The most frequently asked question I get is "What should we wear!?"
I love getting asked this question. Photographs are visual and they are aesthetic. And what you wear GREATLY impacts the look, style, vibe, and quality of your photos.
So in no particular order, here are some rambling thoughts on what to wear, what to think about when dressing yourself and your family, and things to consider.
Match your clothing to how your home is styled. Why? Because I want you to hang your photos up on your wall and I want them to look like an amazing piece of art in your home. If you have a living space with rich colors, then pastels wouldn't be a great choice, but wine, navy and olive green would be. If you have a farm house style with lots of gray and white, then consider a blush pink or periwinkle blue.
Denim, khaki, black, cream, white, and gray are neutrals and can be incorporated in any color scheme. Use these colors as a base and add your pops of color accordingly.
Coordinating is great. Matchy-matchy is not so great. You want to compliment each other in colors and tones but not every single person has to be wearing all of your color scheme.
Portrait sessions do not require an entire new wardrobe. Or for you to break the bank. Let me repeat that one more time. You don't have to break the bank on clothing for your portrait session. You have cute clothes in your closet, so does your husband, so do your kids. You may need to buy one or two items to pull it together, but you have great things you can use already. I love helping people get their outfits prepped. If you are local, I will come to your home and help you. If we live apart, lets face-time and figure it out. You are welcome to send me texts with photos of your outfits. LET ME HELP YOU!
I have a client closet. If you are needing help with your clothing, I might have something in my client closet for you. I have been collecting favorite pieces of clothing that photograph well. My client closet is free. All you have to do is ask!
Wear nice shoes. This especially goes for men and boys. I often see guys dress really nicely and then have on athletic shoes. It doesn't look great and this is one of those times that you might want to hit up a second hand store or an inexpensive store and buy some nicer looking dress shoes. They don't need to be well made. They just need to look nice.
You don't have to get fancy. Unless you want to. I think a lot of people think — oh man, it's our yearly family photos and we need to get fancy (but we aren't fancy people!). Don't worry, I am not fancy either. Which is why I have some family photos of us in dresses and dress shirts, but I have also styled us to look more like our daily selves. And I love both looks.
Women. Dress yourselves first. Your heard me correctly. Put yourself first, pick your outfit first, and dress everyone around you. Pick an outfit for yourself that you feel AMAZING IN. Pick an outfit that is comfortable. That you don't have to suck in or stand in a weird position to look right. Find yourself an awesome look and then build everyone around you. Your hubby is going to be easy to dress. Clothes for men are pretty standard of sweaters, button ups, etc. Your kids are going to have a million cute options for what to wear. And here is the bottom line, you are not going to print a photo that you don't like of yourself. I know this is true because I am a self conscious mama too. And I am only putting photos on the wall that I can look at and love myself in, even if it's not the best image of my kids or hubby. Don't lie, you do the same thing too.
Have everyone try on all their clothes together prior to our session. Then go look in a mirror all together. Yep. Squeeze in that bathroom all together. Make sure you like the way you look all together. Make sure your kids are comfortable in their clothes, that they fit correctly, and they you want this look hanging on the walls of your home.
Solids, prints, designs, and textures are good. You will want a variety of textures and prints and fabrics. If everyone were wearing solids, it would just be a bunch of color blocks - instead layer your family in solids, prints, and textures to add depth to your images.
Avoid graphics and words on your clothing. Hello Kitty, SuperMan, Pokemon, Nike, Hollister. Yep, all those things are great. Just not in your photos.
I hope this helps you when you are choosing what to wear! I also hope that if you need any help you will reach out to me!
XOXO
Heidi
