General Clothing Tips:
The idea is to bring attention to the face while enhancing the portrait with the right clothing and color palette to enhance the decor of your home.
Please look at our website for looks that appeal to you, your situation and portrait plans.
If you are still stressing, we have some suggestions. In general, remember “KISS” (KEEP IT SIMPLE SWEETIE).
This is where mom usually starts to lose her mind! Have no fear mom, remember KISS.
For Families:
Styles—Simple, solid outfits photograph best.
Relaxed or casual clothing styles can be worn either indoors or out, but formal
clothing for entire families should generally be reserved for indoor settings.
Adults should wear long or elbow-length sleeves and long pants or long skirts
so that they do not take away from their faces by showing too much skin. Traditional styles have a more timeless look
than the trendier fashions. In turn, relaxed
clothing results in a more relaxed feel for the portraits.
Coordinating— If the group wears similarly toned
colors it helps focus attention on your faces and draws attention away from
your clothing. When no one
person stands out because their clothing is brighter, lighter or darker, it
says that all members of the family are of equal
importance. ***There is always the
exception such as a newborn***
A Few
Other Clothing Tidbits and Reminders:
White—Off-white clothing photographs better
than pure white. Wearing off-white, cream, or ivory clothing will not
cause you to look washed-out. It is an excellent choice for persons of all complexions.
Adults Never Wear—red, orange, lime green, or any brilliant
color. Do not wear short sleeves, short pants or short skirts that allow the
knees to show when seated.
Shoes/Socks—With dark slacks or skirts wear dark
shoes and socks. With light slacks wear light or medium socks.
In general, solid colors – no stripes, plaids, patterns or logos.
Casual clothing for outdoors – Blue tones are wonderful on almost everyone. It looks great in nature. Jeans and Jeans jackets are great. Natural earth tones, such as khaki and black – are always great. Long Pants – are always better than shorts for adults and older children. It is better to roll up pants at the beach than to show off Dad’s hairy legs! Even in the hot SC weather, long sleeves are best for adults. In the fall, sweaters are great and can often give a thinner boy a more masculine look. The majority of the time we will be photographing barefooted, but if Dad and Grandpa insist on shoes, make sure they are not work boots or tennis shoes. If they wear socks with their shoes, make sure they match their pants. If grandpa ONLY wears white socks, make a special purchase for him : )
GLASSES lace
If you wear glasses most
of the time, you’ll want to wear them in your portraits. You can eliminate the
reflections and the distorting refractions normally seen in glasses by having
your optician either show you how to remove and rep
MAKEUP
Apply your makeup lightly, but normally, paying special attention to your eyes
as they will be the most important part of your portrait. A bit of mascara and
eyebrow darkening may help if you are fair. Avoid brilliant or garish colors on
your eyes, lips and cheeks. Blend very carefully and thoroughly. Heavy eyeliner can be distracting.
For Little Ones:
Newborn up to 6 months:
No clothes are needed for your
angel until 6 months (or really when your angel can sit up). We have linen shorts for the boys and
bloomers for the girls.
Parents should wear long sleeved
black and dark pants or dark blue jeans. Siblings will vary according to age and whether they are a boy or
girl. Check out the website for lots of
ideas! Of course we will be talking you
through this!
Sitting and Beyond:
Once they can sit up clothing can
look nice. If they can sit up well they
suddenly have a neck and look nice in an outfit. Of course this is the best time for the booty
shots. Your little angel should be
getting round and fluffy around 6 or 7 months.
9 or 10 Months:
When your angel can stand holding
on to a chair or other support you may be ready to go outdoors! You may want one formal and one play outfit
for this session. What look are you
going for? If you are part of our Pitter
Pat Program will most likely go outdoors and include Dad!
**Children’s Nails and
Hands-Make sure
fingernails and toenails are clipped for session. Check for chipped and non-matching fingernail
and toenail polish or remove if you do not want it in the final portrait
**Clothing Fit and Preparation—Make sure you try on your child’s clothing well before the portrait session. It may LOOK like it would fit, but will not cover the diaper when you go to put it on. J
Little Girls: Please be sure the dresses they wear are loose and below the knee. Pink, white and most any pastel color is fine. If the dress is a short dress, make sure it is one with cute bloomers as we will be seeing a lot of them! Although a dress may be cute as a button, your angel may not be able to sit and bend in a graceful way. This will limit the poses we will be able to do. www.strausburgchildren.com has dresses that are simply timeless and worth checking out.
**Make sure her hair is out of her eyes and any bow is appropriate in size. Mickey Mouse ears can magically appear when the bows overwhelm the child. **Your child may not look like herself if you try a new hairstyle suddenly**
Little Boys: khakis, jeans, and overalls with or without shirts are great and NEVER go out of style. It really depends on your child’s age. The little John-John suits are so cute and are classic for portraits. You may want one formal outfit and one casual outfit depending on the age and temperament of your child. If you know changing is not an option for your angel choose your fav! J
***Fall is a great time to dress either a boy or girl in layers for an outdoor session***
Think- natural earth tones - browns and greens (nothing too bright).
Sweaters/ fleece jackets/cardigans over solid colored long sleeve shirts or turtlenecks
Jackets – Barn or jean jackets – can come off during the
session. Don’t hesitate to put your little girl in a sweet dress coat and Mary-Janes
for a sensational winter portrait.
MATERNITY PORTRAITS:
Entirely different rules apply
here! We will be consulting with you
about the look you wish to achieve, but there are a few things you can be
thinking about.
-Plan your session for about 4
weeks prior to your due date. If this is
NOT your first child, you may get a nice round belly earlier and you may want
to schedule before this time.
-Do I have a child I want to
include?
-Is Dad willing to participate in
the session if I bribe him? J
-Do I have any jeans that are not
maternity, may not zip all the way, but can still fit over my hips? J
-Will I need to wear a bra during the session? If so a strapless bra would be a great item to bring.
If ever in doubt for classic children's clothes turn to Strasburg!
Located locally at:
The Village at Sandhill
471-8 Town Center Place
Columbia, SC 29229
Ph 803.865.9333
for more locations and information visit Strasburg's website @
http://www.strasburgchildren.com/
ANGELS and SWEETHEART SESSIONS:
We have everything for angels, but as for sweethearts we need you to prep a little. We have many clothes for girls and a few for boys. Girls look very sweet in dress coats, stockings and mary janes when outdoors. We do not have dress coats, but encourage you to borrow one from a friend if that is your dream image. Boys also look very cute in the little pea coats tugging a teddy bear. We see your child and we get a vision. Then we go to work on our vision. You can help by dressing your child in classic winter clothing. Boy's and girls both look good with texture such as corduroy. Sweaters without pictures on them and classic shoes look best on boys. Sweater vests are also a good option. If that is too dressy for you, remember that denim overalls are a classic for boys! Rest assured that we have quite a few props. We have everything from old bats and gloves to violins and trumpets. If you want that rough and tumble look adjust your clothing accordingly. This does not have to be a "fru fru" look if that is not your style. Email with your ideas and we will roll with it : )
