Colors! Patterns! Textures! OH MY!
I get a lot of questions asking about...
- "What should our family wear?"
- "Should we wear all the same color?"
-" Should we have a couple wearing the same pattern?"
Here are some tips, color palettes, and patterns that work together.
Tip:If there are more than 6 people in a family, don't try to match colors or patterns. It will look like one large color blob and everything will become very flat.
Tip: Do not wear dark against light, plaid or stripes!
-Dark against light: patterns with large amount of contrast become very distracting in photos.
-Plaid: Pretty much every person wears plaid! It's time to steer away from it!
-Stripes: Small close together stripes can make a picture look distorted.
Moral of this tip - if it hurts your eyes don't think about wearing it.
Patterns that are great for pictures:
-Floral print: different floral prints can add a lot to pictures. They can add different dimensions and even when you put two different floral prints together they aren't going to contrast against each other.
-Shapes: Small, subtle, and repetitive. Those are the key things to remember. If the shape becomes too large it becomes too distracting.
-Stripes: Larger stripes are fine but over all I would try to stay away from stripes in general.
The best clothing type to wear is textured clothing! Don't be afraid to mix and match textured pieces of clothing. These give great dimensions and bring a lot of key elements into your photo all while keeping the image subtle. You can't have enough texture!
Color Palettes.
There are so many to choose from and such a large range of options. Some of my favorite color palettes:
-Medium-dark gray, burnt yellow, black, and white
-Light yellow, dark turquoise, very dark turquoise, burnt yellow, dark topaz, dark blue-green
-light fern green, topaz, drab brown, dark edge wood, very dark antique blue, black
-light salmon, medium dusty rose, medium dark antique mauve, dark electric blue, dark baby blue, dark navy blue
-Battleship gray, pewter, ash, lavender, smoke
-Sage, terracotta, forest green, stone gray, black
How to put it all together?
-Start with Mom! Choose your outfit first! I recommend wearing a pattern with 3-5 colors within your dress or shirt. This will set the tone for what colors the rest of the family wear.
-Next choose one dominant color and the rest of the family wear accent colors. This will help have contrast but not make it look so dark.
-Choose your partner's outfit. If you want to choose clothing from what your family already has always choose your partner's outfit after yours. If you need to pick up a few pieces for the kids, they will be less expensive. Choose a couple of layers for a man. Layers tend to flatter men! Your partner's clothing should be either a neutral or an accent color.
-Kids clothing. Mix it up with your kids. Choose some textured clothing or a pattern similar to yours. Have one of them wear the bold color and the other(s) an accent colors with bits of the bold in it. Their outfits can add so much detail. The girls can accessorize with jewelry, bows, belts, etc. Where boys can add different elements with their shoes, laid shirts, different types of pants (jeans, khakis, chinos, etc.) Your kids clothing will be the easiest once you pick out your and your partners clothing.
One extra tip: Place all of your clothes together to get a quick view of how it will look all together and don't forget to make sure that everyone tries on their clothes at latest a week before photos. Nothing ruins pictures more than being uncomfortable in the clothing your squeezed into or are tripping over.
Setting up your family for success by wearing clothing you look amazing in has never been so easy!
