Coordinating Outfits For Family Pictures
Another year and I was scrambling last minute to put together outfits for our family pictures. Full disclosure, our pictures were last week and I ran around on my lunch hour Monday and Tuesday trying to find something that would work for us. Gah! I’m sure you are super organized and have tons of time to plan out your family outfits, right? I didn’t think so. Is anyone that organized?
Here are my top three tips to help you coordinate your family outfits in just your lunch hour!
#1 – Find Your Base Outfit
Do you have a dress or top you love and want to wear? Does it fit well and show your shape?
If yes, great! You’ve got your base outfit.
If no, move on to your partner’s closet. Does he/she have something that fits well and looks good?
If yes, great! This will be the base outfit.
If no, check out the kid(s) wardrobes. Look in your kid(s) closets. Do they have a cute top/dress that fits and doesn’t have characters or wording all over it?
If yes, great! You’ve got your base outfit.
If no, oh man, you’ve got some major shopping to do!
#2 – Take your base outfit shopping
I’m not kidding. Put it in your purse or bag, you’ll wash and iron/steam it before pictures. You’ll want it to lay things out in the store and see how they coordinate. I usually say to start with looking for your outfit or your partner’s outfit to coordinate. Kids clothes tend to be easier to find because the fit is less important for them. Don’t get me wrong, you want it to fit well, not too big or small, but they don’t have curves or man-boobs to deal with. Ha!
#3 – Buy multiple outfits
Take them home, lay them out on the bed. Compare how things coordinate. I found a super cute top for me and my husband. Mine is sort of a dark teal with a colorful paisley pattern and his is a nice purple button down shirt. But the top I had picked for our son was red and blue plaid. It worked with my husband’s shirt but not mine. Pairing up each combination is key to getting that coordinated look. Husband + Wife, Mom + Kid, Dad + Kid….or however your family is…layout the combinations that you’ll likely be paired with in a photo.
Bonus Tip
If you answered no to all the q’s in tip #1, go shopping at a place where you can get everyone’s clothing. Big stores like Kohls, Old Navy, or Target are great for this because they have clothes for everyone in the family. You can compare and coordinate before leaving the store! The only issue that could come up is the fit so ensure you’ve got a good one and save time by buying a couple sizes if your partner or kids are inbetween sizes. Then return them on your next shopping trip. (Cause I’m sure you’re at Target weekly like me right? lol)
Hope this was helpful. You can also grab my What To Wear Guide that goes into detail on coordinating patterns and colors for a cohesive look. Just know that I feel your pain, it can be so hard to get it right but I know you’ll love your photos even more when they have real color and personality instead of going all 90’s and putting everyone in black or white t-shirts. (Please don’t do this, I know its tempting but your family is way cooler than this!)
