WHAT Should We WEAR?

It is the first question every family asks once they’ve booked their family portrait session. What to wear in their family photos. I can almost hear the stress in <Mom’s voice as she asks. And as a mom of two little kids. I get it! Dressing and looking pulled together can be challenging enough, never mind trying to dress the whole family!

I’ve learned a lot over the years of helping families simplify choosing outfits and looking picture-perfect. And I want to share my favorite tips for what to wear in family photos with you!

1. START WITH THE BIG PICTURE IN MIND

It may sound simple, but this is one that can easily be overlooked. Some colors look great together and some… well, not so much. Before thinking about what to wear in your family photos or what color scheme to choose for your outfits, start by thinking about where you plan to display your portraits. And where your portraits will be taken. If the wall where you plan to hang your family portrait is brightly colored, you may want to avoid brightly colored outfits so the colors don’t compete. Instead, opt for soft neutrals or muted tones. On the other hand, if your walls are neutral, pops of color in your outfits would look great!

The location you choose will also impact the colors you choose to dress your family in. Think about the overall colors of your location. If it is mid-summer there may be lots of green in your portraits. Including red clothing, choices may unintentionally leave your portraits feeling a little Christmassy.

2. COORDINATE OUTFITS INSTEAD OF MATCHING

Gone are the days of everyone wearing white t-shirts and blue jeans. Today’s family pictures are more about coordinating than matching. Cue a sigh of relief! Ahhh! Everyone doesn’t have to wear the same color. Or dress in the same style! Each person in your family can dress in a way that fits their personality. And you can still look pulled together in your family pictures. I’m sure you’re wondering, How do we pull that off? And still, look coordinated? Below are a few general tips. Be sure to ask your photographer too. They usually have lots of experience in helping families decide what to wear in family photos

Complementary colors

If you know your photo location, consider the area and the backdrop before deciding on your outfits. If you will be outdoors in the spring, coordinating olives and greens is ill-advised. The green trees around you will swallow your entire family and you simply won’t pop off the backdrop. Pink however looks phenomenal on green and can really set you apart from the trees in the background. The same concept goes for bright backgrounds or a white home - you might want to avoid white or neutral colors and go with something a little more vibrant to set you apart.

Neutral colors and Brown + Black can mix

When in doubt, stay neutral. There is nothing wrong with doing what you know and if you’re not positive certain colors will photograph just perfectly, stick to some safe neutral colors like gray, khaki, white, black, cream. Now, that being said, growing up it was a fashion fo-pas to mix brown and black. In 2021, that isn’t an exact science. If your outfit is black and gray, you wouldn’t wear a brown belt alone. If you’re wearing a khaki tux you might not want to confuse people with black shoes. However, you can tastefully coordinate those colors. Notice in these images that there is a gentle mix of gray, charcoal, and khaki. It’s subtle and it looks amazing!

Bold Patterns

Another common misconception about photography is that everyone should be in a solid color. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Now I don’t recommend everyone show up in a different pattern, as mom's polka dot shirt might clash with sissy’s cheetah print skirt, grandma’s floral dress, and pop-pop’s buffalo plaid. When it comes to patterns I usually recommend picking one (and building from there). Throwing in a pattern is a great way to add some variety to your photos and make the portraits more interesting!

Earth tones

I love mustards, olives, creams, browns, burnt oranges, and all the earth tones alike. As mentioned previously - you likely want to double-check your location before coordinating earth tones. In the right place, earth tones look like magic on camera, and I’ve noticed this is especially the case for in-home sessions. I’ve also noticed my eyes tend to love earth tones most in a barnyard or fall field when the trees are amber and the grass looks like hay!

Dark tones

If the world around you is bright or dull be the color that draws the eye. One of my favorite all-time family sessions was in an amber field in the fall near sunset. Nearly everyone in the family was wearing such dark and bold colors and it photographed beautifully against the muted backdrop of the November landscape. This may not work in the spring - so again, be sure to be mindful of the season and overall color of your location.

4. MIX and match textures and accessories

You don’t have to strictly coordinate different shades of the same cotton shirts. I love seeing a mixture of textures and styles. A girl in a cute flowing dress with a cute gent in a sweater. Other examples include fur and lace or accessories like hats and scarves. I’ve also seen jeans mixed and matched well to bring an overall theme to a session while still giving the eyes a variety of colors to enjoy.

5. Consider the Location and the Season

Are you taking photos in spring? Then it’s probably not the time to wear a knit beanie or knee-high boots and a thick sweater. Dress seasonally, but also consider the weather in your area. Sometimes spring sessions are still quite chilly and once I even had a late October session in Charlottesville be over 100 degrees! As far as colors for the season go: Spring is a great time to go for neutrals, grey, and pastels. Summer is a great time to wear floral colors or white. Fall is a good time to wear jewel tones, mustard/oranges, and deeper colors. I do not recommend dark colors ever though, like black. I also recommend avoiding neon colors or very bright colors that may photograph differently than they look in real life. Neutrals or softer tones are always the way to go to complement skin tones and to look nice in a natural, usually green location. Please refer to the example tones 'in season' below.

6. GO FOR CLASSICS

Your family pictures will be enjoyed for many years to come. Hopefully, they will be passed down to your children and grandchildren someday. Crazy to think about it that way, right? To avoid having your family portrait look outdated when next season’s fashion and color trends change, lean toward more classic styles. 'Go for the classics' as in, dress as if you are 'going out'! Almost as if you are going out on a date, and want to give that first impressionand show who you are, what your style is and what your look says about you!

8. Dad and Kids NExt

Whatever colors you have selected for Mom, include those colors in your (3-5 swatch) color scheme, then incorporate additional colors that complement the ones that you have selected for Mom. From there you can search your closets to plan the rest of the family's wardrobe or plan a shopping trip to find outfits that will match the color scheme and that will add personalization to each individual so that it matches their overall style.

9. DON’T CHOP YOUR PICTURE IN HALF

You will see that I often use dresses in my inspiration boards for what to wear in your family photos. There are two reasons. Dresses tend to be flattering on women and in photos. Second, using dresses helps to add variation to the overall image and avoid a strong horizontal line in your image. Imagine if everyone in your family wore a light-colored top and dark pants. If I took a picture of your family standing up, there would be a visual line at your waist separating the top half of the portrait (light-colored shirts) and the bottom half of the photograph (dark pants). By having different colors on tops and bottoms as well as using a variety of styles (skirts, dresses, pants, and shirts) you can avoid this dreaded horizontal line and create a much more interesting family portrait.

10. SAVE THE HEavy GRAPHIC and Colors FOR LATER

There are a few items of clothing that are best to avoid altogether. Graphic tees or clothing with large logos can look great in casual everyday wear. But in pictures, they tend to steal all the attention if they are flashy or high color contrast. So it is best to save them for another occasion or make sure that the graphic is minimal, preferably small in size and in one color. The same rule applies to shoes. We don't want to wear neon green tennis shoes, otherwise, what is everyone going to be looking at in your photos? They will be looking at your shoes. We want the focus to be on you, not your chest or feet.

11. IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS

So far we have focussed only on the clothes. But it is the little details that can truly make or break a picture. Take a moment to pick out shoes to match each person’s outfit so an old pair of sneakers or flip-flops don’t get thrown on last minute on your way out the door. You can also use your choice of shoes to add a pop of color to your outfit or to help pull two outfits together.