Photoshoot Prep: Planning your outfits
Fit Your Form
Fitted clothing which shows your shape works best for photographs. This applies to any body type. Outfits should hug your curves, especially along your top half. Loose, flowing skirts, or wide leg pants are fabulous as long as your bodice or top is snug. Flowy dresses look great with a belt to accent your waist.
Sleeve Length
Love your arms? Show them off with a strapless dress or sleeveless top. Not your favorite part of your body? Pass on anything with cap sleeves, which emphasize the widest part of the arm. Either way, bring (at least) one outfit with long sleeves- they look great cuffed or rolled!. 3/4 sleeves are universally flattering and keep the attention directed to your fabulous face.
Don’t forget the Underpinnings
Consider the underwear you'll need for each outfit. You may need a strapless bra or nude thong. Pair a black bra with dark clothing, and stick with nude bras under light clothes.
Shapewear. is. Awesome.
Accessorize
Bring jewelry, hair accessories, and scarves or wraps to complete each outfit. Choose timeless over trendy. If you have an amazing pair of shoes, feel free to bring them. Otherwise, don't worry about your feet-the only time we'll see them is if we're specifically trying to show them off.
Keep these authentic to you and your style.
Look for TEXTURES
Luxurious fabrics and textures add a tactile richness and depth to your photos. Think lace, beadwork, embroidery, crochet, leather, velvet, draped satin, chiffon, and chunky knits.
Monochrome
Limiting each outfit to one color palette is a great way to create a long lean body line in your portraits. When pairing separates, keep light with light and dark with dark. However, your top doesn't have to be an exact match to the bottoms, (like dark wash jeans with a black top.)
Metallics
Add some shimmer to your portraits with metallic fabrics, sequins or beadwork. While this look may seem extremely dressy in person, the sparkling effect is much more subtle in images. Look for silver, gunmetal, bronze, gold, or rose gold, or even skip the true metals and bring any color of draped, lustrous satin.
Barely there shades of blush and nude
Dressing in shades of nude and blush in a portrait creates a feeling of the clothes disappearing, and the image being all about the woman and not the wardrobe. Whether you opt for a cuddly sweater, a slinky slip, a gown, or a full tulle skirt, these subtle neutral shades will give a soft, ultra feminine mood.
Avoid:
Very small prints and stripes - these tend to look better in person than in photographs
Large logos or graphics - not only do these take away from your face, they will date the photograph faster than anything else.
Anything you don’t feel amazing in.
Bring a Variety
Variety is the spice of life and during your photoshoot. Bring a variety of outfits. If this is a solo photoshoot for beauty, boudoir or personal branding I recommend planning 5-6 outfits. If this is a family photoshoot I like to plan for 2-3. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you ensure you have a variety of outfits:
Something Light: Bring something in a soft shade of blush, gray, nude, cream or white.
Something Dark: Black, chocolate, charcoal, or dark, rich jewel tones will all work well.
Something Classic: Put together an ensemble (or two) that's timeless and chic. Whether you need images for business, want to keep things casual, are aiming for something a touch dressy -or even all three.
Something Soft or Sexy: Sexiness can mean wearing a backless gown or beautiful lingerie. Even a sweater can feel sensual when worn off-the-shoulder; and slip dresses nod to lingerie while still feeling dressed up.
Something Epic: A photo shoot is the perfect opportunity to dress like a movie star, (and a great excuse to go shopping). You might even rent, borrow, or custom make your dream outfit. Give yourself permission to go all out.
For family photos you can think something more casual and something more dressy or formal.; or a darker tone, and a lighter tone.
Don’t Match, Coordinate instead!
For groups like families, a more modern approach is selecting a color pallet and having everyone dress according to their own style and personality in an outfit that's one of the tones in your chosen pallet. This keeps your images cohesive and authentic.
