Making Space: The Harlem-Raised Stylist to the Stars

In ‘Making Space’ we talk to some of the notable people who call New York home—about their lives, their work, and how the city has shaped them. Want to suggest our next subject? Email [email protected]

In ‘Making Space’ we talk to some of the notable people who call New York home—about their lives, their work, and how the city has shaped them.
Want to suggest our next subject? Email [email protected]

Terrell Jones has made a name for himself as a stylist to the stars.

But before he was dressing celebrities like Fat Joe and DJ Khaled, Jones was taking outfit inspiration from the streets of New York City, where he grew up.

“Harlem, to me, is the most fashionable [neighborhood] in New York City,” he said. “The streets were basically just like a moving runway.”

Jones recently spoke to City Limits about how he got his start, how the city influences his style, and why New York weather offers more fashion opportunities than Los Angeles.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How did growing up in Harlem influence your sense of style?

I grew up around a lot of style, both on the east side of Harlem, that’s where I was born and raised, and the west side of Harlem was where my grandparents and my parents were from, so I had the connection to both, and they both have very different styles, but very similar, if that makes any sense to you.

The streets were basically just like a moving runway, because everyone had their own sense of style. Obviously we had people who were fashion icons in Harlem. So whether it was Dapper Dan, or whether it was me being at my grandmother’s house, which is in Striver’s Row, watching the people go back and forth to all the different churches…I was always surrounded by tons of style.

I went to a performing arts school, but I’m a twin, and my twin brother went to Catholic school, so I would even get some inspiration from him. Obviously they always had to wear a shirt, tie and pant, but the way that they were actually able to dig deeper for their inspiration, that was always very inspiring for me, because their canvas was basically the same, but it was all over how they accessorized it. So I was just surrounded by tons of influence being in Harlem, and that’s where I was able to kind of mold my personal style.

So you went to a performing arts high school here in the city?

Yes, I started out in elementary school, and that’s where my love for fashion sort of kicked in. I started out in Catholic school with my brother, and in fourth grade, I realized that that just wasn’t for me. So I spoke to my parents about it, and at first they didn’t like the idea, but then my mom decided to not register me again, and I went to a public school and I auditioned for the performing arts division, and I got in. I was a dance major, and I did that all the way up until high school.

But for me, one of the things that really affected me going to Catholic school was wearing the same clothes every day, because at that point, elementary school was a uniform. And my mother asked me, ‘Why don’t you like this school?’ And I said, ‘I just don’t like the idea of wearing the clothes every day.’ And she said, ‘Well, school is not a fashion show.’ When you fast forward, for me, it obviously became one.

When did you first start getting into styling people, and how did that career begin?

I had a few different moments, but one of the ones that stands out to me the most was—obviously, I went to a performing arts high school, and I had a girl who had gone to my school who was extremely fashionable, and she had the best taste, and she was the prettiest girl. She had graduated, she had moved on, but she lived in the neighborhood, so I would see her, and she’d always compliment me and say, ‘You look so nice. You look so fly.’

I found out that she was actually a stylist. And not only was she a stylist, but she was Mary J. Blige’s stylist. And she said to me, ‘You should help me out. You should work with me.’ And I’m like, ‘What does that even mean? I’m in my last year of high school.’ And she said, ‘You should just meet me after school. And like, let’s just go shopping, take me places, tell me what you know.’ And I did it and I became her assistant, and I started to work for Mary J. Blige, and that’s where by journey actually began.

You’ve dressed a lot of well known names in your career, both New Yorkers and celebrities from other places. Is there anything about New York fashion that you think is very quintessentially New York?

New York Fashion is different because we have four seasons, so you’re able to dig a little bit deeper into fashion and style. I feel like Los Angeles only has, kind of two seasons, summer and I would say fall. But for New York…spring was really your spring. So it was all about introducing beautiful colors. It was all about introducing some patterns, some prints. And then you would usher into fall, which was little bit of layering different textures, heavier fabrics, maybe richer, darker tones.

Then you went into winter, where you got to introduce all your accessories: So it was boots, it’s gloves, it’s scarfs, it’s sweaters. Smooth coats, outerwear, which is a beautiful thing. And then you have summer. A New York summer, you can either do something very light, or you have flowy things, just lighter fabric and less, but less is more. So I think New York, the advantage that we have is to be able to transition into different seasons and explore different styles.

City Limits tends to write a lot about housing, and about affordability. How do you see the cost of living here in New York, especially around housing, impact its creative sector?

I’m in a space of pure creatives. a lot of creatives don’t start off with stability, or don’t have stability when it comes to finances, because obviously in the creative space, it’s an ever evolving world and journey, so that can make it very tough for someone to actually make it in New York City, because the rent and to purchase and to live in New York is sort of astronomical.

What I would love to see is more luxury creative housing, where those buildings would exist for all different creators, whether they’re artists, musicians, fashion designers, actors, actresses, chefs, different things like that, but anything that’s in a creative space where they could actually live affordable luxury housing, but also be surrounded by other creatives, because I think that places like that are magical. Magic is born in those spaces because of the exchange of creativity, and the exchange of energy.

And then obviously you can do it without the stresses of trying to own your craft and then also having to have one or two different other hustles just so you can survive. I think it’s pretty tough to actually be an artist, or even try to become an artist in New York City, and live here with the way that our rent and with the way that housing is set up. The prices are just through the roof.

How does the city inspire your work?

Basically because it’s just a melting pot for all different people. I love the idea of being able to jump on the subway and get to see all these different types of style, all these different types of personalities, all these different types of energy moving through the city. That was someplace I was able to draw lots of creativity.

I love New York because it’s also a place where you can walk—some of the cities I go to, you don’t have the freedom of just kind of getting out and walking. I remember trying to take a walk in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles one time, and I just felt like I was walking forever, and literally, there was nothing to look at. Now, there were beautiful homes, but no people. Beautiful, beautiful cars were driving by, beautiful homes, beautiful landscaping and greenery, but absolutely no people to actually see, because everyone drives out there.

So I feel like the fact that you can get out in a New York City street and get out on a particular avenue, whether it’s Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, obviously, throughout all the streets of Harlem, that’s an energy that you just can’t get anywhere else.

Is there anything coming up for you this year that you’re most excited about?

One thing that I’ve had the joy of doing is building a career out of dressing men of a certain size. So I’ve been toying with the idea of maybe doing a how-to guide—I don’t even want to really call it a book—I would want to call it a guide to big style. It’s basically just teaching men of a certain size that they don’t really have any ceilings on what they could do. Really just supporting men, and obviously women can take tips from it as well, just really a book of encouragement for guys of a certain size, and welcoming them into the style conversation, and welcoming into the fashion space.

I’m definitely looking to go and do some creative direction in the TV and film space, telling my story and expressing myself differently through character. And I’m also looking forward to putting myself in front of the camera, and who knows where that might land, whether it’s a little bit of acting or personality work. But that’s some stuff that I’m really excited about exploring in 2025. And then also working on my own clothing collection, which would be like a capsule line for men, luxury street wear for men.

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