"During quarantine I basically just wear the same thing in different colors." Bianca Leonor Quiñones — who performs under the name Quiñ — is on the phone with me from her home in Los Angeles. She explains that like most of the U.S. she's spent the last few months sorting through her emotions, her work, and her perception of her own style. As a musical artist, Quiñ's sense of style is part of her larger persona. She tends towards earth tones and has a penchant for leopard, as her Instagram handle, @quinthecat, would lead on. Like her dreamy, soulful, fantasy-driven music, the artist exudes both a natural, easy confidence and an imaginative streak when it comes to her style.
But where once, casual days in leggings or a sports bra were contrasted with retro-inspired performance looks or slashed and reconstructed red carpet dresses, Now she focuses on comfort and relies on help from friends to transform standard sweats into something new. "I was the one always cutting up my clothes and getting in trouble for that," she explains. "Later on I found people who did that too when they were younger." This includes friend and lingerie designer Laina Rauma whose silky slips and pajamas sets are all over Instagram. "Now that we keep it in the house, you have to get creative with what you have." As a star of Ugg's summer campaign, she's also swapped out sneakers and heels for something better fitted for relaxing at home. "I'm not thinking about shoes at all right now," she explains, adding that instead she's been wearing the brand's fluffy slides around the house.
Quiñ was due to begin her latest tour just before the shutdown began and the change in plans initially left her feeling numb to the creative process. "Everything froze in time," she says. "It made me ... look at what's really going on around me. I've been patient with myself, I put my music away for a second because I needed to reassess in a different way because everything is changing." Building a morning routine — "wake, heat up some water, make tea, go outside and stretch" — and taking Muy Thai lessons over FaceTime have both helped the singer to adapt to the new reality. She also relies on outlets like poetry writing, reiki, meditation, and reading to help her through the challenging moments at home.
Still, like many experiencing a range of emotion at the hands of the news cycle, Quiñ knows that flexibility is the key to handling the current reality. "I've found some days to be difficult, when I have nothing and I won't be creative," she notes. "On other days I've gathered up enough savings throughout those bad days where I can finally process and write." For the creatives similarly struggling to find what normal means anymore, Quiñ emphasizes the importance of being in the moment and being kind to yourself. For her that means "just taking it day by day, and not beating myself up when I'm not being creative. If I feel like going out or getting dressed, and you can't do that, you have to find some other ways."
