What you wear to your photo session can have a huge impact on the outcome of your images. You will want to choose clothing that will be iconic and not become dated over time but that is also interesting and stylish. So let’s talk about some tips and tricks for choosing what to wear to a photo session.

Engagement / Couple Session

Talk to your photographer about a potential outfit change during your session. This can be somewhat challenging depending on the location of the session but it will give you a couple of different “looks”. I recommend a romantic elegant look and then a more laid back causal look. The challenge in both cases, is not only finding the perfect outfit that is going to photograph really well, but also an outfit that is going to reflect your personality and be comfortable to wear. I also recommend choosing clothing that is not too fashionable. You know the kind of clothes that go in and out of style easily and over time are just going to date your photos? You want your photos to be iconic no matter how much time passes.

Know your Body Type and Find Clothing that Compliments it

Just because it’s the hottest thing on the planet right now does not mean it looks great on you. I know harsh, right? But I am telling you the truth. Be honest with yourself about your body type and find clothing that compliments it. I used to work at a kiosk in a mall and, although somewhat entertaining, I would always wonder if this person or that person owned a mirror. Not every fashion is designed for every body type, trust, me. For example, I am shorter and because I was a figure skater for years and years I have larger more muscular legs. My goal in pictures is always to look longer and slimmer so I would choose longer dresses (knee-length or right below the knee) or long jeans with a slight flare (makes my thighs appear skinner) and heels. Also, when choosing an outfit, take into consideration the stature of your significant other. If he is tall and you are short (like Adam and I) wear heels so the height difference is not so stark. If your man is short and you are tall then consider wearing flats so you are a little closer to one another. When shopping for clothing for a photo shoot consider bringing a friend. A second opinion can go a long way and, of course, it will make it much more fun as well.

Accessorize

To make the outfit more interesting, do not be afraid to accessorize. I love earrings, necklaces, belts, scarves, etc… This is one way to dress an outfit up and also to tie in a key color. My only recommendation is to ensure that whatever you choose, to make sure it’s not too big or overpowering as you do not want your accessories to take center stage and be distracting from the overall photo.

Family Session

In addition to the tips above, there are a few more things you will want to be aware of if you have more than just two people in the picture. Also, if you have kids, I recommend bringing their outfit to the session and changing them right before the session starts on-site. Reason for this is that you just never know how the natural destructive nature of kids will project on their outfits.Ha ha I am unfortunately speaking from experience! I have had a couple “outfit catastrophes” where the kids managed to literally destroy their outfit right before the picture. At our last family session, Aubrie spit-up royally on her clothes and I was desperately using a baby wipe to clean it the best I could minutes before our photographer showed up. Sigh…life with kids, right?

Choose Complimentary Patterns and Solids

Choose 2-3 colors as your theme and then mix it up with complimentary patterns and solids. When picking your patterns try to choose patterns that are not too loud or busy. There is a fine line between interesting and distracting. Please do not have everyone match. This makes the photo very boring and monotonous and, honestly, dated. I beg you do not have everyone wear white shirts and jeans! What I usually end up doing is finding one person’s outfit, usually the baby’s, that I absolutely love and then building everyone else’s outfit around that one. I also recommend choosing colors that are not too bright as very bright colors can also be distracting. There was one family session I did where the little girl wore a neon pink dress. It was so bright that when you looked at the photo, your eye gravitated towards the dress…ideally I want your eye to gravitate towards the faces of the people in the image.

Update: I have changed my thought process on whose outfit I find first. I now start with me and build everyone else around me. Ha ha! Basically I am going to be the pickiest and as a result my outfit is going to be the hardest to find. When I started with the kids, I would find just the cutest outfits for them and then spend weeks shopping, trying things on, going to multiple stores and generally just pulling my hair out and going crazy trying to find something which coordinated that I liked. Now I find an outfit for me first … there are so many cute kids clothes and frankly kids can pull off almost anything so finding something for them is a lot easier. So far, this has been a better strategy.

No Characters

This one is a hard one, especially for me because I have a two year old who will not wear anything but Frozen or Sophia the First currently. Sigh, heaven forbid the day both those shirts are dirty. However, for pictures to be iconic you will want to avoid the character shirts. Character shirts can be distracting in a photo and can also date your photo over time. If at all possible convince the kids to leave the character shirts behind. I am so not beneath a little bribery .. or a lot.

Buy from Collections

There are certain colors that can be very hard to match due to variation in dye lots. For me, red is one of those colors. There are so many different hues of red that if you do not get the right shade throughout the outfits / accessories, it often looks like you tried to match but just failed. Shades of blue, in my opinion, is a little more forgiving. Another trick, especially for children’s clothes is to find a “collection” at one store and buy all the kids clothes out of the same collection. Often, the manufacturer will mix and match patterns and solids in the different pieces for you. The kids are all coordinating but not necessarily matching and you do not have to worry about shades and hues and all that. Easy. I love Gymboree for this.

Accessorize

I mentioned this a little earlier and again, accessories are a great way to tie everything together and make the outfits cohesive and interesting. I love vests, belts, scarves, jewelry …

Here is a picture of the outfit sets I put together for my family’s 2016 holiday session.

For more ideas, please visit my Pinterest Board:

What to Wear to a Photo Session – Family
What to Wear to a Photo Session – Couple

Comments are always welcome.