What to Wear for Portrait Sessions
If you're anything like me, when booking a portrait session, trying to figure out what to wear is such a challenge. I have a family of 6, and it's always an adventure!
Wardrobe can make or break a photo.
In my prep information that I give to my clients, I have quite a bit of advice on what to wear and what not to wear. Here's a sampling of it!
The most important thing is - These are your pictures. You are hiring a photographer to photograph this special time for you. As a photographer, my main goal is for my clients to love their images. If my clients do the exact opposite of what I recommend and they love their images, it's fantastic with me. This is just my advice. There aren't rules on what's right and wrong style wise, this is just my preference in creating timeless portraits.
Now that we know the main goal, let's move on to getting to that goal with those that aren't sure what to wear.
A few don'ts:
Don't wear anything fluorescent. Yes, they are beautiful, fun, and scream spring/summer, but fluorescent colors cause a color cast on your skin (even the softer fluorescent colors).
Don't wear worn out tennis shoes. Shoes are part of the outfit and should compliment what you're wearing, not distract.
Don't use bows bigger than your baby's head.
Don't wear clothes with distracting prints or words/writing on them.
Don't wear distracting nail polish. Go timeless.
Great things to do:
Do wear coordinating soft colors.
Do take into account where your session will be. Your wardrobe should also fit your location. Woodsy, studio, beach, field, urban, etc. You would want to wear more bold and edgy for urban. Pastel, pale, or neutral for the beach. Soft or neutral for field.
Do consider your entire family as one. Everyone should compliment each member. Prints are okay, and mixing prints is great, but only have one or two in prints, or use a print as an accent for an extra one or two family members.
Do wear something that makes you feel amazing. If mom isn't happy, nobody is happy. Make sure you feel great in what you're wearing and then build the wardrobe around that.
Do trust your photographer. Your photographer wants the session to look just as good as you want it to.
Do use textures. Yes, yes, yes!
Do wear flowy. Well, I couldn't think how to make that make sense. But the point is, flowy dresses are amazing for moms.
Do put suspenders or overalls on your son. You can never go wrong with suspenders!
Do keep in mind that not everything can be Photoshopped. If someone in your family has an insecurity, it's not the day to wear something that accentuates it and expect the photographer to Photoshop it. With me, I am not a fan of my arms, so I always wear something with sleeves, or put on a denim jacket, or wear a cardigan. You can let your photographer aware of any insecurities (or your favorite side) so that she/he can make sure that you will feel your best.
I made a few Pinterest boards to help with ideas that I love. I just found some beautiful pins and made a board of favorites. These are not my images.