So in the beginning of the year probably 36 blog posts ago we wrote that there is no wrong way to dress & that you should wear whatever makes you comfortable! We still think you should wear what makes you feel the best and most comfortable, but as it turns out giving guidelines has been helpful for clients to know what will look most cohesive together in a photo and what distracts the least!
We've actually had people in the past couple months ask us pretty frequently what to wear, so... without further adieu we'd like to share some great guidelines on how to dress for the best photos of you! (Remember: These are not hard rules. These are merely guidelines!)
Guidelines:
- Men: Wear pants. Women: Wear a longer skirt maybe to the knee or pants. Reason: This is so you can sit & bend without showing a ton of leg and so your legs don't take attention from your face!
- A button-up or a basic one-colored shirt for men are preferred. Reason: You can layer things like sweaters or vests onto them easily. Polo short sleeve shirts tend to not look as "timeless."
- Layering clothing as well as diversifying textures of cloth help create interest in the photo. Scarves, sweaters, vests, jackets: All of these help give depth and help you all look dapper. You can also change up the layers a bit during the Photo Session and it can look like a different wardrobe-! Very subtle pattern in a clothing item or 2 can be ok.
- Muted tones in clothes are the best way to highlight YOU. Reason: They help make you the subject of the photo rather than your bright red, orange, or yellow clothing. Bright colors also make you look larger, so they're good to avoid in photos. *Though we've found that more muted deep colors like mustard colored scarves are actually nice accents! Deeper & more muted tones of these bright colors make great accent pieces on solid-colored scarves and such!
- Choosing just one to a few colors for everyone's clothing in a portrait is helpful. Reason: By everyone working within a color palette of things such as "jewel tones" (burgundy, navy, forest green) or "muted tones" (tan, light olive, light blue) you are able to notice the people first since the clothing is cohesive and not distracting or attention pulling to one person. Matching exactly is boring and dated.
- Choosing similarly toned clothing for top and bottom helps. Reason: By choosing both a dark top and dark bottom or light top & light bottom you're keeping everything even. If you have a white top and dark pants you will look top heavy. Wearing a white bottom and dark top will make your thighs and butt look big.
- Your top should go to at least the elbow. Reason: This isn't entirely necessary (women), but it helps make your arms look skinnier as well as makes sure that your vast skin area visible isn't distracting from your face. (Not a sexual way, rather clothes help frame the important part: Your face!)
- Wear dark shoes and socks. Reason: Especially for white socks they stick out like a sore thumb in photos.
- Don't get a haircut right before photos. Reason: You want your hair to look natural, so give it at least a week or 2 to fall in place after a haircut.
- Engagement Session women: You can totally wear a cute white dress if you want-! About 4 or 5 of our recent Engagement Session females have done so. Reason: White dress signifies a wedding. It's not necessary, but does help make it look more like pre-wedding photos.
We hope this guideline serves you well! We are so excited for Kim & Chris' Engagement Session at Notre Dame in a day and the Wedding Expo at South Bend's Century Center on Sunday-! There's much to do this weekend and we're excited!