What to Wear for School Portraits!

The one question I am asked, for every single session I do, is ‘What do I / we wear for our session?’ Even for Las Vegas school portrait sessions, I receive emails from parents wondering what their children should wear.

The answer is always the same. Wear something that is clean, comfortable, and expresses the personality of the subject. However…. remember that your school portraits will serve as a time capsule of your school days for years to come, so the current trendy clothing style may not be the best choice for your photos. The 1980’s were full of bold style, colors, and silhouettes—and heaping amounts of permed hair. Jelly shoes, frosted tips, and Hammer pants need to stay in the 90’s forever.

Here’s the rest of the answer. A photograph should reflect its subject honestly and timelessly. Your clothes, hair, and accessories should complement, not distract, from you! The most helpful advice for choosing clothing color is to think of the space where you want your photos to live. Choose clothing colors based off of that to have the photos seamlessly fit into that room or style of that space.

Here is a list of Don’ts

• No Bright Colors (please, no neon!)

• Distracting Patterns (small print or tone on tone are ok)

• Stains

• Brand / Band Names and labels

• Character Clothing

• Anything too bright, too baggy, or too short

• Too revealing

• Too much make up

• Big jewelry

Here is a list of Do’s

• Solid tones and colors

• Muted tones and colors

• Something that reflects what you usually wear

• Having 1-3 colors, at the most, in your outfit

• Flattering, form-fitting clothing

• Simple jewelry

• Dark socks and shoes (sometimes we take full body shots of your kids

Here’s a link to my Get Schooled Gallery for some examples!