April 28, 2021

One of my favorite parts of my job is helping clients put clothes together with confidence for their family session or engagement session. Long gone are the days of everyone wearing matching clothes for a family session. Sometimes that look made it hard for children in the front row to stand out when their pants matched their parents, etc. 

Today, we have all learned to coordinate rather than match clothes for a family portrait session. Below you'll find links to some of my go-to resources for planning family clothing or a couple's engagement clothing. I hope these are helpful to you!

This photo came from The Styled Press by Taylor Brown. It was also the jumping off point for my client's coordinated clothes for a recent photo session. This set was created for 2021 but the palette is pretty classic because it coordinates neutrals like beige and tans with blue jean textures. When you can start with something you already have in your closet then it is easier to bring everything together. My clients found that their kids, as spring was beginning, grew out of everything from the previous summer and needed a look for spring. The parents had some basics already and based the color palette off of what they already had, creating variety through layering and some pattern for the children. It was a perfect fit!

One of Taylor Brown's pieces of advice is to first think about the background and colors of the place where you'll be. If everything is very green, you wouldn't want green to be a main theme. However, picking up on a hint of green can bring everything together.

Taylor says, "Consider your background/backdrop. Probably the very first thing you should think about before picking out anyone’s outfits! Be mindful of the colors and how busy the background is so that you don’t clash."

I love the Just Posted website because the author gives lots of information. She gives links and shares where items come from. If you're shopping from an image from the current season, you can use her links to purchase the items in the photos! The author is also very good at talking about layers and pieces for women. If you check her site out, you'll find that she'll explain, for example, which shoes look good with which types of skirts or pants. She explains which jewelry pieces will help a color in another outfit pop, etc. I highly recommend this site and it is always one of the first ones I check out when helping a client plan their clothes.

This is our family photo from last year. I was using a similar palette. My shoes are coral and the coral-pink cherry blossoms hang into the photo to help the pop of color. We were using what we had, of course, last year for 2020 porch-raits since stores were all closed during the Covid-19 Pandemic shut-down. The boys were all in grays and blues and teals. This is similar to the palette shown in the Just Posted image from 2021.

The author of the Just Posted site links everything so you can purchase. Check out this page to see how it works! I'm also sharing a screenshot below.

I hope these resources will be helpful to you. I trust these resources and think they'll make your coordination efforts, well, effortless!

Wishing you grace and peace today!

Ann

What am I about?

My business is Photographic Memories by Ann M. Bickel, LLC and is about providing art opportunities in the Altoona community as well as portraiture photography work. As a creative person, I like to dabble in other areas that allow me to bear witness to others' lives and explore what brings us all together. Though If you would like to follow along, you can check out my last blog article or join my newsletter!