When photographing families, the number one question I get is, “what do we wear?” I certainly can’t decide your outfits for you, but I LOVE helping! In fact, I enjoy when people ask to do a consultation and have me look at their clothes and help them decide what pieces work well with each other.
My key piece of advice when dressing the entire family is “Don’t do matching!” Now, matching is not the same as coordinating. You want to dress your entire family as if you were dressing ONE person. So, you wouldn’t wear orange pants, orange shirt and orange shoes, with an orange necklace…would you? So, why would you dress everyone in orange?
You can see a storyboard featuring samples of these clothes in Kaboodle – where you can find where to buy pieces like these.
Dress the family as if you were dressing ONE person. What does that mean? Let’s give an example to work with. You have a three-year old, little girl. You found the perfect little plaid dress (remember, we don’t like clothes with characters and words on them…it’s just not part of the style we shoot). That dress has the colors of lavender, periwinkle, deep purple, navy, and sage green. It’s got the most adorable peony flower attached at the ribbon that goes around the empire waist. Sounds pretty, huh?
Once you find that key piece, you can start coordinating pieces from that for the rest of the family. Maybe dad is wearing dressier jeans (no rips and tears) and putting him in a lavender polo that matches the dress takes care of him. Easy!
Then, it’s time to dress your four-year old boy. Of course, you could put him in jeans like dad, but be careful that you limit the denim to not overdo it. Maybe the little guy would look great in a pair of khaki shorts and a white shirt with a sweater vest in the buttercream yellow. For little ones, you can often find easy options like a little onesey outfit that coordinates nicely. A cute hat also adds a nice touch to polish off the whole look .
And, mom. How can we forget mom? I think mom’s look great in maxi dresses…they hide flaws and accentuate curves. And, a pretty solid colored one in lavender or purple would compliment this photo perfectly!
Now, you’re all dressed with your key pieces! Accessorize with fun jewelry and make sure shoes look new and fresh. Dirty brand-name sneakers with those swooshes aren’t the best choices. Barefoot is cute too!
See, it really is simple. I have no rules regarding stripes and sleeves. I just feel like you should be dressing in what is comfortable, but also in a style that would look good for years to come, hanging in your home.