It’s the day before your shoot. You’re standing at your closet, cursing yourself for not choosing an outfit sooner but you’ve put it off until the last minute because HOW in the WORLD do you choose an outfit that will look nice but also feel like you AND at the same time be timeless, comfortable, and photograph well?!
Breathe, I gotchu.
Yes, there are lots of things to consider when choosing an outfit, but I’m here to share my all-time best tips, tried and true through any season, time of day, or shoot location. I’m here to make sure you can walk confidently into your session and not have to worry about your outfit once, because you’ll be too busy giggling and making core memories.
Comfort is Key
First things first, you want to choose an outfit that is comfortable and moves well. My shooting style involves more active prompts, not stiff poses, and I want you to be able to move around without feeling restricted. Plus, the more comfortable you feel in your clothes, the more you’ll look like yourself in your photos.
Choose a Color Palette
My next go to suggestion is to choose a color palette. Especially if you have a larger family or group, you’ll want to choose a selection of no more than two or three base colors for each person to plan an outfit around. Some great combinations could be black, tan, and green. Or you could each choose to wear varying shades of blue. Maybe try wearing white and khaki with a pop of deep mauve. Working with a color palette will tie your images together SO nicely and will really help your gallery feel much more polished.
Neutrals are Your Best Friend
Piggy backing off of choosing a color palette, I always ALWAYS recommend steering towards more neutral colors. I know neutrals aren’t always the most exciting colors, but they will always photograph well, and they will always be a timeless choice. Plus if you choose your base outfit off of a neutral tan or grey, then you can always add a pop of color with a deep green, soft blue, or bold red.
Patterns and Bright Colors
Patterns and bright colors can be tricky if you’re new to putting together outfits for your photos, but if done right, it can be SUCH a chef’s kiss moment! My best recommendation is to stay away from using multiple patterns in the same outfit change, and if one person is wearing a pattern, try to make sure your partner is wearing a solid complementing color. Bright colors can be the same way, but I always try to recommend staying away from any extremely neon colors, since these generally do not photograph as well.
Dress Up or Down
Feel free to dress up OR down, as long as everyone in your group is on the same page! If your session includes an outfit change, I like to recommend doing one dressy outfit, and one casual outfit because this will give you much more variety to enjoy when you get your gallery back. There’s no right or wrong location to dress up or down, these are your photos and you have the right to feel confident in whatever look you choose!
Wear What Feels Like You
At the end of the day, all that matters is that you choose an outfit that feels like YOU. If you don’t wear dressy clothes, then don’t do it for your session! You don’t want to look back at your photos and not recognize yourself. If you are confident in what you’re wearing, your images will reflect that in your genuine smile and relaxed shoulders. Own who you are and be true to your style!
No matter what, we’re going to have an amazing time together. If you still just can NOT decide what to wear, please let me know!! I’d be happy to help customize your look with you, nothing would make me happier than helping you walk into and out of your shoot with all the confidence in the world ♡
