Styling Teens from Afar

Hello Top Buttons family! I am so excited to be here today! My name is Ahndea May, I am a daughter of the King, raising 5 little ones with my high school sweetheart and best friend Nate in Atlanta, GA. I love when God  brings opportunities for me to align myself with mission and purpose. A way to give back and help others. I first met Sarah Powers, founder of Top Buttons, in Rockford, IL.  She is energetic, connective, and man does she light up a room with her smile! We have stayed in touch over the years and followed each other through social media. I love the heart behind Top Buttons online magazine: "express more, reveal less," a modest twist on fashion and much more.

As a stylist, my heart is to help tell a story, your story through wardrobe, fashion and creative elements. Style is simply the outward way to express your inner self.  When I was young, I remember laying out my clothes the night before and being so excited to show off my new United Colors of Benetton outfit.  My clothes and appearance became what I focused on until God really got a hold of my heart and helped the searching for others approval fade. I then knew who I was in Christ and my appearance became a reflection of me not an image of me.  Now my business is to help educate, inspire and curate style through many different avenues.

I am thrilled to be a style contributor for Top Buttons Magazine as well as a sponsor for the upcoming Wardrobe Makeover Event this September. Here is what Sarah had to say about this fantastic initiative.

“At Top Buttons, we recognize many young women who might want to dress in more proper fitting attire often don’t have the money to go out and buy clothes as needed. Through our “Fall Wardrobe Makeover Event for Teenage Girls in Need” we are working to offer these young ladies with styling tips from our Top Buttons personal stylists and provide them with gently used clothing to replace or enhance their current wardrobe” — Sarah Powers. Founder & Director

My role is to help curate style boards, catering to many different vibes from street style to Boheme. This will help the Top Buttons hands-on stylists utilize the donations in the most effective way.  We want each girl to feel like they are receiving a custom experience.  We want them feel special, and also walk away with some quick tips, clothes and a full heart.

Want to know to get involved? Top Buttons is currently taking donations

Another way to partner with us is to PURCHASE a Top Buttons t-shirt.  One for you and one for a teen girl nominated for the makeover experience. We are pre -selling these t-shirts starting now so grab 2 for $30 and help support us as we open up new possibilities for these young girls.

Here is one way to style your new Top Buttons tee!

Click HERE to Purchase your Top Buttons T-Shirt!  We'd love to see what you pair it with.  After you get your tee, be sure to Tag Us…. @topbuttons and use the hashtag #mytopbuttonstee

Erin's Closet Remix

Meet Erin, a DIY enthusiast from Kansas City, Missouri. Erin wanted a new look without breaking the bank. I was happy to jump in and help put together an outfit made up of her own wardrobe along with a few new items.

While chatting with Erin about what kind of a look she wanted, she said that she loved her summer dresses and would love to find a way to wear them in the cooler months. With this in mind, I went through her closet and pulled a dress, leather jacket, tights and some fun wedges.

Her outfit needed some polish so we hit up our local H&M in search of some accessories where we found a statement necklace and a fun, unexpected purse. We completed the look with a couple trendy bracelets and a gold watch.

For Erin’s hair, we gave her some loose curls. For her make-up I kept it light and playful. I did a cat eye, pink cheeks, and a nude lip.

Erin looks great in her new look! She had all the right clothing, it was just a matter of pairing them correctly and adding the right accessories. Erin is excited to get her summer dresses out of storage and back on the hangers.

*Below are links to similar items worn above.

Dress  |  Jacket  | Tights  |  Shoes  | Purse

Article by: Rebekah Miura  Photography by: Reagan Miura

A SHOPPING SPREE WITH PURPOSE

The team would agree that our favorite part of the Top Button's Project is being able to Give Back.  In addition to providing cute and modest clothing styles online for young ladies to get ideas from, we take young women on shopping sprees who would not otherwise be able to do so for themselves!  As our organization continues to grow, we look to offer the Top Buttons Wardrobe Makeover opportunity for young women across the country- and more often.  At the bottom of this post are details on how to collaborate with us on this project if interested.

This month we partnered with The Core; a youth group from Epic church in Lakeland, FL.   Anastasia Malone, the host who nominated the teen chosen to be on this shopping spree, began as a leader for The Core a little over a year ago.  She shared a bit about why she volunteers to mentor youth by saying, “I do it because I have a passion for young ladies between the ages of 12-16 to see, understand and grab hold of what God has called and purposed them to do! I just love that age in general, so why not take time out of my week to just love on them!”

As we have done with shopping sprees before, we took Deni into a shop and filled 2 carts full of clothing!  Choosing clothes for Deni to try on was a fun-filled, group effort.  As the shopping progressed, the “no’s” turned into “maybe’s” and the “maybe’s” turned into “YES!”  We did have to convince her to step out of her box a bit to try on a couple items, but once she put them on, the smile of satisfaction on her face told us how pleased she was.  We enjoyed sharing ideas on how to wear different pieces in a way that would express her personal style, work with her body type, and keep her essentials covered.  After a morning of power shopping, Deni went home with several items to create a new wardrobe with!  This sweet young lady came out of the store radiating with positive energy.

And off to Peterson Park we go for Deni's photo shoot in one of her new outfits...

When asked what her favorite part of the day was, Deni said, “picking out the clothes!”  She shared how she felt honored to have been nominated, and we felt honored to have been able to provide her with this experience.

Anastasia Malone is seen below on the left, then Kenady (our TB teen team member), Deni (shopping spree winner), and Anastasia Jones (our TB Give Back Director).

All shopping sprees are funded through donations given to our non-profit organization. If you are interested in donating funds or services to provide deserving teens with a Top Buttons Wardrobe Makeover, please contact Anastasia Jones-Downing at anastasia@topbuttons.org.

Written by: Anastasia Jones

Photo Credit: Shelby Danielle