Probably one of the most perplexing decisions for families when planning their photo session is “What should we wear?” And I always answer, “First and foremost, wear something comfortable.” Dress clothes are fine if your children are accustomed to wearing them and you are looking for a more formal portrait. But if your son rarely wears a tie, then it is likely that he is going to feel “stiff” making it difficult for him to relax and let his true personality shine through.
Secondly, unless you regularly step out wearing matching clothes, you should not do so for your portrait session either. I understand the temptation–you don’t have to worry about clashing if everyone shows up in white shirts and blue jeans. But wearing matching clothes does not help to showcase each family member’s personality. So instead of matching, think “coordinating.”
Let’s say your daughter has a favorite dress with a few different colors in it. Choose some wardrobe pieces for the other family members in those coordinating colors.
Maybe you are completely drawing a blank when it comes to a color scheme. One site I regularly turn to for color inspiration is Photo Card Boutique’s Cool Colors series. Each post features a photo where they’ve pulled the colors out in swatches for you to see. Even though the photos do not depict clothing, you can get a sense of relationship–which colors should be the basis for the outfits and which ones should be used as accent colors.
Jewel tones are always great choices and you can see from the photo above that they pair very nicely with neutral colors, too. Check out my Family Style boards on Pinterest for more outfit inspiration.