How To Dress Yourself For Your Shoot.

How do you want people to perceive you?

So you’ve made the decision to go ahead and get some photos done, either for yourself or for your family. Great! Now what to wear?

Like anything, dressing yourself well is a skill. Generally we can all manage pants; one leg then the other (and hopefully shoes come afterward). However there really is an art to dressing yourself in such a manner that puts your best foot forward. What Not To Wear probably wouldn’t have had a successful ten year run otherwise. This is especially true when being photographed.

One might think “this is how I am, and that’s good enough.” While it’s true, it’s important to be comfortable in the style of clothes you’re wearing, if you are putting down money to have your portraits taken, it’s worth it to take a few extra minutes to plan out what you’ll wrap yourself in. Yes, the clothes you wear should be representative of who you are, but at the same time, they should not take the focus away from you! Clothes, given too much freedom, can become characters unto themselves!

If you have mastered the art of wearing clothing that best show you off, then great. You’re ahead of the game! But if you’re doing group photos and you know for a fact that not everyone is as masterful as you are at this talent, here are a few tips to help you to help them out.

Dark Versus Light

Dark colours are generally preferable to lighter colours. Anyone who does laundry knows all too well, (or anyone who’s driven a white car for that matter), if you come up against anything non-white (grass, grease, the ever crafty spaghetti sauce), it’s going to show up. Particularly with little ones who might not be as conscientious about keeping the clothes pristine until after the camera has been put away.

Plus, as a rule of thumb, the lightest part of the image should be your face(s), regardless of skin-tone. So if you’re standing in your closet, looking at what you’ve got, go for the darks before the lights. This will help to instantly draw the viewer’s eye to your face, which unless you are modeling clothing or jewelry etc., is probably what you want people to see first.

Nix the Patterns!

Some people love bold patterns. And for some, it helps to highlight their personality. And while it’s true that for some people it really brings their particular look together (anyone looking at the photo would say “Oh yeah… that’s Jane…”) if you do not fall into this category, STAY AWAY FROM THE PAISLEYS. Paisley, geometric patterns, even a simple plaid or checked shirt can take attention away from your face. This is something of particular concern with men, because it’s very common for men to include shirts with small checked patterns or very fine plaids. If you have no other options, I would suggest that the smaller the pattern, the better because it will be more likely to read as a neutral than bigger, bolder ones.

And of course, lines! We need to consider lines. Most people don’t want to appear bigger than they are on camera, so horizontal lines are generally best avoided. And in general, if you are doing a group photo, it’s best to try to coordinate with the others. If you are wearing something with a lot of stripes (IE: Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!) or paisleys and everyone else is wearing solid colours, you run the risk of sticking out like the crazy aunt/uncle. That said, if you ARE the crazy aunt/uncle and that’s just who you are, then make sure the rest of the family is okay with it or if you are on your own make sure your photographer knows what to expect in your session. They can help tailor your session to show your exuberant personality shine.

Colour Coordinating

You might think it goes without saying, but as is often the case when a sentence is started that way, there’s often someone, somewhere for whom it needs to be said… Multiple times. Particularly when dealing with groups, it is best to have some sort of game plan or rules for the group to follow. If you have 5 people getting a portrait together and one of them is wearing burgundy when the others are all wearing black? That one person will be the first thing everyone else sees. On the other hand, if you’re all wearing burgundy, then everyone is more likely to have equal visual footing in the image. On this same point, warm colours tend to “come forward” in photos and cool colours “recede” so keep that in mind.

You don’t necessarily all have to wear the SAME colours, but leaning toward the same end of the spectrum is probably a good idea.

Long Sleeves

This might get a debate going, but generally, long sleeves are best. That said, if it’s a hot summer day, I am not going to force my clients to wear something that will be uncomfortable before I even shoot the first frame. If you have fish-belly white skin 9/10ths of the year like myself, however, it comes back to the thought that your face should be the lightest part of the image so it gets the most attention. If Conan O’Brien showed up for portraits in shorts and a tank top, the glare might blow the CCD chip in my camera. Clearly, I’m exaggerating, but you get the point.

Creasy McCreaser

Last but not least… I know, I know. I don’t like to iron any more than the next person, but try to make sure it doesn’t look like you slept in it. Fresh clothes! They will make you look that much more together!

So there you have it, just a few tips to help you choose what clothing to put your best foot forward on photography day. Obviously, like any rules, these might not always apply to you specifically, depending on the tone and type of images you are looking for (certainly, if you were doing a boudoir session, long sleeves might not be appropriate!) but for Family and Individual portraits, these should help. And as always, when in doubt; ask your photographer! They are there to not only get great images for you to show off and be proud of, but they want to get something that they can also show off and be proud of and they will want to work with you to get an image that everyone can be happy with!