Clothing choices for portrait sessions can be very stressful. Here are a few recommendations I send to my new clients that you might find useful.
Individuals: I recommend wearing something more bold and colorful with a lot of texture to show off personality. This is an opportunity for children or yourself to shine! For children, I usually recommend bare feet for indoors and boots or shoes that compliment their outfit for outside.I recommend clothing that has texture, such as; knitting, embroidery, dark faded denim, buttons, and ruffles.This type of clothing tends to photograph well and adds a lot of visual interest. Ultimately. you should wear clothing that reflects who you are and what is unique about you!
Siblings: It can be difficult to coordinate colors and not look too matchy.I recommend picking a few colors, but try not to put them in the same exact clothing. The more layers, textures and colors, the better. Just pick colors that compliment each other. I recommend bright or deep colors (jewel tones like mustard yellow, deep purple,turquoise, dark pink, etc.) and try to stay away from all white. I do recommend investing in your child’s clothing for the session since it does make a huge difference in the final product. Search out local or online boutiques, they have one of a kind style. I also recommend avoiding large bows or ribbons in the hair. It distracts from the subject of the image.
Families: Choose a style you like and a few colors you like as well.I recommend having the parents dress fashionable, yet simple and focus more of the funky,unique style on the kids. If you have 5 people all dressing with a lot of layers and accessories it can be too much.Dark jeans that have a grit to them is always a great choice for the parents or especially the husband. If you are going to wear a print,stay away from small prints, there is not a lot of visual interest (think bold!). Continue to think about texture and color. You may think that certain colors don’t go together, but again think out of the box and have fun.
Of course location and theme will play a big part in your outfit choices, work with your photographer and discuss the look and fee l you are trying to achieve to nail down the best option for your session :)
