What to wear for a photo session | What you can learn from HGTV

Confession: I love HGTV.  Love it love it love it.  If I didn’t have kids to take care of, a husband to love, or a business to run, I might just watch it all day long.  I love learning about the renovation process, seeing how professional designers interact with their clients and solve big problems with creative solutions. I love seeing the transformation of a bleak and drab space into something amazing and inspiring.  Besides just plain fun to watch, I often finish an HGTV show feeling like I learned something to apply as as a photographer.  How, you ask?

Often when a designer is transforming a space (kitchen, living room, bedroom etc.), the process starts with picking something  as a jumping off point–the pattern on the curtains, the tile backsplash, the fabric of the pillows, etc.  From there the designer chooses furniture, flooring, fabric patterns, paint colors, etc. that work well with that initial “inspiration” piece.  Typically, once the room is finished there are lots of colors, lots of textures, lots of personality, and everything works together as a cohesive whole.  Just visit Sarah’s House (aahh–I LOVE that show) and browse through her design portfolio–you’ll see what I’m talking about.

One question I often get from my clients (especially family and engagement session clients) is “what should we wear to our photo session?” The answer, my friends, can be found every time you watch Sarah Richardson design a room on HGTV.  Start with a single piece of clothing that you want in the photos (a scarf, a skirt, dress, pair of shoes, etc.) as your “inspiration” piece.  Select the rest of the clothing/accessories to compliment that piece.  I wouldn’t expect to see a room designed with its walls, floors, chairs, sofas, curtains, lamps and trimwork all in the same green hue.  Visually that would likely be boring. Agreed?  Same goes for the clothes in a photo session.  Mix it up with colors, patterns and textures that allow each individual to be unique yet compliment each other and work together as a whole.

I put together this “style inspiration” board to give you a rough idea of what I’m talking about.  Hope you find it helpful when picking clothing for your photo session. :)

Where it all came from:

American Eagle: woman’s shirt, woman’s jeans, man’s shirt

Old Navy: man’s jeans

Forever 21: woman’s accessories

Zappos: man’s and woman’s shoes, girl’s boots

Gap: boy’s clothing ,girl’s dress

Hanna Anderson: girl’s sweater

AND REMEMBER–good interior design is not just visually wonderful, but also comfortable and live-able.  The clothing you choose for your photography session should be as well (form follows function no?). Even if it’s an amazing dress it’s no good for photos if you can’t breathe in it, worry that you’re exposed from all but one angle, etc. etc.!