“What should we wear for our upcoming family photo session?”

“Do you have any outfit suggestions?”

Here is my long overdue post to address your concerns of what to wear.  I have been meaning to write this for quite a while as it’s the number one (ok, well more like second or third) question I get asked.  Choosing outfits for a photo shoot is not as easy as one might think.  Long gone are the days where everyone wears jeans and black turtlenecks or white shirts with khakis.  You want color in your world people!  And color donning the walls of your home.  Of course, that’s not to say black and white can’t be worn because there are certain times when it’s the perfect choice.

I think for starters it would be helpful to break this blog post into different types of photo sessions as my recommendations will definitely vary.  Today I will focus on “The Family Session.”  In separate blog posts I will cover what to wear for:

–Maternity

–Newborns

–Engagement

So, let’s dive right in.

Step 1- Where will this session be?  That determines a lot.  Beach?  Avoid whites/khakis as you will likely get washed out with the light skies and sands.   Will you be outdoors where green grass, trees and flowers are your vivid backdrop?  You have options galore.  Same thing with a studio setting.

Step 2 (optional)– Where will these pictures be displayed?  This may or may not come into play.  However, if you are getting a family portrait done that you know will grace your walls for years to come, think about what colors look best in that room.  For example, if your family has room has shades of blues/grays and yellows coordinate outfits that compliment that color scheme and not compete against it or look very odd displayed in that room.  Reds, oranges and browns would look odd with a more pale palate.

Step 3- Who is being photographed?  For this example it’s my own family.  I normally start with picking either something fabulous I just bought for myself or perhaps a brand new and adorable dress for one of my daughters.   It’s called my anchor piece and I will work around it.  See the first example below.  I chose this dainty, pale floral dress with pale mint, yellow and pink and a vintage-inspired hair band that I bought off of Etsy.  Both items were my anchor pieces.

Step 4- Florals/plaids/designs…oh my?  The old rule used to be not to have any busy prints.  And while you certainly don’t want everyone to be wearing very busy prints/designs that compete, avoiding patterns all together is not necessary.  Abby’s dress is a dainty floral and that’s ok.

Step 5- Choose outfits for everyone else that compliment those colors.   Some people just have an eye for that.  Others may need some more inspiration.  There is a wonderful site called Designs Seeds that allows you too chose one color and it will pull complimenting colors via photos from real life/nature.

Step 6- Rummage through the closets and look for things you already have.  Chances are there is absolutely no reason to buy anything new.  Using the color pallets above, I chose a shirt for my hubby and a dress for my daughter with those colors as the inspiration.

Step 7- Add little pops of color with jewelry, scarfs, belts, fun shoes, fun socks, etc.

Step 8- Lay everything out on the floor to see how it all looks together.  It’s the perfect visual to how the final result will look.

Step 9- Lastly, choose outfits that represent who you are.  Don’t wear Gap or Janie and Jack  just because I recommend it.  I personally find you can’t go wrong there but if it’s not your style then don’t force it.