School is in full swing, the days are getting cooler, fall is almost here; which means the busiest time of the year for me, photographing your beautiful families. I often get several emails leading up to fall mini sessions asking for advice on what to wear. I generally refer you to Pinterest where there are thousands of pins on what to wear. This year, since my family is prepping for family photos ourselves, I thought I would share the fool proof way I dress our family for photos as well as some dos and don'ts that always apply.
Walk in any store, or browse any store online and it won't take to long to find pieces for the whole family that coordinate nicely together. So step one is decide where to shop. Some of my favorites for the whole family - Old Navy, H&M, Zara, Target, Joe Fresh, Gap.
Everyone is generally afraid of patterns, but I'm telling you right now, a simple pattern is ok as long as not everyone is wearing it. I like to limit it to two patterns in my family of five, and luckily I was able to find a pretty feminine blouse for myself that coordinated well with the bolder pattern I chose for two of my girls. Here are the patterns.
Now this is where coordinating the rest of the family gets easy. If you look at both patters you can easily pull out four colors that coordinate beautifully. Maroon, Navy, Mustard and White.
Now it is time to shop for the rest of the family using the colors pulled from your pattern as your color guide - easy, right?
Some things I am looking for when shopping for my girls are clothes that are comfortable and that have some detail or movement to them. Dresses are great options for younger girls for some candid spinning photos. For boys, look for shirts with collars or pocket but avoid any logos or wording. Again a simple pattern, like plaids for boys or florals for girls are great options. My husband usually gets the color that is left over, which in this case was navy. While collard shirts are great options for guys, my husband is almost always in a t-shirt so I got him a navy tee with some button and pocket detail. Pair your top with well fitted jeans and some accessories and you are ready to go.
Here is what we ended up with, all from Old Navy. Dresses for my two littlest, a blouse for my oldest and tops for my husband and I. I actually ended up with a tunic style top with some detail that I may wear instead of the blouse. I just love the pops of mustard yellow, perfect for fall.
What I love most about these clothes are that they are so us, clothes that we could easily find in our every day wardrobe. I know we will be comfortable in them and in turn be more relaxed in front of the camera.
Accessories will really pull your look together. Jewellery, scraves, and belts are great options for ladies. Belts, watches and fun socks are great for the guys. You can never go wrong with a brown boot for fall, but any scuff free shoes will work and can add some personality to your photos.
Some do's and don'ts to always remember. Logos and any wording on clothing is a big don't. Avoid wearing white alone, and definitely don't try to be matchy matchy. Do choose timeless pieces - scarves, blazers, cardigans, simple outfits for baby. Patterns are ok, just keep them on a smaller scale.
I hope this proves helpful to you as you prepare for your family photos. I am so looking forward to seeing so many return families from last year and meeting some new families too. Thank you to everyone for all of your amazing support year after year. {K}