintage clothing was always the thing I came back to because I know the most about it and it feels effortless. I opened up my brick and mortar in 2019 and loved having women to work with in person. There’s nothing better to me than working with women who are looking to tailor their wardrobes during times of transition. I had a lot of post partum moms and women in their 50s and 60s come into the shop and we’d have full on dress up sessions. With vintage it really takes trying things on and figuring out which silhouettes work for you and from there everything falls into place when you know which decades to pull from or reference. Building an outfit and watching a person come out of the fitting room with a big smile and confidence-that’s what I do this for! Now that I’ve closed up shop I’m redirecting my attention to making a line of clothing. There are pieces you come across from time to time with silhouettes that seem to look good on everyone. They are rare but they exist and that’s what I’m after right now. Clothing that beams effortless sophistication and comfort. As a survivor of numerous sexual assaults, comfort is crucial for me. The things I put onto my body need to feel like a hug and I need variety for the days I want to be engulfed in fabric and the ones where I feel safe enough to shed it. All of this with little effort because there are far more important things that need attention beyond what I’m wearing.
Beyond the line, I also make body oils scented with energetically powerful essential oils and I hope to share that product with a broader audience too.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
If you feel a strong calling, something that is deep in your gut that you can’t shake then ignore everyone else. No one knows what’s inside of you more than you. That’s number one and we can call it knowing yourself. Two is be brave. There are times where you want to do things or talk to a specific someone about a job and even if you don’t have the confidence to do it, let bravery be the guiding force and everything else will follow. It’s ok to feel shy or awkward and I think it can be endearing when you’re starting out. Lastly let your curiosity be known. Ask all of your questions, tell people what your goals are and get clarity on whatever confuses you.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am always looking to collaborate and partner! I would love to do more design collaborations, partnering with shops in a pop up format, fundraising events and I would be so happy to help businesses build out and design their shop interior.
Contact Info:
- Website: coquicoqui.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coqui__coqui/
Image Credits
Amber Maalouf Arturo Pedroza
