\u201cI\u2019m an extroverted introvert, and when I enter spaces like that, I think the Bahamian in me\u2014the Caribbean girl in me\u2014comes out a little bit and I can move through those spaces as myself,\u201d Jones explains after recalling a casual conversation she had with Vogue\u2019s Anna Wintour about the behind-the-scenes logistics of planning such an extravagant event. \u201cI let my culture, I let all of the pieces of me, just shine through, and I think that\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether she\u2019s wearing a black Sergio Hudson blazer<\/a> to the Met Gala or wearing a pink suit and sneakers<\/a>, Jones\u2019s self-proclaimed masculine style has become an important facet of her identity as a Black lesbian who grew up in the Bahamas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were the family that went to church every Sunday, and I was wearing dresses and frilly socks,\u201d she explains, saying she felt there were many rules about how a \u201clady\u201d was supposed to present, but the same kind of restrictions never applied to men.<\/p>\n \u201cI always felt like, Why do I have to follow these rules? Why do I have to clean the house all day with my sisters, and my brother is able to just be outside or just throw the trash out and then he\u2019s free for the rest of the day?\u201d she says. \u201cI always just felt some type of way about the stereotypes or the roles that Bahamian society, or society in general, was putting on women. I felt like they just wanted us to be less free.\u201d<\/p>\n She continues, \u201cAnd so for me, I just felt like the clothing that I was wearing represented finding my freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones moved to the States when she was 13 years old, living with strangers in Maryland before she was taken in by her high school basketball coach. \u201cNow I call her my second mom, and she\u2019s someone that I go to for advice and is really there for me and in my corner,\u201d she says of Diane Richardson. \u201cNow she\u2019s the head coach at Temple University, and Philly is not that far of a drive from New York, so she\u2019s always up here watching games and showing love and support.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones was drafted to the WNBA in 2016, spending her first seven years in the league with the Connecticut Sun before being traded to the New York Liberty in 2023, so she\u2019s seen the exponential growth of the league first-hand. \u201cMy first, what, four years in the league, I had a roommate,\u201d she says. \u201cWe are staying at nicer hotels, and now we don\u2019t fly commercial anymore; we\u2019re flying privately.\u201d<\/p>\n